Vascular event

[Margieford44]

Hi everyone. Our Maltese dog, Christie, who is 12 years old was diagnosed with Cushings in 2009. She has been on Vetoryl ever since. I came home from work on Thursday, and she could not see! She was also weak on the left side and kept sliding on the floor. I took her right to the vet. who immediately sent me to an Ophthalmologist. They found nothing wrong with her eyes, except one eye is totally dilated. The next day I took her to a neurologist. He wanted $2,000 to do an MRI, but there is no way we could afford that. She had squamous cell carcinoma on her lip a little over a year ago, and the surgery was $3,000. Her put her on a low dose of prednisone, and lower the Vetoryl dosage, and she seems to be a little bit better. The problem is that her left eye is totally dilated and she can't see anything on the left side. Has anyone else had this problem?

[mypuppy]

Hi,
It would be difficult for us to really know what could be going on with your baby, however I did want to share a bit of information I learned 3 weeks ago from my internal medicine specialist that would certainly be worth pursuing as a start. Dogs with cushings are more suceptible to developing diabetes mellitus and if they are diagnosed with DM, they will eventually go blind and also develop diabetic neuropathy which can be seen as weakness or even paralysis affecting mostly the hind legs. When was the last time she had a blood chemistry profile done, and was diabetes mellitus ruled out?

I hope someone else will stop in soon to add more valuable information in order to help your girl. Lastly, is your girl showing any lack of appetite, lethargy or vomiting? When was her last ACTH test?

Please let us know how she is doing.

Hang in there and stay on board and ask many questions.

Xo Jeanette

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Did the vet mention maybe doing an ultrasound to check the heart muscles, etc? Was a stroke considered by the vet?

I'm just throwing ideas out which you may have already addressed. Some of the others will be by and might have some more insight into the problem you are dealing with.

Welcome again,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

[Margieford44]

They did do labs on her, and her blood sugar was a little low. They did say that it could have been a stroke, but more likely something called a vascular event? Also, the cancer could have metalized to her brain. She seems to be able to see a little bit better though..

[labblab]

From the symptoms you are describing, a stroke does sound like a strong possibility. And actually, a stroke is one type of vascular event. Strokes can be caused by ruptures in blood vessels in the head/neck and also by blood clots. According to some research, Cushpups may be more vulnerable to clots as a result of the disease.

If she suffered a stroke, there may not be any specific treatment possible but she may continue to improve somewhat on her own. We will certainly hope so!

Marianne

[Margieford44]

From the symptoms you are describing, a stroke does sound like a strong possibility. And actually, a stroke is one type of vascular event. Strokes can be caused by ruptures in blood vessels in the head/neck and also by blood clots. According to some research, Cushpups may be more vulnerable to clots as a result of the disease.

If she suffered a stroke, there may not be any specific treatment possible but she may continue to improve somewhat on her own. We will certainly hope so!

Marianne

I totally agree. I think it was a stroke. I know there is really nothing that they can do.

[lulusmom]

Hi and a belated welcome to you and Christie.

When was the last time Christie had an acth stimulation test to assess her cortisol levels? If you have a copy of that handy, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to see the results. In addition to the cushingoid dog's vulnerability to clotting as mentioned by Marianne, they are also very prone to hypertension, which can cause a stroke, especially if cortisol is not well controlled. I would think an opthamologist would most certainly want to take a blood pressure reading so hopefully, the one you consulted with did exactly that to rule out hypertension as a causative factor.

Looking forward to hearing more about Christie and I'm so very glad that whatever ordeal she went through is behind her, never to return.

Glynda

[molly muffin]

Hello, just checking in to see how you and Christie are doing. Is she getting any better since the "event".

Sharlene and Molly Muffin