Happy to see this forum

[distraut]

Hi, I am new to this forum. I have a Maltese with Cushing's Disease. We did not have too many problems with his controlling the urination when we were home with a doggy door (he is blind also) but here at my daughter's home with 6 other dogs he is having accidents. Just treated for UTI which needs recheck but if he does not have an infection, he is still having accidents. I might mention he sleeps on the bed with me all night and never has wet the bed. 2 of the other 6 dogs are mine. Yeah, we are a family of dog lovers. My daughter's dogs have had multiple accidents (2 cats too). Could my dog, with a heightened sense of smell, think it is ok to urinate where he smells other accidents? Thanks for any input.

[distraut]

My dog with cushings has had it for over a year. He has not lost one hair due to the disease. He is on no medication. My vet said many dogs do better if they are not on medication. Mine is having more accidents but since he is blind and we are visiting a house with a lot of dogs, hopefully he is smelling urine from past accidents by lots of dogs. See my post, I am new to forum.

[Squirt's Mom]

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[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and your baby! :)

Yeah, it's certainly possible that the scent of the other pup's spots are telling your baby "This is the place!" :p I have some pups who have been with me for a while, one nearly 16 years, and they are all well house trained. BUT I also foster and many of those fosters walk in the door peeing and pooping everywhere! :eek: My very well trained pups decided if they can we can too! :rolleyes:

I just do my best to get them all outside about every 2 hours during the day and make sure they all pee before going down for the night. There are still mornings like today when the washer and dryer is going full tilt cleaning blankets of those who just couldn't wait. ;)

Being blind could also be playing a role. I have three blind babies and they know where their peepee pads are and where the door is...at HOME. In new places it takes a bit for them to learn the new pad spot and where the door is. If there are a lot of people around, like when we go stay with my brother during bad weather, they are apt to pee and poop in the house often. Part of it is stress at being in a new place, part of it is marking the new place, and part of it is just not yet knowing where the correct place is. Be very consistent with whatever you do to help your baby. Our blind babies like routine and consistency. ;)

We would love to hear all about your baby - how the Cushing's came to be diagnosed, how treatment has gone for him, and so on. We LOVE details so don't worry about a long post...some of us are downright mouthy (but not ME! :D). I'm glad you found us and look forward to getting to know more about your baby and you!

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[Squirt's Mom]

OH! There is a product called Nature's Miracle that I use to clean spots. It's a good cleaner with enzymes to eat up the organic matter - it even cleaned my sink drain safely! :cool: There are several enzyme cleaners so I would look into getting and using one of them as well. They help control the scent as well as the stains. ;)

[labblab]

Welcome! Your membership has now been approved, so you can proceed with posting as you wish. You will see that I have shifted one other reply of yours, though, so that it has been joined into your original thread here (which was invisible to you until your membership was approved). This way, all important information about your dog will be kept all together in one spot.

Marianne

[goldengirl88]

Just wanted to welcome you and your baby to the forum and throw my two cents in . Cushings causes high cortisol in the body which in turn damages muscles by wasting them, damages organs etc. The vet should have explained this all to you, and told you your treatment options. What type of testing did this vet do to confirm Cushings. What are the other symptoms your dog is presenting with and please tell us a little about your dog. There are drugs to manage Cushings that if used properly can help your dog to live out it's life. Blessings
Patti

[Squirt's Mom]

ahhhhh...with the transferred post telling a tiny bit more about your baby, I see he's not on treatment. That puts a whole new light on things. Excessive urination, accidents in the house, and UTIs are all common in untreated cush pups. So if you choose not to treat, then you can expect this to get worse as time passes, much worse for most pups.

I'm not sure why your vet would have told you that. Unless a pup is quite old and / or has other health issues, treatment DOES help, it DOES extend the dogs life, it DOES work. Maybe your vet is lacking in experience with Cushing's and is therefore afraid of it? Our new vet was that way but I have drug him kicking and screaming into the Cushing's / Addison's world! :p

Now, we aren't going to tell you to treat nor push you to treat. That is your choice and yours alone. We will support you no matter what you do...as long as it's not cruel. ;) But the folks that find their way here aren't apt to do such things. ;);) BUT just as we try to help folks go into treating their dogs with their eyes as open as possible, we want the same for those who choose not to treat for whatever reason. I want you to understand a bit better what will be happening in your babies body with excess cortisol, and possibly other hormones as well, running rampant in his body. Choosing to treat has consequences; choosing not to treat has consequences. ;) Here is a link from our Helpful Resource section that will give you a good idea of what to expect as time passes -

Complications from untreated Cushing’s –
http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=195

I think it's great you can visit your daughter and have all your babies together. If it's anything like my house, it gets to be a 3-ring circus at times! :D There are 7 here at the moment, 5 of which are special needs (but, shhhhh, they don't know that! ;)) and it gets quite entertaining at times. :p

We are here to help in any way we can. We WILL stand by your side whether you choose to treat or not. Never hesitate to ask questions or just vent if you need.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang