Diet and Supplements

[HMystDox]

Hi all,

I have a 14 year old miniature longhaired Dachshund "Sarah" who was diagnosed with Pituitary Cushings at age 11. She has been stable on a twice daily dosage of Trilostaine 10mg in the morning and 5mg before bed.

I am curious what diet and supplements other owners with Cushings dogs use?

Thanks in advance,
Jen & Sarah

[judymaggie]

Hi and welcome to you and Sarah! Congratulations on Sarah's successful treatment -- it is not always easy and can be very time consuming, both with worry and care.

Generally, assuming there are no specific concurrent disease processes, a low fat, low protein quality dog food is recommended. Cushing's pups can be prone to pancreatitis so it is important to keep the fat levels low. Supplements seem to be condition-specific rather than for Cushing's in general. For example, if there are joint issues, you may use glucosamine/chondroitin supplements. Many folks do use liver support supplements such as S-Adenosyl or Denemarin. My beagle, Abbie, has high blood pressure and proteinuria so she gets Omega 3 fish oil in her food. She also has chronic loose stools so she gets Forti-flora daily as well as pumpkin.

Looking forward to learning more about your Sarah!

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Judy is correct in that supplements tend to be geared to each indicipvidual dogs needs but I give joint, liver, omega 3, as supplement. Legs liver kidney basically.

How is your girl doing?

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Sarah!

I'm no dog food expert but I do believe that choosing the right food for our dogs is a personal thing and it should be based on our own research as well as the health challenges our dogs may present.

Since cushdogs do lose muscle mass and can be more prone to pancreatitis I would feed a diet with a moderate amount of good quality protein and that is low in fat.

It is always wonderful to hear that a cushdog is doing so well with treatment...Great Job!!!! Would you mind sharing Sarah's Cushing's journey with us?

Hugs, Lori

[HMystDox]

I currently feed kibble that is 26/16 (fat/protein) she also gets a bit of cooked chicken or high quality canned food.
For supplements I give Nordic Naturals liquid omega-3 (sardine and anchovy oil), Turmeric paste (made with coconut oil, organic black pepper, and distilled water), Glyco-Flex-3 for joints, and milk thistle for liver and kidneys. I have also used a product called Cushings Crusher from Dogzymes in the past but they were out of it when I needed to reorder so she's been off of it for a few months I haven't really noticed a difference one way or the other but since I am covering all the basis with the other things I decided not to go back to it.
She also gets Robaxin and Rimadyl as needed for muscle/joint pain caused by pseudomyotonia though she rarely needs it unless it's very damp, cold or she overdoes it running around :)

Here is a link to her journey in pictures....
Sarah's Cushings Journey
https://www.facebook.com/HarborMyst/media_set?set=a.4851043966253.2175322.1601626446&type=3

Thanks so much,
Jen & Sarah