Is treatment sometimes worse than the disease?

[bhansen@thecouncil.org]

I am new here. I have an 11 year old Shitzu named Annie who I adore. In November she was diagnosed with diabetes and started on insulin injections. She is now on 5 units of Novolin N two times per day and not well regulated. Last week she received an additional diagnosis of cushings. She was prescribed 10mg of Vetoryl twice daily. After only 2 days she became extremely uncomfortable, unable to walk and whimpering. Apparently the medicine did its job but has now exposed that she has severe osteoarthritis. The suggestion of the internal medicine vet recommends continuing on Vetoryl and adding a pain medication. At this point I don't know what to do. I have placed the Vetoryl on hold and she is back to her happy self. I know that not treating it will have consequences also. Has anyone dealt with something like this?

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

First thing I want to let you know about is that we have a sister site for diabetes, and we do have members on both sites that have been diagnosed with both diabetes and cushings. It can be very helpful for you. www.k9cushings.com/forum

What where her symptoms that made them think she had cushings? What test was used to diagnose her and do you have those results that you can share here?

How much does Annie weigh? I ask because the starting dose should be no more than 1mg/1lb. Does Annie weigh about 20lbs?

Perhaps, what would work better is 5mg morning and 5mb evening, instead of 10/10.

It can be a fine balancing act, when you have multiple issues and it's not unheard of for lowering cortisol to unearth previously unknown arthritic issues.
If at all possible for you to do the lower dose and Annie still be comfortable, that might be optimal.
If you do have to add in a pain medication, many use tramadol as it is easier on the liver.