Eddie the blind bichon has cushings...

[rosalia]

We had Eddie tested and he is positive for cushings. Large belly, lethargic, diarrhea, vomiting, eating and drinking a lot, insomnia, and needing to go out several times a night. These all led me to take him to the vet. Eddie is also blind now. He has had cataracts for years (he will be 9 in October) and I am not sure if this was due to the steroids for allergies he was given in the past, or if this was simply going to happen anyways.

Between the blindness and the symptoms we are beside ourselves. His personality is awesome - such a wonderful little dog, (big for a bichon at 20 lbs) he came into our life when we needed him most. Now he is so sullen and unhappy, his little cloudy eyes look tired and sad. It's heart breaking. We are seeing the vet on Saturday for a consult. They are going to suggest meds - does anyone have experience with a blind cushings dog? The other thing is we both work, close to home so we come home at lunch, and always have. Eddie has the run of the house and is comfortable here. Lately he seems to sleep more and more, hiding in a corner. Both my husband and I are in tears over this....

[Squirt's Mom]

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[Squirt's Mom]

I am mom to 2 totally blind babies, one who is blind in one eye, and to one who is going blind from cataracts. I understand your angst but want you to know right off that these babies can adjust very well to their dark world with our help...and I know you have lots of TLC to spread around. I'll be back later to chat more but wanted to tell you that little bit immediately. Eddie will probably be depressed for a bit as he learns his new world but don't despair - he can become very much the same baby you used to know.

[rosalia]

You have no idea how helpful your post is to me today. Like I said, we are heart-broken. If we could see him improve on the meds that are going to be prescribed and get his happy demeanor back it would be so wonderful

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Eddie!

Gosh I'm sorry for the circumstances that brought you here but glad you found us. In order for us to provide meaningful feedback it would help us to know more about sweet Eddie, so I have some questions to ask :eek::D

If a CBC/chemistry blood panel was done recently, could you post all the abnormal values with their reporting units and reference ranges? If an urinalysis was done, we are interested in those results too. What diagnostic tests were done that identified his Cushing's? I am assuming other non-adrenal diseases, such as diabetes and hypothyroidism, were ruled out? Does Eddie have any underlying illness that he is taking herbs/supplements/medications for? How long ago was Eddie on the prednisone and is he taking it now? I see that Eddie does have some symptoms that can be associated with Cushing's, however vomiting is not one of them. Has the vet found a reason for his vomiting?

This Cushing's sure can be a confusing and frustrating disease. Some of the challenging aspects in diagnosing Cushing's is that there isn't a test that can accurately identify it and any other underlying health issue can skew the test results for Cushing's, so unfortunately, it is often misdiagnosed.

The two medications generally prescribed for canine Cushing's are Lysodren/Mitotane and Vetoryl/Trilostane. They are strong drugs, but adverse side effects can be mitigated and even eliminated as long as the proper protocols are being followed.

I know how worrisome it is when your furbaby is not feeling like their usual ole self, but Cushing's is not a death sentence for a dog, it is a treatable disease. The key to facilitating safe and effective treatment is an experienced vet and an educated pet owner.

We have a wealth of information regarding Cushing's in our Resource thread, which does include articles written by some of the most renown veterinarians that specialize in endocrinology such as David Bruyette, Mark Peterson, and Edward Feldman. Here's a link to our Resource thread: Helpful Resources for Owners of Cushing's Dogs (http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=10) Please know we will help in any way we can, and do not hesitate to ask all the questions you want.

Hugs, Lori

[Squirt's Mom]

If you are one of those folk who like to shake things up in the house by rearranging the furniture all the time so your housemates crack their toes in the night on their way to the bathroom you are gonna have to get over that particular thrill. :D Consistency is yours and Eddie's best friend from now on. Move nothing that isn't put back in the same spot, same position as soon as possible. He will find great comfort in finding that chair leg in that spot every time he comes around that corner, even if he bumps into it more often than not. It belongs there and it being there to bump into tells him all is well in that dark place. One of my completely blind babies, Trinket, has sonar like a bat and rarely bumps into anything, the other is my little pin ball and bounces off of everything! My house is bubble wrapped for Brick the pin ball. :p

Brick is very tactilly oriented - meaning he finds his way around by what he feels with his feet more than any other sense. He knows the second his feet touch a certain rug where he is and which way to turn to get where he wants to go. He reaches out slowly with a front paw til he feels the metal threshold at the front door then he bounds across it and is off down the ramp to do his job. You can use different napped rugs in the doorways of rooms to let him know he is entering a different space. He will learn that stiff feel means this is the place where all the food is and that smooth slick feel means his bed is in there.

They both know by the sound of my footsteps not only where I am when they are on the floor but where we both are when I am carrying them. They know when we leave the hall and enter the bedroom or leave the kitchen and enter the LR - by how my footsteps sound. I talk to them constantly or sing or something. At first I wore bells on my ankles when we walked so they would always know where I was but I soon realized they heard my steps and voice just fine. Never touch Eddie without first speaking his name unless you are absolutely sure he knows you are present. Do all you can to minimize startling him. Move slowly with him when you approach just as you would with a strange dog, giving him a minute to recognize you and know exactly where you are in relation to him. As he adjusts, this won't be as necessary because he will become very tuned it to every sound around him and be able to ID most if not all right away.

My little guy going blind is sad and will have a harder time that either Trinket or Brick. He is a foster, tho one who will never leave, and I think he must have been used as a breeder til he got sick. He didn't seem to know what it meant to be loved on or be given a treat but has learned to appreciate those things very much indeed. He has heart disease so surgery to fix his eyes is out of the question. On top of losing his sight, he is going deaf at an alarming rate. So he is losing two senses at the same time. Redd is high strung and struggles with dementia now as well tho his med is helping with that. So often I walk into my bedroom where the crates are to see him laying in his staring out with this lost, pitiful, frightened look on his sweet little face and my heart just breaks for him. His inner and outer worlds are becoming so very strange. All I can do is pick him up and hold him til he calms, then rub his face and whisper in his ears he will be ok, no matter what he will be ok. Sometimes, that's all we can do but it's enough. He doesn't ask much at all so whenever he shows up I make it a point to stop whatever I am doing to spend a few minutes with him and that is all he wants. He will then trot down the hall and curl up in his crate to contentedly take a nap. He just needed that reassurance.

[rosalia]

I never thought of a ramp to get off the deck and into the backyard. This sounds like a great idea.

There were several readings from the bloodwork that showed up but they seem pretty close to the norm - however, the two that stick out are

ALT - 303 (10-125)
ALKP - 1104 (23-212)

These are the readings that had the vet do the "low dose dex suppression test" which is the one where they take the baseline (is it cortisol?) then add a synthetic hormone to make it spike then take the blood again to see if it came down. It did not.

They diagnosed Cushings based on that. I think he was vomiting Tuesday night because he ate his food so fast and then drank sooo much water. We are giving him his kibble in smaller portions now. I don't know how to stop him from gulping so much water. Is the diarrhea part of this syndrome?

He has had that since Tuesday night.

[Harley PoMMom]

The low-dose dexamethasone suppression (LDDS) test takes all day to perform; first a blood draw is collected for the baseline reading; than a low dose of dexamethasone is injected; 2 blood draws are then taken at 4 hours and than at 8 hours.

The ACTH stimulation test, depending on which agent is used, takes only a hour or two to complete, this consists of taking a blood draw for a "pre" reading than the stimulating agent is injected and another blood draw is taken after a hour or two, this is called the "post" reading.

Since Cushing's is difficult to diagnose and because there just isn't one test that can identify it, a vet needs to perform multiple tests to validate a diagnosis for Cushing's.

Diarrhea and vomiting are generally not seen in dogs with Cushing's, but is common with pancreatitis, and dogs with Cushing's are prone to pancreatitis because of that excess amount of cortisol their system is producing.

Hugs, Lori

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome from me too.

Now here is the thing, you don't want to start cushings meds if they are not well, vomiting and diarrhea. As these two are not symptoms of cushings.

You don't want to withhold water ever from them, as the cushings makes them urinate and they need the water to stay hydrated. It isn't that they urinate because they drink, just the opposite.

My dog has some pretty severe focal point blindness and she does alright but we don't move anything and she knows her way around the house and up her steps to the window seat very well.

Now if you do plan on starting meds and they can be really good for high cortisol, if you are using vetroyl only start at 1mg/1lb, no more. If lysodren, come back and let us know and we'll show you the guidelines for that too.

Pancreatitis is a real concern with cushing dogs, and usually if they are vomiting, the best idea is to give them boiled chicken and mushy rice, very small meals several times a day, as it is easily digestible. I do that every time my dog has diarrhea and I add in some florifora probiotic too, divided between morning and evening.