Cushings test negative (10 y/o Rotti)

[Corinne]

My 10 year old Rotti has all the symptoms of cushings.She had the test but came back negative.The vet prescribed clomicalm and my dog has had all the symptoms worsen since starting medication.Could this still be cushings although the test is negative?

[Squirt's Mom]

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[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Corrine,

Welcome to you and your baby! :)

There are many things that can cause the signs of Cushing's making it one of the most difficult canine condition to diagnose. When you say your baby had the test, which test was it? Would you mind getting the actual results, not the invoice, and posting those numbers here along with the normal ranges and units of measurement (the little letters that follow the numbers like ug/dl, etc). That will help us a great deal in helping you.

What signs are you seeing in your baby? What breed(s) is she? Is she intact? Does she have any illnesses you are aware of? Is she on any meds, supplements, herbs, etc. other than the clonicalm? I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with that but someone else may be.

The more info you can tell us about your baby girl the better. We LOVE details so don't worry about writing a novel.;)

I'm glad you found us and look forward to learning more asap.
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[Squirt's Mom]

hummmm...just looked up the Clomicalm and it is used for separation anxiety. Does your baby suffer from this? Here is the product insert for that med which lists the side effects -

http://www.clomicalm.novartis.us/pdf/Clomicalm-product-info.pdf

[Corinne]

I don't have the results but it was the cortisol injection that's checked after a couple of hours.Rebel has no previous health problems,it started with her having no energy,always thirsty,urinating in the house and constant pacing.Also she has gained weight and has the pot belly appearance..When the test back negative for cushings he thought it could be a dementia that dogs get,hence the clomicalm.
She also has slightly elevated liver enzymes.

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome. Was Rebel's blood glucose levels checked and thyroid? What a UTI culture? If urine is dilute (and that should be confirmed via specific gravity testing) then a culture has to be done to determine if there is a UTI, it won't show up otherwise usually. How are Rebel's kidneys? There are many things that need to be ruled out along with cushings. That is why it is handy to always have copies of any test results for your own records. It is so much easier to refer back to them at any given time and see what is what and do comparisons when later tests are done.

That should sort of get you started. There are two tests ACTH and LDDS which are checked via an injection. The ACTH will usually be one base draw and then a follow up draw, about 4 hour length and the LDDS is usually an 8 hr test, with one base draw, a 4 hr and an 8 hr draw.

Sharlene and Molly Muffin

[Corinne]

Her glucose ,and thyroid were checked and UTI culture was done.No kidney problems,it must have been a four hour draw because she was only at the vets for 6 hrs.The only thing that was slightly abnormal were liver numbers.I took her off the Clomicalm last night and already she has less pacing ,is more alert and she was yelping like she was in pain and that has stopped too.

[labblab]

Welcome from me, too! As the others have said, it will be really helpful if you can get the actual numbers for the test results and post them for us here. If the diagnostic blood test that was done was the ACTH, it is indeed possible that Rebel may actually have Cushing's even though the test result did not confirm it. The ACTH has certain advantages as a diagnostic test, but one disadvantage is that it is more likely than the LDDS to erroneously come back "negative" even when a dog has the disease, especially the adrenal form of Cushing's. So it will help us a great deal if you can find out the actual test name and numerical results, as well as any other abnormal test results for Rebel (such as those elevated liver numbers).

Thanks so much in advance,
Marianne