Worried about my baby's weight

[Kimisha Parmaswar]

Hi Guys. My baby is a 12 year old female who has been diagnosed with Cushing's in 2013. She used to take 0.4ml of Trilostane paste but at the end of 2014, her vet bumped her up to 0.5ml after running a blood test. All seems fine with her except she has lost a lot of weight. Just before her diagnosis she was around 9kg and now she's 5, the weight wasn't suddenly lost but accelerated slightly once the dosage was increased. We ran another blood test. Her cortisol levels were within normal range and he said we should continue to give her 0.5ml. We asked about her weight, he said she looks good for her size but we can feel her ribs and her legs are looking thin. Could this be due to the increase in dosage? Can too much Trilostane cause weight loss? She's still active, and everything else about her is normal apart from the weightloss. She also eats less but not significantly less.

[Kimisha Parmaswar]

Hi guys, i don't know whether my previous post was uploaded but I'm typing it again since i can't find it. My name's kimisha and my baby's name is nikki. She's a 12 year old female jack russel terrier mix who has been diagnosed with Cushing's since November 2013. Her initial treatment was 0.4ml of trilostane paste. June last year, she went for blood tests and her vet put her dose to 0.5ml. We've noticed that she has gradually lost weight. But now we're concerned because she's looking rather thin.she was initially 9kg but is now 5. Could the increase in dose cause weight loss? We asked the vet and he said we shouldn't be concerned because she looks healthy but to my family, she looks rather thin. We ran another blood test and he decided to keep her dose at 0.5ml. Apart from the weight loss , she's a very healthy happy dog. I fear she'll continue losing weight to a point where she will get sick.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and your girl!

I have manually approved your membership so now all your posts will be seen right away. Also, please just disregard the validation email that was sent to you from k9cushings. I have also merged both of your posts into Nikki's original thread.


I'm not familiar with Trilostane in a paste form, is this a liquid suspension? Also, her Trilostane should state what the actual mg of medication is in 1ml, could you clarify the dosage for us?

It would be a big help to us if you would post her ACTH stimulation results, from when she was on the .4 ml and now being given the .5ml.

The weight loss is a concern for me as well, has she become pickier with food since the dosage increase? Has it been at least a week since her dosage increase? If so, it is recommended that after any dosage adjustment an ACTH stimulation test should be performed within 10-14 days, has this been done? Is she getting her Trilostane with food? And are her ACTH stimulation tests being performed 4-6 hours after the Trilostane is given?

Loss of appetite can mean that her cortisol has dropped too low. What about her stools, are they loose, have any mucus or color? Is she taking any other herbs/supplements/medications?

Hopefully once we get some answers to those questions I asked we'll be able to figure out what is going on with your sweet girl, so hang in there, ok?

Hugs, Lori

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum from me too.

I'd add to Lori's questions by asking if her blood work has been checked lately and a urinalysis done also?

With the weight loss if it is not related to the trilostane dosage and her cortisol, it could be related to some other issue, which would show up in blood and urine work.