My Maltese Likely Has Cushings

[MasonTheMaltese]

Hello everyone,

Mason my 8 year old Maltese likely has Cushings. He goes in on Monday morning for his Low Dex Test. I will post the results once I have them. Mason weighs 6-7 lbs. His blood test showed a high ALP level of 564 and he had 3+ protein in his urine. The vet could also physically feel an enlarged liver during his exam.

We went to the vet yesterday for the following symptoms:
-excessive thirst
-peeing on the floor
-excessive hunger
-hestitant to jump on the couch (very unusual for my typically hyper boy)
-pot belly bloat
-eyes seem to bulge a little (could this be a pituitary sign?)
-excessive panting and licking
-No hair loss in patches, but his hair is certainly thinning
-darker skin (went from very light pink to darker pink)
-muscle loss
-SEIZURES....does anyone else's dog with Cushings have seizures? Mason has them in the middle of the night and they seem to be brought on by a stressful event (like the vet visit, having lots of company over). The seizure lasts maybe 1 to 2 minutes.

If the test comes back positive for Cushings the vet suggested 10 mg of Vetoryl to start.

I am looking forward to hearing from you all for any advice or feedback you might have. I was up all night reading previous threads and you all are very educated and I am so glad something like this website exists.


Thank you,
Kelly

[Angus2223]

Hi Kelly,
My dog has been diagnosed with Pituitary Dependent- Cushings Disease, since July of 2015, and does not have seizures or bulging eyes. Also, her liver is not enlarged. I am only familiar with Lysodren medication. This disease is very treatable & from what I have seen, it seems to be more common than I thought. High cortisol levels cause havoc on their entire body..... Liver enzymes, blood pressure, skin disorders, susceptible to UTI's, my dogs white blood cells dropped making her susceptible to infections, my dogs glucose levels increased, and the increase in thirst was unbelievable! I had to measure and she drank over 2 gallons in one day! The symptoms seem to be endless. With the help of your doctor, I'm sure your litle Mason will be just fine.

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

First did they rule out diabetes and thyroid as a possible cause of the symptoms Mason is having?

10mg might be fine, but I would probably start at 5mg to begin with and see how he does. The manufacture recommends 1mg/1lb for starting dose, so either would probably be fine.

I don't really think bulging eyes are a specific symptom of cushings, only if there was some pressure being exerted. Did your vet comment on that issue?
Is there a doggie ophamologist perhaps at an ER or speciality clinic who could take a look?

Thyroid can cause seizures, so you want to make sure that is okay.
Seizures is one of those things that sometimes you never end up knowing for sure what causes them. I know of quite a few dogs who do have seizures along with cushings, but they aren't a typical symptom of cushings. If that makes any sense.

The majority of the symptoms other than the two you specifically asked about of course are typical cushings symptoms but also symptoms of other things as i mentioned, thyroid, diabetes, and sometimes kidney. Have they done a UPC test to check for protein loss kidney disease and also check BUN, Creatinine, and electrolyte levels to see how he is doing? I probably would have that looked at further.

Again, welcome to the forum

[MasonTheMaltese]

Hello again,

We got our test results back. We are definitely cushings. I'd like to share the results with you in hopes that you may have feedback.

Low Dex Test:
8:41 AM Cortisol Level: 8.1 (WOW)
8:50 AM Dex Injection (0.02 mL)
12:50 PM Cortisol Level: 7.2
4:50 PM Cortisol Level: 5.5

His other bloodwork results:

Alk Phosphate Level 1,387 The normal range is 5-131
GGTP Level 71 The normal range is 1-12
Triglycerides Level 636 The normal range is 29-291

They are suggesting an ultrasound to determine if its Pituitary or Adrenal. Is this the normal next step? They told me it was $500? To ultrasound a tiny Maltese...kinda crazy.

Thank you again,
Kelly

[wendyweneki]

Hi Kelly,

Strange that you said about the seizures. Panda Bear started having seizures about a year ago. Now she has only had 3 of them (that we have noticed) but I wonder if that is something to look further into also.

Let us know how your baby does on the medicine.

Sending my very best,
Wendy

[lulusmom]

Hi Kelly and a belated welcome to you and Mason.

The symptoms you listed are certainly associated with cushing's and the results of the LDDS test are consistent with cushing's but unfortunately it does not tell us whether it is pituitary dependent cushing's. The abdominal ultrasound is very much an appropriate next step, regardless of a dog's size, to not only make the differentiation between pituitary and adrenal dependent disease but also to give your vet a good look at the surrounding organs to make sure there is nothing else going on that could be contributing to the the lab abnormalities. Both of my cushdogs were very tiny 4.5 lbs and 6.5 lbs and both had abdominal ultrasounds as part of their diagnostic protocol. Both had the usual enlarged adrenal glands and enlarged liver that is almost always seen in cushingoid dogs.

My first cushdog had infrequent seizures of very short duration that also appeared to be brought on by excitement. She also had chronic proteinuria (protein in the urine) of 1+ to 2+ which is common in cushingoid dogs. 3+ makes me a bit nervous so that high number, combined with the seizures and possibly the eye abnormality, makes me think that it would be a really good idea that you make sure that your vet checks Mason's blood pressure. Hypertension can account for and/or contribute to all three of those issues. It's my understanding that getting an accurate blood pressure reading is a science so I felt much more comfortable with my dog's internal medicine specialist's level of knowledge and experience to accomplish that. Hopefully your vet is comfortable with his abilities. Fortunately, my cushdog's blood pressure was not a problem.

I have an affinity for all toy breeds but I think Maltese are the best toy breed their is, and I've shared my life with a number of them. None of them had cushing's, just heart and liver disease that ultimately took their lives. My cushdogs were both Pomeranians who never read the book on cushing's but that's a story for another day. :D

I'm glad you found us and I look forward to your updates.

Glynda