Cushings vs Hypothyroidism

[Jjc]

My 13 year old Jack Russell, Baxter , is not responding to his Soloxine as he should. After monthly testing he has been left on a dosage of .4; as .5 (half am/ half pm) was not well tolerated. He continues to have hair loss along with increasing dark skin pigment. Even with the soloxine his thyroid has never been above 2 and has been as low as .6. Does Cushings cause hypothyroidism? Do they go hand in hand. The vet is rechecking thyroid tomorrow with blood sugar testing, as well. Should he be testing for Cushings. It has never been mentioned as a possibility.

We have stableized his diabetes, gone from profoundly blind to seeing, but can't seem to win the thyroid battle. Could Cushings be behind this?

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Baxter!

So, he is getting his Soloxine twice a day, and are his thyroid testing done 4-6 hours post pill?

T-4 can be affected by any number of illnesses that transiently lowers T-4, and it doesn't mean a dog has primary hypothyroidism.. This corrects itself when the underlying problem is addressed with treatment. This transient condition is called sick euthyroid syndrome. Did your vet put Baxter on meds because he has had symptoms consistent with hypothyroidism or was it because T-4 was low on his blood chemistry? If you could, please do round up all testing that was done, particularly the blood chemistry, complete blood count and any blood glucose tests that have been done since the original blood chemistry. We would be interested in seeing only the high and low values on the blood chemistry and please include the normal reference ranges. Was an urinalysis done and if so could you post those findings too.

We have a sister site, www.k9diabetes.com, and I highly recommend that you join there. The members there are amazing and they know their stuff when it comes to canine diabetes. Was his diabetes difficult to get under control? Is Baxter displaying any symptoms right now?

Please know we will help in any way we can so do not hesitate to ask all the questions you want.

Hugs, Lori

[Jjc]

Morning, Lori
I have thought about Baxter overnight. He was put on soloxine because when a complete blood work up was done, his t4 was low. At that time we were only dealing with diabetes and the low t4 popped up. The vet said often low thyroid and diabetes are related. As a result he began treatment for thyroid.

[molly muffin]

Dogs with cushings sometimes end up with diabetes too. Diabetes that won't come under control sometimes has cushings causing it to be difficult to control them. Cushing dogs often show with low thyroid levels. Cushings dogs are prone to getting pancreatis, and gall bladder sludge.

It is all one big interconnected system and it is what makes diagnosing cushings so darn difficult.