Candy, 10 y/o Redbone Coonhound - Vetoryl/Flax/Melatonin

[ampolprin]

My 10 year old female redbone coonhound, Candy, was diagnosed with Cushing's about a month ago. She is on 60mg of Vetoryl plus flax seed hulls and melatonin. I've been reading the pro's and con's of a raw diet and am totally confused as to which way to go:confused:. Any suggestions/advice. Thank you.

[labblab]

Hello and welcome to you and Candy! We would love to read more about Candy's overall diagnosis and treatment path so that we can give you our best feedback. What symptoms prompted you to consider Cushing's? Does she have any previous health history, and also what tests were performed to diagnose the Cushing's? Specific values for any lab or test abnormalities are especially helpful.

As for your question regarding raw diets...our experience here has been that, in terms of Cushing's itself, there doesn't seem to be any special advantage in raw vs. cooked vs. homemade vs. commercial dry. We have dogs here who have done well while being fed all of the above. Whatever type of food folks choose, we do recommend moderate amounts of good quality protein and also lower amounts of fat (lower fat due to a presumed vulnerability to pancreatitis). But I'm afraid your choice re: raw vs. cooked/dry food really needs to come down to your own personal decision in response to Candy's specific personal history and current nutritional status.

I am sorry to say that, elsewhere on the internet, discussions of raw diets seem to have a tendency to incite very strong and often adversarial opinions and feelings :(. We hope to avoid those types of "food fights" here on k9cushings, so here on our main discussion forum, we really want to instead focus attention on Cushing's-specific topics and issues, of which raw vs. non-raw diet really is not one. I suspect there are quite a few forums where you can find more detailed info and discussion about the general advantages/disadvantages of raw feeding, and I encourage you to seek them out if this is a question that is important to you.

But diet aside, as I said above, we'd love to discuss other specifics of Candy's situation in as much detail as you'd like. So please do tell us more about her history and her Cushing's journey thus far.

Once again, welcome!
Marianne

[labblab]

It's me again! Just wanted to momentarily stop back by and tell you that I've taken the liberty of editing your thread title so as to put the emphasis on Candy's current Cushing's treatment. I think this will better catch the attention of our other members who are also using these meds. ;)

Marianne

[ampolprin]

Thanks Marianne for helping me out with your information. Didn't realize that the diet was a heated discussion - sorry about that! Candy had the Low Dose Dexamethasone Suppression Test that confirmed her Cushings. Candy was getting urinary tract infections, drinking a lot of water and having accidents almost daily in the house which is not like her. She is a rescue and also has Thyroid disease.

[molly muffin]

Welcome to you and Candy.
Oh yes, people have very definite opinions about raw vs cooked or commercial. It is alarming somtimes, so we stay away from that issues, as we have seen dogs, as Marianne mentioned, do well on all of the above. Thank goodness, it seems to be a matter of personal preference in the end. Good quality seems to be the most important factor in any food of course.

How are Candy's symptoms now?

[labblab]

I definitely don't want you to think you can never ask any questions at all about food around here. People do talk at times about specific brand recommendations or nutritional breakdowns. But it's just the general raw vs. non-raw conflict that we try to avoid.

Like Sharlene, I'm wondering how Candy is doing right now. Also, are you following guidance from Univ. of Tennessee re: the lignans and melatonin? Usually that combo is recommended for treatment of adrenal hormone elevations other than cortisol, and they have the only lab that tests the full adrenal hormone panel to assess those levels. So I am just wondering whether they performed an ACTH stimulation analysis for you, or whether you are adding the supplements just on general principle.

Marianne

[ampolprin]

Candy still has occasional accidents in the house and is still drinking a lot of water. Yes, I am following the Univ. of Tennessee lignans and melatonin. I'm adding the supplements on general principal. She had the ACTH test and her levels were still high so the vet is adding 10mg more of the Vetoryl making it a total of 70mg. Hopefully, that will help!

[molly muffin]

Hello, let us know what the next ACTH test is and how Candy is doing. Hopefully much better.