Jewel the Peekapoo

[sbradk]

My dog is approximately 8 years old. When she was about 6 years old, she develped premature cataracts and had surgery. Unfortunately her retina detached and she ended up blind. After the surgery, she quit eating. I took her to most every vet and no one could figure it out. I finally took her off all the medicine and slowly but surely she got better. It took probably 4 months. When she was a puppy, she took medication for tapeworms and did the same thing. That lasted about a month. Needless to say I am very leary of medicines.

After becoming blind, she never got used to it but constantly ran into things. I truly believe she became depressed. She developed skin conditions but I was learly of cortizone medication so rarely allowed that. In the past year she had gone from 13 points to 26 lbs. The thing is her belly looks like it is ready to burst. I am not feeding her anymore and none of my other dogs are over weight. I had her tested for thyroid and poor thing freaked at getting her blood drawn. Her eye filled up with blood and she shook for two weeks. The test was normal. I started asking my vet about Cushings at that point but he said she didn't have it and I didn't want to put her through more tests. Over the last couple months, she drinks more - even waking me up at night. Her hind legs started to become weak. She walks like a bear with her feet sort of turned out so again I asked my vet and he said no. I told him she was not fat - it has to be a medical condition.

Well this week she started panting terribly. I was scared she was in pain. My vet said it was back problems with her weight and gave her shot. She went downhill and quit eating, panting even more so I thought it was the medicine. She got worse so I took her to the ER and her ALT is elevated but again the ER vet said she didn't have Cushings. She started her on liver medicine (begins with a D).

She is a little better. Will eat a little and has pretty much stopped the panting but still lethargic. One thing I started to notice in the last month is even though she never got used to being blind, she is even worse now. She goes the completely wrong direction when she moves. Still wants her belly on the cold hardwood floor.

After all that -I finally have a vet that agrees she needs to be tested and will be testing this week. I hate to put her through more blood tests because she shuts down every time she has a blood test but I really believe she has Cushings.

So my question assuming she is diagnosed with Cushings: 1. How quickly will a dog this legargic respond to treatment. I have researched and I understand treatment is very detailed but assuming it is given appropriated, about when will she start eating again. 2. Can a dog get back to the personality it had before? I would just like her to have some quality of life and play a little. 3. I am worried about her reaction to this medication since she has had problems before.

Thanks so much

[doxiesrock912]

Dogs with Cushings have ravenous appetites.
If you haven't had an ultrasound done, I would definitely do so.

Cushings is not a fast progressing disease, it often takes years for symptoms to become obvious and even then, symptoms are easily attributed to old age.

[lulusmom]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry that your girl is having such a tough time of things and we'll do what we can to help you sort through everything. It would be very helpful if you could get copies of the most recent labs done by the ER and post the abnormal values here, including the normal reference range. I am a bit concerned because the one liver enzyme you mentioned as being elevated is ALT and that is not the liver enzyme that is almost always elevated in a dog with cushing's. Dogs with cushing's also usually have big appetites so when we see a dog who is not eating well, cushing's drops farther down the list of prime suspects unless the dog may be showing neurological signs associated with a pituitary macroadenoma. Is Jewel displaying any odd change in behavior such as pacing, staring off into space, stumbling, paws knuckling over? Once you post the lab results, we'll have a much better idea as to why the ER vet was convinced Jewel does not have cushing's. Did the ER also do a urinalysis? If so, can you post the results of that test as well?

If you decide to move forward with testing for cushing's, I highly recommend that you start with a urine cortisol creatine ratio (UCCR). All you have to do is catch Jewel's first pee of the morning before any meds or meals and get it to the vet's office within an hour or two.
If you can't get it there sooner, keep it refrigerated. If the ratio is normal, you can pretty much rule out cushing's but if it is high, then cushing's is a possibility but because any non adrenal illness can also cause a high ratio, further testing would need to be done. Cushing's progresses at a snail's pace so there is plenty of time to make sure that pursuing a cushing's diagnosis makes sense based on the results of blood and urine screening tests.

Glynda

[goldengirl88]

I just wanted to welcome you to the forum. Sorry your baby is having troubles. Glynda covered everything, as she is brilliant so I just wanted to say hi.