Confused and Upset

[Hudsonsmom79]

Hello all. In the past few months our Hudson has started drinking tons of water and having accidents in the house. He is around 10 years old and is a Brussells griffon. We took him to the vet 2 weeks ago and she diagnosed him with a UTI. We gave him the antibiotics and thought nothing else of it. Last week we were woken up by Hudson having a horrific seizure. He was foaming at the mouth, banging his head back and forth, the whole bit. It was terrifying and we immediately took him to the vet. This time she did blood work and said his liver enzymes are elevated and his thyroid is very low. He tested negative for diabetes. The vet noticed he had a pot belly and told us she thinks it is cushings disease. She offered to test but said it was very expensive and she could guarantee that is what he has. She is starting him on a thyroid medication for 2 months to see if his thyroid levels increase and said we will go from there after rechecking his bloodwork.
We are devastated to say the least and are terrified of him having another seizure. We had never heard of cushings disease and had to look up what it was. We are confused because he doesn't seem to show any symptoms other than the increased thirst and urination. His coat is still gorgeous and he has no hair loss. He is still energetic, loves to cuddle, and shows no signs of muscle weakness. We are very confused and heartbroken after reading dogs with cushings have a 2-3 year survival rate.
We have no children and Hudson is so important to us. We have been looking at everything from the raw diet, to supplements, to vitamins over the last 2 days and are overwhelmed on what we should be doing for him. The side effects from the cushings meds sound horrible, but we don't want him to suffer and want to keep him around as long as possible. We would love any insight and advice. Thanks!

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Sorry it took us so long to get back to you.

Thyroid can cause the same sort of symptoms as cushings, and also the seizures, so I think before going into cushings, see how his thyroid reacts to the medication. Cushings doesn't necessarily cause seizures usually, so I'm thinking the thyroid is more in play here.
However, that being said, if going forward it does turn out to be cushings too, then as long as the medication is giving according to dosage protocols and follow up testing as indicated, then the meds are fine and can be quite beneficial. Bad side effects are usually do to giving too much medication rather than appropriate dosage.
We'll help you with that if you get to that point. We've had dogs on treatment for years and years. Cushings is not a death sentence, so first things first, lets get that thyroid taken care of and see if cushings is even still to be considered okay :)

Big hugs, I know this is scary. We all felt like that when we found this forum I am willing to bet. I did for sure. Cried myself silly some days. It's okay to do that by the way. :)

[judymaggie]

Hello from me, too! My last beagle, Maggie (also a Cush pup), had seizures and I found a great website:

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/site_map.htm

If you scroll down a bit, you will see several sections about thyroid issues. The section "Connection Between Low Thyroid and Seizures" includes an excellent interview with Dr. Jean Dodds, the leading expert on thyroid issues.

I learned a huge amount about seizures from this website. It is very important to keep a log of each seizure, including, what was your dog doing when the seizure started, how long it lasted, etc. Seizures are so traumatic for us dog parents that it is impossible to remember details later on. There are also some great tips about what to do during the seizure and immediately after.

Hang in there!