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wina22
06-27-2015, 08:08 PM
Hello,
This is my first post on this forum. I have a female 6 year old Labrador that was diagnosed with Cushings 3 months ago. About 2 weeks ago, her breath started smelling like finger nail polish remover. I took her to our vet a couple of times and was told not to worry. I wanted them to check her blood sugar, but they had in March (this was June) and it was ok, so they didn't.
Finally, I took her in 3 days ago to be weighed, because one of the reasons we suspected Cushings in the first place was that she had gained about 30 pounds in about a month. She topped out at 160. She looked to everyone as if she had been losing weight, so I took her in to be weighed. She had lost 30 pounds. While we were there, I brought up the smelly breath again, and they agreed to test her blood sugar. It was almost 500. She was diagnosed with Diabetes. So, I went back to get her, got her insulin, took her home, and she laid down on the floor. I went to do some work appointments, came back about 2 hours later, and she hadn't moved. When I tried to get her up, she was unable to get up. My daughter and I had to carry her on a bedsheet, into the car and she had to be moved into the hospital by stretcher. This was Thursday of this week. She has been there ever since, and still cannot get up. Now she has stopped eating, FINALLY urinated this afternoon, after not going since she went outside at home on Thursday morning, despite drinking a ton and having IV fluids. Her glucose is all over the place. It is jumping from 150 to 500 in a matter of hours. We suspect part of this at least is because she wont' eat. They have been feeding her with a syringe, but it is nowhere near the amount that she normally eats.
We don't know if the decline in her legs is due to pain (she has been on pain meds) or weakness, or numbness, or what is causing it. She still cannot get up on her own.
I don't know if this is something from the Cushings, or the diabetes or something else. The vet office did an xray and said she does have pronounced arthritis in her hips. She has been on carprofin for quite awhile for joint pain, and is taking vetarol (spelled wrong) for the cushings.
I am at a loss and have no clue what to do. My vets are trying hard, but they seem somewhat clueless to be honest.
I can't bring her home while she can't walk. She is too big for me to manage alone.
Any thoughts, ideas or anything else is greatly appreciated.

Harley PoMMom
06-28-2015, 01:50 AM
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.

We have a sister site, http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/, and I highly recommend that you consider joining. The amazing members there are extremely knowledgeable and will help you with your girls diabetes. Was your girl's urine checked for ketones?

We ask a ton of questions to our new members which enables us to provide more meaningful feedback, so here are some questions of mine. What symptoms did your girl display that led you or your vet to test for Cushing's in the first place? Is she taking any other herbs/supplements/medications? Could you get your hands on copies of all tests that were done on your girl and post any abnormalities that are listed...e.g....ALT 150U/L (5-50). Also, could you tell us what diagnostic tests were performed to diagnose her Cushing's and post those results here? How many ACTH stimulation tests have been done since she started her Vetoryl treatment and could you post those results for us? What dose of Vetoryl is she taking and is it being given once or twice a day? Does she have the pituitary or the adrenal form of Cushing's?

Is she still getting her Vetoryl? Since she is not eating and feeling poorly the Vetoryl should be withheld.

I am sorry your girl is having a rough time right now but hopefully once we all put our heads together we will be able to figure out just what is going on with your sweet girl. Please know we are here for you and will help in any way we can.

Hugs, Lori

wina22
06-28-2015, 08:59 AM
thanks for your response. I have joined the other forum. Just waiting on someone to approve me. I will answer what I know now. The rest I will have to ask for.
My sister's dog had Cushings and had a really fast weight gain. Ella was also drinking and urinating more than usual, which my sister's dog also did.
My vet's office didn't offer to test her for it. I asked them to.
I don't know which kind it is. If they told me, I don't remember.
I am not sure if she is still taking her meds or not. They were giving it to her as of yesterday by pilling.
She takes two pills once a day, but I gave them to the vets office so I don't remember the exact size of the pills. I will get that info tho.
Ella has not had any of the testing (stim tests). The vet said that she doesn't do that routinely because it is not necessary and is expensive. I asked her to do it this time, but she didn't really think it was necessary. I don't think they have tested her urine for ketones. I am going to ask them again to do that today.
I think i have answered everything that I know without getting ahold of the stuff from the office.
I feel like they don't know much about this stuff and I don't know what to do....

Squirt's Mom
06-28-2015, 09:44 AM
Ella has not had any of the testing (stim tests). The vet said that she doesn't do that routinely because it is not necessary and is expensive. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: :eek::eek::eek::eek:

RUN, do not walk, RUN away from this vet as fast as you can as soon as you can. This is wrong and put your baby at EXTREME risk. If an ACTH and the electrolytes have not been checked MAKE THEM DO BOTH asap. NOW. And if there is another hospital available to you, I would think seriously about having my baby moved today.

Renee
06-28-2015, 01:13 PM
Your vets gross negligence is unfathomable!!

Please, get away from them, as soon as you can. In the mean time, demand things be done properly. Get all the testing done and research it yourself, so you know what you need to look for and how to interpret the testing. Also, if they are still giving her cushings medication, demand it be stopped right now.

Harley PoMMom
06-29-2015, 02:55 PM
Unfortunately Cushing's is one of the most difficult canine diseases to diagnose, which makes it one of the most misdiagnosed. One of the things that makes Cushing's so challenging to diagnose is because not one test can 100% accurately identify it, so vets have to perform multiple diagnostic tests to validate a Cushing's diagnosis not just one.

A lot of vets are clueless when it comes to the diagnosis and treatment protocols for Cushing, and some of us learned the hard way that placing blind faith in our vets can carry a heavy price tag for our dogs and that is why we encourage all members to educate themselves. It takes an experienced vet and an educated pet owner to facilitate safe and effective treatment. It is when one or both is missing that dogs get into trouble. On that note I am providing a link to our Resource forum which has a wealth of information regarding Cushing's and the treatment protocols: http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=10

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask them.

Hugs, Lori

molly muffin
06-29-2015, 06:37 PM
oh dear. :( You need, an ACTH, electrolyte test done asap. No more vetroyl. The manufacture clearly states that you must never give a dog who is not eating, not drinking, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargic (wobbly, can't move) this medication. For one thing it is a possible sign of overdose and you don't know without the ACTH. Overdosing can come on just as quickly as diabetest can, literally over night. We've had dogs test normal one week and be totally out of range the next week.

Your vet, I am sure you already realize is not knowledgeable about cushings and certainly not about the more complicated cushings and diabetes together.
Ketons definitely need to be tested, but it could be the vetroyl that is causing the problems now and in fact, is likely at the least a contributing factor.

Do you have another vet you can go to? A specialist? anything?

This is very concerning to all us who see these kinds of things happen needlessly all too often :(

molly muffin
07-02-2015, 06:45 PM
Just want to check in and see how Ella is doing.

budindian
07-07-2015, 01:14 PM
I am fairly new here and I listen to the people on this forum they are very experienced with cushings and have given me better advice than my vet. When my baby first started the vetoryl , he had only 2 doses and I came home and my dog could not get up no matter how hard he tried, he had been given to much vetoryl for his weight, I took him off the vetoryl against the vets advice and he soon returned to normal. I followed the advice of the people here and with their help he is slowly getting the dose he needs. I hope your baby is doing ok. I hope this helps