What Are the Symptoms of Cushings?

[Adreeza]

Hello All,

My dog Niko had a recent blood test and they think he should go for further testing for cushings. I am in between jobs right now and I spent a chunk of change getting previous tests done on him 2 weeks ago.

The vet seems to be VERY hit or miss with testing and I have paid for a larger portion of very unnecessary testing. SO I am here to ask what the symptoms of this disease and to get some background from you.

Background on My Amazing Dog Niko:

He had an episode 2 weeks ago where he couldn't walk. He went out to go to the bathroom and while urinating his legs just gave out! No warning. I freaked out and thought he was having a stroke and rushed him to the ER. He had no previous history of this happening before.

* Note when I took him to the vet they did every other possible test known to man BUT didn't look at his teeth (even though I mentioned it). Turns out he had gotten ahold of something plastic, it created an infection. That was all in the course of 2 days - I brush his teeth pretty regularly because he has a couple bad teeth. My assumption is that this infection could have raised his cortisol levels enough spike the test and affect his brain enough to affect his walking etc. The plastic had gotten lodged deep and it was in his very back tooth (hard to see).

They pulled it out, put him on antibiotics, and anti nausea pills. He was back to his old self in 2 days.

Symptoms he's having
* Hunger
* Thirst (this has lessened since the infection has cleared)
* Frequent Urination
* Eating grass, dirt and anything he can get ahold of.
* Licking (lots of licking)
* Lots of active dreaming

While I am seriously considering the tests just to rule it out. I wanted some feed back because I don't have the money to switch him to a new vet just yet.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give me. Niko and I appreciate it!

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Niko!

Could you get copies of those tests they did on Niko and post those values that are marked abnormal and please include the normal ranges...e.g...ALT 150 U/L (5-50) Any non-adrenal illness and even stress will raise a dog's cortisol level and thus create a false positive result from the test used to diagnose Cushing's so this has to be taken in consideration when evaluating a dog for Cushing's.

What antibiotic and anti nausea pills is he taking? If this were me, once he is finished taking these medications I would wait at least 2 months and than see how he is doing, it just may be that the antibiotic and nausea pills are the culprit for those symptoms.

The clinical symptoms commonly seen in dogs with Cushing's are a ravenous appetite, drinking buckets of water and peeing rivers, skin/hair issues, and a pot-bellied appearance. The vast majority of dogs with Cushing's have very diluted urine with a low specific gravity. Was an urinalysis done on Niko's urine and does he have diluted urine?

I am sorry for the reasons that brought you to us but so glad you found your way here. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask them and know that we are here to help in any way we can.

Hugs, Lori

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Lori, already mentioned what the symptoms of cushings are and about the test, any results that are high or low if you could post with range. This helps us to give you better feedback.

I want to really reiterate what Lori said, the infection absolutely could cause the cortisol to be high, so not worth testing right now, it would likely be a waste of money. And wait till after the medication has been gone through and some time has passed and see how he is doing. It might be that these symptoms will all disappear once he is over the infection.

[Adreeza]

I will get the test results ASAP so I can post them to the page. Thank you for responding :)

I agree with the infection increasing his cortisol level. SO I will wait a couple months until his infection is completely clear.

He does have the frequent and intense thirst for water, and lots of urination.

He's missing one patch of hair on his tail and from time to time seems to have a pot belly.

He's also trying to eat dirt and wood a lot? So I started him on some vitamins thinking this could be a mineral issue.

[Adreeza]

I don't think they did urine analysis on him but I will double check that and see.

I will also get the medications they put him on and post them tonight. Thank you for your replies!

[Harley PoMMom]

To help satisfy Niko's hunger you may want to try giving him frozen green beans and/or uncooked/cooked carrots.