Waiting on blood work....

[Squeakiest]

I took my old man Rossko(9) in on Monday for fear of diabetes. He had the excessive thirst and constant peeing, so bad as he peed himself during the night Friday and 3X Sunday night. The vet took one look at him and noted heavy breathing and suggested Cushings. Upon my request for sanity sake she took a glucose reading which of course was normal. She sent off a geriatric something or other blood test and urine for sampling. Some oddities I find in Rossko is the lack of appetite. Everyone seems to have dogs with ravenous appetites. I can barely coax him to eat sometimes. I can get him to eat chicken & spinach, holistic canned food and of course treats. Even these he will turn down. Also his bladder control is so wavering, he went from peeing every 30-40min to every 3-4hrs in a day! Another thing...is onset so rapid? It was only a week and a half ago he was full of energy, looking normal, eating normal....the peeing I guess would have started last Monday. He peed in the entrance before I got home but not until Friday did it get bad. The drinking increased a month ago. So the long and short of it is I'm thoroughly confused and uneducated about the disease even though I've been doing nothing but research for 2 days now! I'm totally overwhelmed and fear losing him. What kind of info does everyone here like to see so as to obtain you knowledge?

Thanks in advance,
Rosskos Mommy

[mytil]

Hi and welcome to you and Rossko!

Firstly Cushing's is a slow progressing disease so the symptoms typically do not come on this rapidly. When you get the chance, post the numbers of the test results here so we can take a look at any possible abnormalities; especially the glucose levels.

His lack of appetite, and this uncontrolled peeing could be due to hypothyroidism (although not common) but did your vet check for this?

I am also wondering about an infection of some sort - maybe a UTI?

Is he acting lethargic at all? Wanting to sleep a lot? Is he on any other type of medication?

Let us know as soon as you can.
Terry

[Squeakiest]

Yes he is very lethargic. Lifting an 80pnd dog onto the bed is a challenge. He only wants to sleep! I can get him to go out for a pee and drink water and if he feels like it I can get him to eat. He is not on any meds but has had 3 bouts of Anal Gland infections in he last year so he was on antibiotics for them, the last bout in January. I do not believe she tested for his thyroid. I guess getting an extra body to go to the vet in stressful situation is a good idea. I hope it's only a UTI! But if not, I'll do whatever I have to to keep him around for a few more years. Still waiting to hear back.....hopefully today! Thanks!!!

[Budsters Mom]

Hello and welcome from me too, :)

You have come to the right place! There is a huge arsenal of K9Cushing's angels to help and stay with you every step of the way. They love details, test results, any information you can get your hands on. The more the better.

So again welcome to you and Rossko

Kathy and Buddy:)

[lulusmom]

Hi and welcome to you and Rossko.

There are any number of medical conditions that can cause excessive drinking and peeing so I wouldn't automatically suspect cushing's, especially with loss of appetite and further clarification from you as to Roissko's loss of bladder control. Dogs with cushing's lose their ability to concentrate their urine so their urine is very dilute and they pee buckets. They also drink buckets to keep up with the peeing. Is Rossko's urine dilute? Dogs in pain will pant and pee on themselves so with the sudden onset of symptoms, I am wondering if something else might be going on. For example, and not to say that this is what you are dealing with, but dogs in kidney and liver failure can have sudden onset of symptoms, including excessive drinking and peeing, lack of appetite and extreme lethargy. Another example is dogs with pancreatitis are in a great deal of pain, can accidentally urinate on themselves or on the floor due to pain, will quit eating and are extremely listless.

Your vet should have done a complete senior panel which includeds a blood chemistry, complete blood count and a urinalysis, including a culture. If Rossko's urine is dilute a regular urinalysis doesn't always pick up an infection, nor does it tell you which bacteria is involved so that an appropriate antibiotic can be prescribed. You may want to check with your vet to see if a culture was done. Once you have the results in hand, it would be great if you would post just the high and low values on the bloodwork, including the normal reference ranges. Results of the urinalysis would also be appreciated.

FYI, a blood chemistry usually includes T4 which is a thyroid hormone. If this is low, I wouldn't automatically assume hypothyroidism is the culprit as 1) this hormone can be transiently effected by any number of underlying conditions and will return to normal once that condition is treated or remedied; 2) excessive urination and drinking is not usually a symptom of hypothyrodism. It is, however, a symptom of "hyper"thyroidism. This is an extremely rare condition in the canine world and unless a dog is being given too much thyroid meds, the cause for hyperthyroidism is a thyroid tumor, which can usually be palpated by your vet. Dogs with hyperthryoidism usually have an increase in appetite yet they lose weight.

I'm so sorry for the circumstances that brought you here but I'm glad you found us and hopefully, together, we can get Rossko back to his old sweet self.

Glynda

[Simba's Mom]

Welcome to you and Rossko, so glad you found this site...you will gets lots of knowledge and encouragement too...hoping for good test results!

[molly muffin]

I just want to say hello and welcome. I don't think there is anything else that I can add to what Glynda has said and she has a lot of experience.
I too am sorry for the reason you found us, but darn glad you did. We'll do all we can to make you feel welcome and to get through this together, hopefully getting Rossko back to himself. The sooner the better. :)

Sharlene and Molly Muffin