New Diagnosis

[Katiesmum]

Hello, My name is Val. One of my dogs Katie a poodle x has just been diagnosed with Cushings via a blood test. Ive had Katie a few months ,she is a rescue and I was told she had been seen by a vet and there were no health issues. I feel terrible because I have only just taken her to my own vet for her inoculations and the vet picked up on her pot belly .I thought she was overweight and was panting because of that plus she is thought to be about 10 but could be older. The vet prescribed Vetroyl and I gave it her for five days but it hasn't agreed with her. She began to pant continually. Kept hiding. Crying and following me around[Talk about traumatic]Rang the vet and made an appointment. Her temperature was ok even though its hot here in the Uk at the moment. The vet agreed I should stop the meds and then perhaps try giving her 30mg every other day. I just don't want to see her like that again. I am wondering because her previous owners obviously haven't cared for her, shes been in a pound and then a foster home till I got her and Ive not realised she was ill if she is deteriorating because of all the delays in treatment I don't understand why she got so much worse with the Vetroyl and the vet is puzzled .Any advice would be most welcome Thanks Val

[frijole]

Val,

Before I forget you should have received an email when you signed up. That needs to be replied to so that your posts will show up immediately vs us reading and approving one at a time.

Meanwhile it is really strange that a dog would whine/cry when on vetoryl/trilostane. You did not mention what the original dose was - just that the vet said to reduce it to 30 mg. Currently the recommended dose is 1 mg per pound of weight. (Kg x 2.2 to convert)

Please let us know your dog's weight and what the original dose was. We will then check to see if the current dosage is in line at 30.

Did you notice lethargy, soft stools, lack of appetite or water intake? Those are signs that the cortisol has gone too low and the dose is too high. Crying I've never heard of that. Kim

[goldengirl88]

Hello:
Welcome to the group. Do you have the test results from your dog? If not you need to get them as the others on here will want to see them posted in order to better help you. Is the Vet 100% sure your dog has Cushings, and has he treated/ experienced in Cushings? This means a lot. I am not sure why he would put your dog on an every other day dosage? That does not seem right to me. You will find the answers to your questions, and get support here. Good Luck. Blessings
Patti

[Budsters Mom]

Hello and welcome from me too.
I am sorry for the reason that brought you here, but so glad you found us. You have come to the right place! There are many K9Cushing's angels standing by 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. I am very sorry to hear that your sweet little rescue (Katie) may have Cushings. That really sucks!:(Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. We don't actually know for sure yet, do we? Let's take a deep breath and take it one step at a time, ok? Your journey begins.

Hugs,
Kathy


Hugs,
Kathy

[SoggyDoggy]

Hi Val and welcome. It's great that you have taken on Katie and given her a loving home. Kudos to you.

With regards to the test you had done, could you possibly let us know what test/s were actually performed and what the results were? If you don't have them, your vet should give them to you if you ask for a copy. I'm also wondering if you saw any other symptoms with Katie other than the pot belly? Was she eating or drinking lots? Urinating frequently, any muscle weakness or anything? There are some very common symptoms that plague cushings dogs, the unfortunate part is though that all of the symptoms, including a pot belly, can also be indicative of other issues. As a result, cushings is very hard to get a confirmed diagnosis on, especially if only one blood test has been performed, which leads to the question, how confident is your vet with cushings and the associated drugs and protocols?

As Patti mentioned, it is not normal for a dog to be put on medication every second day. Vetoryl is short acting and is generally out of the animals system in 8-12 hours, which means one dose every 48 hours is going to make Katie's cortisol levels swing quite a bit. At this point if it were me, I would withhold further vetoryl doses entirely until you have spoken to your vet directly and got a bit more information from them. There are lots of resources on the site here to arm you with information before you speak to your vet and it is a good idea to read up on these first so you will know what questions to ask.

Possibly the only good thing about cushings is that it is a slow progressing disease so there is no great rush to treat. If you aren't seeing any other symptoms other than pot belly and panting, I wouldn't think you are in urgent need, unless however there is actually something else going on.

Does Katie appear to have any arthritis at all either? The crying could be pain related even. Sometimes if a dogs cortisol drops it can reveal pain (and often allergies) that had previously been masked. That's just a thought, but of she is following you around easily enough, it's probably not that. Hiding and withdraw from company can also be a sign of the animal not feeling well, which would definitely be the case if her cortisol has dropped too low. Did you notice any nausea, lethargy etc? That too is a sign, note that these are all generally the other extreme of a non treated cushings dog.

Anyway, that is probably enough for now, please read through the board and ask any questions you think of and we will be here to help as much as we can. Take care.

[molly muffin]

Hi Val and Katie,
Welcome to the forum. The others have already asked you about the test and results, what the numbers are.
What I will mention is that every other day dosing is not something that is recommended that I have ever heard of from Dechra, the manufacturer of vetoryl. We have had some vets recommend that, I am never sure why, when the first thing that would come to mind is that you do an ACTH test to check the current cortisol levels, and assume that the dosage is too high. Especially if you are Lowering to 30mg for a poodle cross, unless she is a standard poodle (large breed)
The blood work numbers and the cushings numbers will give us an idea to what is really going on though.

Welcome
Sharlene and Molly Muffin