joy, cav. king charles spaniel bitch, cushing?

[flynnandian]

a good friend of mine mailed me this testresults from her 13 year old cav. king charles bitch joy , who is lately drinking much more and peeing indoors. her urinesample measures 1005 [1015-1045] usg.
albumine 28 [22-39]
af [alkaline phosphatase] 491 [23-212]
gpt/alt 18 [10-100]
glucose 5.4 [4-8]

they suspect her of cushing.
what do you all think of this results?
the rest of the bloodwork is ok.

[lulusmom]

I'm pretty sure what you are calling the urine sample measure is urine specific gravity (USG). It is definitely low, which is consistent with cushing's. The only other abnormality is the af and I have no idea what that is. I'm guessing it is alkaline phosphatase, which is a liver enzyme that is almost always elevated in cushdogs. If these are the only two abnormalities on blood and urine tests, I personally wouldn't rush into testing for cushing's unless the dog is overtly symptomatic. I hope that helps.

Glynda

[doxiesrock912]

Has a urinary tract infection been ruled out?

[flynnandian]

Lab. UVDL


Bepaling Uitslag Ref.waarde Eenheid

URINE/FAECES

Cortisol (ur) dag 1 13 nmol/L
Kreatinine (ur) dag 1 5268 µmol/L
Cor/Kreat Ratio (ur) dag 1 2.5 <10.0 x10^-6
Cortisol (ur) dag 2 13 nmol/L
Kreatinine (ur) dag 2 4463 µmol/L
Cor/Kreat Ratio (ur) dag 2 2.9 <10.0 x10^-6
Cortisol (ur) dag 3 7 nmol/L
Kreatinine (ur) dag 3 3030 µmol/L
Cor/Kreat Ratio (ur) dag 3 2.2 <10.0 x10^-6

does this mean cushing for joy? internet mentioned from 12,3-15 or higher is cushings. she suppressed about 50% [13---7] is this borderline pituitary? her vet is not at all an expert on cushings.

[molly muffin]

Do you happen to have the ranges that you could add to the results?

You say suppressed but was this an ACTH or an LDDS? In an LDDS it is usually 3 draws, base, 4 hr and 8 hr, in which you are looking at suppression.
In an ACTH there is a pre and a post. Think of the pre as what is in their bodies and the post as a dump of what is in their adrenal glands. So, I want to be sure what we are looking at and what the ranges that are given should be.

Sharlene and molly muffin

[flynnandian]

it was based on a 3 day urinesample, the second day you have to give your dog dexametason. i don't know if they do this test in the usa?

[molly muffin]

Some of the others might be familiar with it. I know there is a 3 day urine sample test done, but I'm not familiar enough with the testing to know what to look for.
I'm sure that one of the others will know though.

hugs,
Sharlene and molly muffin

[labblab]

it was based on a 3 day urinesample, the second day you have to give your dog dexametason. i don't know if they do this test in the usa?
OK, then, yes it was a LDDS urine test. But no, that test is not performed in the U.S., so I'm afraid it's unlikely that anybody here is familiar with the norms or the interpretation. Maybe one of us can try to look up more info about the test later today...

Marianne

[Squirt's Mom]

I don't understand those results...they seem to be jumbling several tests together. Is an LDDS or ACTH in there somewhere? Do you have the normal ranges for the values posted? Maybe someone with more experience at reading results can make sense of them but I can't. :o

[Squirt's Mom]

MODERATOR NOTE - I am going to move these chit-chatty posts to Flynn's thread so we can keep this flowing for Joy. ;)

[labblab]

I don't understand those results...they seem to be jumbling several tests together. Is an LDDS or ACTH in there somewhere? Do you have the normal ranges for the values posted? Maybe someone with more experience at reading results can make sense of them but I can't. :o
Les, in Europe, there is an alternative method of performing the LDDS. Instead of a blood test, it involves urine collection during a three-day time period in conjunction with oral application of a dex agent. It looks as though that was what was done here. Since we don't have experience with that in the U.S., we'll have to look up the interpretation. I know Saskia has talked about it in the past, for example.

Marianne

[Squirt's Mom]

Thanks...in reading back I see where this was already discussed. duh :o

[flynnandian]

Les, in Europe, there is an alternative method of performing the LDDS. Instead of a blood test, it involves urine collection during a three-day time period in conjunction with oral application of a dex agent. It looks as though that was what was done here. Since we don't have experience with that in the U.S., we'll have to look up the interpretation. I know Saskia has talked about it in the past, for example.

Marianne

i did not know this test was not performed in the usa. i found some references on the internet and will send it towards joy's owner. her vet is a young one who does not know very much about cushings.
joy's owner is in the last stage of her pregnancy, so i promised to look things up for her.