Toy puddle with cushings, ?end state

[timfouch]

Hi, I'm Tim. My almost 13 year old puddle has been diagnosed and fighting cushings for close to 3 years now. I have a horrible dilemma.
I am a 53 yr old disabled father to 2 wonderful adult. I spend so much time alone that I worry what will happen after I have to put one of my very best friends. I had to put my sheltie down just 3 months ago. She was only 12 but due to a heart condition in which the treatment for her disease caused her kidneys to shut down. Skipper is my has put up a heck of a fight and until about 2 months I noticed one of his eyes had a rather large scratch on it. Since that time I have successfully helped it with the antibiotic drops and frequent other treatments to clear that eye up. However his other eye became infected. This started a non-stop series of one eye or the other being infected. The Veterol that he is on is only 10 mgs but it seemed to reverse many of the initial symptoms. He returned to his happy, follow-me-everywhere old self with the exception of obvious seeing difficulties. Then about 3-4 weeks ago I've noticed a lot more lethargy and at times is in pain. We've controlled his pain with an oral ANSIDs. Also around that time I took him out for his daily BM. He always has to turn around 2 or 3 times before he is able to go. It was on one of his spins that he just tipped over. I took him to his vet and we agreed that due to his degenerating bones that he quite possible hurt his back hip. I brought him home but instead of seeing improvement I fell that it just isn't happening. He's sleeping most of the time. Though I think around the clock pain meds might be contributing to this. He tries to stand up on his own and usually with a lot of work he can get up and walks from the living room to the kitchen. He always heads for the kitchen either to eat, drink or he needs outside. His appetite and fluid intake has been quite normal. I know assist him outside. He lets me keep my hands just barely touching his side and urinates without a problem. He is having a harder time letting me hold him while he's trying to have his BM. He is getting better thou and I have to be there or he tries to spin around and falls. I've always said that I will do anything possible to take the best care possible of my pets but do not want to see them in pain and/or has a poor quality of life. I don't know really what to do? It breaks my heart to even consider having to put him down. I don't know what the end stages are like for dogs with cushing's. Can someone please give me some advice? Thank you to whomever reads this and for any ideas, thoughts?

[mytil]

Hi Tim and welcome to our site. I am sorry you and your boy are having to deal with this. I am also sorry to read about your Sheltie passing.....my condolences.

I know it seems times are rough right now but wanted to see if your vet has performed a recent ACTH test to monitor the levels of circulating cortisol - if so, please post the results here along with the date.

It is not uncommon for this to creep up over the years and the dosage needs adjusting. Also during this test it is a good idea to just have the electrolytes checked too.

There could be a number of things here dealing with his balance and possibly an inner ear infection or problem.

I would like to say what a great job you are doing with him over these 3 years! We will try to figure this out just keep us posted.

Terry

[spdd]

I can't help you with the testing end of the diagnosis, but I can with the trouble your pup is having standing. I bought my dog a harness, and you can see it in my picture file. It was great for helping my dog up and down the stairs as well as pulling him up from a lying position and to balance him when he had to do his business. It was worth every penny I spent on it, and the good thing about it, is you can get other attachments for it if needed. Ruffwear makes it about 50-60 dollars, mind you the ones I have seen on their site, the handle is a bit wider then what I had. I bought the webmaster harness... it is worth a try. I just held onto the harness when he squatted and there was no mess or fuss. A lot easier too then bending over to hold the dog up. Here's another site you could look at http://helpemup.com/

[molly muffin]

Welcome to the forum.

The harness is a great idea and many have used them successfully. Also the mention of an inner ear problem/infection is good to have looked into and an ACTH test.

I'm so sorry for the lose of your sheltie and hopefully the time has not yet come for you to face going through such heartbreak again so soon. :(

[timfouch]

Hello and thank you ahead of time for reading this and for any help. My dog Skip is approaching 13 yrs. old. He is a toy puddle. I don't know what to do. He was diagnosed with cushings almost 3 yrs. ago. His cortisol levels have been about the same since his vet started titrating his vetoryl. He is only on 5 mgs. a day. His vet has even told me that she would support stopping it all together because his labs don't support increasing his dose and due to his vetoryl being such a low dose and because of the cost of the medication. I'm disabled and live on a very low fixed income. I also have Skip's bio sister and had a Sheltie which I had to have euthanized 2 months ago. The three dogs all developed chronic illnesses and 4 surgeries have caused a very large amount of money that maxed out my credit card and borrowed money from friends because these guys are all I have. I promised them that as long as their not in pain and I can give them some quality of life I would do whatever I could. About 4 weeks ago I took him outside and while trying to have a BM he feel over. Over the next week he couldn't get up or able to stand. His front shoulder turns inward, like he's bull legged. He wants to lie on his side either like he's trying to fold himself in half or with his front legs drawn up and has bouts where its like he is hyperventilating? He has been shaking quite a bit again as well. He stops if I can hold him. I came very close to taking him to the vet to be euthanized. I felt like he wasn't improving, wasn't eating well and it just seemed that his quality of life just wasn't there. However the day I called and talked to his vet about what was happening and we agreed that he probably would be better off to end his suffering. I did want her to see him first. Her next appointment was another week out but we agreed that at any point if I felt that he was having pain that I could just bring him in. It was literally the day before his appointment when he started getting up on his own and within a day or two he was able to stand outside long enough to urinate and to have BMs. He continued improving. He was at a point where he was eating, drinking, walking around the yard and house. The past couple of days he is starting to show signs that his muscles seem to be getting weaker again. I don't know what to do. Does anyone know if these current symptoms could be due to his cushings or could it be something else. How do I know when I have to make that decision to let him go? Any help would be so appreciated. Sincerely, Tim

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Tim,

I've merged your new post into your original thread about Skipper. This way, Skipper's entire health and treatment history are all in one place.

I am so sorry that sweet Skip is having some problems and hopefully we can help you help Skipper, ok? If you could get copies of those most recent ACTH monitoring stimulation tests and post those results here that may enable us to provide you with more meaningful feedback. Was a CBC/chemistry blood panel done recently, and if so could you post any abnormal values for us? How about an urinalysis, was this done recently, and if so, could you post those findings? You mentioned that Skipper's muscles are getting weaker, could you give us more details about this? And is he still eating, drinking, and urinating normally? Is there any place on his body that is sensitive to the touch?

Again I am sorry that Skipper is not feeling quite like himself and I'm hoping once we get your answers to those questions I asked that we can figure out what is going on.

Hugs, Lori

[mytil]

I agree with Lori, post the ACTH test result here.

It is so perplexing in that at one point Skip is incapacitated and then after a bit he is improving. Has his heart been checked?

I am wondering if there is something gastric going on too --- have you changed his food? Or maybe he ingested something he should not have.

Please keep us posted!
Terry

[molly muffin]

How is Skipper doing now?

Muscle weakness can certainly be caused by cushings, but if his numbers are good then I'd hope that wouldn't get any worse, of course age could be a factor too.