Question about expectations...

[Aiervon]

Our cocker, Owen, who is a little under 7 years old was recently diagnosed with Cushing's disease. We sought a second opinion and the diagnosis was confirmed.

We originally suspected cushing's when he started consuming more water, urinating more often, and just not being as energetic as before. He also started having peripheral nerve issues on the right side of his face (right eye wouldn't blink, right mouth muscles are slacking). This is a symptom of the disease according to both vets that we talked to.

Anyway, so I've ordered 10mg doses of Vetoryl and my vet suggests we give it to him twice daily (so 20mg/day). Owen weighs roughly ~30lbs, so this seems like an appropriate dosage starting point.

The questions and concerns I have is what type of improvement should I expect from this treatment? Does vetoryl generally have a high success rate? Does it start to work within a few days or does it sometimes take weeks to show signs of helping him? Is there anything else I should be looking out for?

I'd also like to know if anyone else has experience the peripheral nerve issue as well.

Thanks,
Dave

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Dave,

Welcome to you and Owen! I'm so glad you found your way here although I'm sorry for the circumstances that brought you to us.

It would help us greatly if you could tell us more about Owen and his medical history, in this way we can provide you with our best possible feedback, and the way we get this information is with a lot of questions, so here goes some of mine :eek:;)

Could you round up all copies of the testing that was done to diagnose Owen and post the results here. With respect to the blood chemistry and cbc, you need only post the highs and lows and please include the normal reference ranges. Was an urinalysis done, and if so, could you post those findings here? Were other non-adrenal diseases ruled out? Was Owen diagnosed with the adrenal or pituitary type of Cushing's? Does Owen have a ravenous appetite? Is he taking any other herbs/supplements/medications?

Cushing's is probably the most difficult canine disease to diagnose. Physical symptoms associated with Cushing's are shared by many other diseases, blood and urine abnormalities are shared with other other diseases and the diagnostic tests to measure circulating cortisol are flawed and can yield false positive results in the face of non-adrenal illnesses or even stress. All of these things make it very challenging to correctly diagnose Cushing's which makes it one of the most misdiagnosed canine diseases. There isn't one test that can accurately identify it so multiple tests are needed to validate a diagnosis for Cushing's.

We do have many members that are treating their cushdog with Vetoryl and are experiencing success. With treatment dogs with Cushing's can have a good quality of life and there is every reason to believe that they can live out their normal life span. The dose the vet has prescribed is appropriate, Dechra the makers of Vetoryl, recommend starting a dog out at 1mg per pound of the dog's weight.

Improvements in the increased drinking/urinating are usually seen within a week or two. I've been on the forum for 6 years now and I don't recall any members with cushdogs having peripheral nerve issues that was caused by Cushing's, maybe our other members will, my mind is feeble these days :eek::)

The key to facilitating safe and effective treatment is an experienced vet and an educated pet owner, so the best advice I can give you is to do your research on Cushing's, the treatment protocols, and how it is diagnosed. I'm including some links to info regarding Cushing's: http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=180

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=10

If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask them and know we will help in any way we can,

Hugs, Lori

[flynnandian]

"'I'd also like to know if anyone else has experience the peripheral nerve issue as well.""

this is a rare side effect of cushing's disease.
my border collie had it too. he got moderin for a week and after this it took weeks to get better.
one other dog on this forum named eli suffered from it too. in his case it took months. he didn't get meds for it.
it is not a common side effect so it was hard to find info about it.
so, from these 2 cases i think it has to heal on its own, the natural way.
for our dogs it was a one time issue.

[Squirt's Mom]

From your post it sounds as if you decided to treat based on the facial problems, drinking and peeing more? Please please please tell us your baby was actually tested for this disease and tested positive! Did your baby have an LDDS, ACTH, or abdominal ultrasound? If so, what are the results of those tests? Has he had a wellness check that looks at the internal organs and shows things like BUN, CHOL, ALPK? If so, please post those values that were either too high or too low along with the little letter that follow and the normal range for each - it will look something like
ALP 2300 ug/dl 150-300 EXAMPLE

I am VERY concerned about the testing - these are powerful drugs that can cause death if misused so please let us know what tests were done to diagnose the Cushing's.