cushings after congestive heart diagnosis

[pat de rose]

hi all,
i have a question. my 13 y.o. dachshund toby was tested a few years ago for cushings and was ok. late may i took him for a checkup and mentioned again how thirsty he was and noted hair loss again. they did the urine and found he has the marker so he was scheduled for the all day blood test. over that weekend he went to the emergency hospital for breathing and it was determined he has congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension (also low thyroid). at this point i wonder if it is worth testing/medicating for cushings. he is on 5 meds now and i don't want to overstress him. any thoughts/ideas are much appreciated!!

[mytil]

Hi and welcome to our site.

These other conditions have the possibility to give false positive results on the Cushing's testing. Increased thirst and hair thinning and loss could be attributed to low thyroid conditions too.

Cushing's is a slow progressing condition and IMO I would wait to get his heart condition and thyroid problems stabilized before addressing the Cushing's.

If you have any test results, just to see, please post them here - the LDDS (all day) and the urinalysis. Also any blood panel test results that were abnormal.

Terry

[dew_nay]

My baby too is both a heart and cushing patient. She was diagnosed with congestive heart about 3 years ago. And recently, she is diagnosed with cushing.

She used to be on 3 heart meds (Vetmedin, Fortekor and Furmide). And when she started Vetoryl, the drug for cushing treatment. She stopped taking Fortekor because fortekor is an Ace Inhibitor which have to be taken with caution if you take it with Vetoryl.

So you may like to take not of that, if your baby is taking an Ace Inhibitor, there are quite a number of AI drugs (e.g. benazepril, enalapril, ramipril).

The reason why AI drugs and vetoryl are taken together can elevate risk is because both may cause an elevated level of potassium in the blood stream which can cause irregular heart beats or something which can be fatal.

Better to discuss with your vet on this.

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and your baby!

In your shoes, I would forget about Cushing's right now and get the heart and lungs as controlled as possible first. As Terry said, these conditions can cause false-positives simply from the internal stress they cause. Stress of any kind can cause the cortisol to elevate naturally. ;) In addition, the drugs used to treat Cushing's and the drugs used to treat heart conditions do not always mix well at all as Dew-Nay said.

But I have a question for you - was it a GP vet or an IMS who made these diagnoses? The reason I ask is one of my babies was recently diagnosed with CHF but when the IMS checked her that was incorrect - her heart is fine but she does have COPD. The film from her GP vet showed a heart nearly twice normal size but the ECG showed a perfectly normal heart. So if your baby has not seen a specialist, I would take him to see a cardiologist if possible; if there isn't one in your area, ask for an IMS with special interest and training in cardiopulmonary. That probably saved my baby's life. ;)

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[pat de rose]

Hi and welcome to our site.

These other conditions have the possibility to give false positive results on the Cushing's testing. Increased thirst and hair thinning and loss could be attributed to low thyroid conditions too.

Cushing's is a slow progressing condition and IMO I would wait to get his heart condition and thyroid problems stabilized before addressing the Cushing's.

If you have any test results, just to see, please post them here - the LDDS (all day) and the urinalysis. Also any blood panel test results that were abnormal.

Terry
thank you terry!

[pat de rose]

My baby too is both a heart and cushing patient. She was diagnosed with congestive heart about 3 years ago. And recently, she is diagnosed with cushing.

She used to be on 3 heart meds (Vetmedin, Fortekor and Furmide). And when she started Vetoryl, the drug for cushing treatment. She stopped taking Fortekor because fortekor is an Ace Inhibitor which have to be taken with caution if you take it with Vetoryl.

So you may like to take not of that, if your baby is taking an Ace Inhibitor, there are quite a number of AI drugs (e.g. benazepril, enalapril, ramipril).

The reason why AI drugs and vetoryl are taken together can elevate risk is because both may cause an elevated level of potassium in the blood stream which can cause irregular heart beats or something which can be fatal.

Better to discuss with your vet on this.
i will, thank you dew nay!

[pat de rose]

Hi and welcome to you and your baby!

In your shoes, I would forget about Cushing's right now and get the heart and lungs as controlled as possible first. As Terry said, these conditions can cause false-positives simply from the internal stress they cause. Stress of any kind can cause the cortisol to elevate naturally. ;) In addition, the drugs used to treat Cushing's and the drugs used to treat heart conditions do not always mix well at all as Dew-Nay said.

But I have a question for you - was it a GP vet or an IMS who made these diagnoses? The reason I ask is one of my babies was recently diagnosed with CHF but when the IMS checked her that was incorrect - her heart is fine but she does have COPD. The film from her GP vet showed a heart nearly twice normal size but the ECG showed a perfectly normal heart. So if your baby has not seen a specialist, I would take him to see a cardiologist if possible; if there isn't one in your area, ask for an IMS with special interest and training in cardiopulmonary. That probably saved my baby's life. ;)

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang
thank you leslie. we had to take toby to the emergency hospital where he was seen first by a gp (it was a sunday) and he stayed overnight to see the cardiologist on monday. we went for a recheck and he was very happy with the way he looked. he wants to see him in 4 or 5 months. i am glad he saw the specialist!

[molly muffin]

Welcome! When you get into complicated medical issues I always think a specialist is the way to go.
Glad you got to see a cardiologist.