My Madde, and did anyone leave it untreated?

[mom2madde]

Hello! I'm Heather, my dog is Madde. Madde just had to go to the vet on the 14th because she wasn't feeling good. She was staying in her hiding spot alot, drinking alot and peeing alot and had lost 6 pounds in a month for no reason, and she has some hair thinning and loss, pot belly, also some diarrhea and vomiting. As soon as the doctor seen her and heard her symptoms she said she thinks it's Cushing's disease. They did a simple cheaper blood test in the office since we don't have much money. It still cost $100 just for the blood test. The results showed her sugar level was really high even though she hasn't been eating because she didn't feel good. So the doc said she was diabetic and started me on insulin. That most likely explains the weight loss too. Madde's liver level was more than double the highest exceptable numbers where. Doc was worried about her making it through the weekend without going into liver failure. She gave her a pill that could help with that. Madde also had two parasites in her stool sample which is probably why she had the diarrhea and vomiting. So after taking all the meds, she started feeling better in a few days and now she is back to acting normal again, except for the excessive drinking and peeing.

They want to do more test to confirm the Cushing's disease but it all cost soooooo much. We really cant afford it. She said it would be around $800 for the full workup including more extensive blood work, and xray and ultrasound and whatever else it was. And she said treating without knowing for sure could be dangerous. So right now we are just trying to control the diabetes, 2 shots a day, and to keep her weight down. She goes in on Monday all day for a Glucose Curve test. They will check her sugar every 2 hours. It will help see if her insulin dose needs to be adjusted.

Thats all we know and what we are doing so far.

Has anyone left it untreated? How did that go for the dog? Did they get real sick or did they live for a good little while? Or what?

[labblab]

Heather, welcome to you and your Madde!

I am so sorry that Madde has been so ill, but it is such a good thing that her diabetes has been diagnosed so that treatment could be started. It is possible for dogs to suffer from both diabetes and Cushing's, but of the two diseases, it is most important to work to get the diabetes stabilized first. In fact, as long as a dog's blood sugars are out of control, any testing for Cushing's will probably be inaccurate. So you are doing exactly the right thing by addressing the diabetes first. And it may turn out that once the diabetes is well controlled, Cushing's may not even be an issue.

Here is a link to our sister forum that is dedicated to dogs with diabetes:

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/

I encourage you to join there, too. It is a wonderful group of supportive members, some of whom do have dogs who have been diagnosed with both Cushing's and diabetes. But please know that you can continue to post here, as well, about any questions that you may have about the possibility of Cushing's for Madde.

I'm very glad you've found us,
Marianne

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Heather and welcome to you and Madde! :)

First, if you are not already a member, please go over to k9diabetes.com and register asap. They are our sister site and the experts in canine diabetes. You can find them at -

diabetes info
http://k9diabetes.com/forum

We have several members here who have dealt with both conditions as it isn't that rare for a pup to have more than one endocrine problem at a time and I am sure they will be along to share their experiences with you. I am not familiar enough to be able to help you much with this but I do urge to go register at k9diabetes and get a thread started there for Madde asap.

The cost of testing can be a heavy load, no question. There are some places that can help, tho. Here is a link to some sites that offer assistance for pets. Several here use Credit Care, a no, or low, interest credit card just for pets.

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=212

The liver has, I think, three values and it takes elevations in more than one of these to truly indicate liver problems. The ALP can be elevated for any number of reasons, and way on up there. My Squirt's was 10x normal last time but it was the only one elevated and her IMS wasn't concerned. MOM is, but he wasn't. :)

I'm glad you found us and look forward to learning more as time passes.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[Jenny & Judi in MN]

Hi Heather, I'm sorry your Madde has been so sick. Have you tried home testing her blood sugar?

A lot of us use human meters to test our dogs and do our own curves. This could save you more money as the all day curves at the vet can run anywhere from $70 to $115 for me.

Most people feel that getting the diabetes under control should come first, deal with the cushings second.

My Jenny has both and we are on both forums. The folks on the diabetes forum are very very helpful just like they are here.

hugs to you and Madde. Judi

[mom2madde]

Thanks for the link to the diabetes forum. No, I have not tried to test her sugar at home. I don't know how to do that. I might just have to learn how to do that. The test at the doc is $104, after that I will see if I can do it myself.

I seen by reading around that diabetes can come along with Cushing's. I just wish there was a cheaper way to find out if she has Cushing's for sure.

Thanks for the replys and I will keep reading around.

[mom2madde]

I forgot to mention, she is a Miniature Pinscher.