My Archie

[kathyg805]

My 8 yr old lab said to have Cushings last yr. I would like to know if anyone has tried the herb route ie...Adrenal Harmony Gold for Dogs? IS IT SAFE ?OR WASTE OF $? Also what food is your dog eating. Archie is eating Natural Balance Lamb and Potato.:confused:
Thx in advanced Kathy

[molly muffin]

Hello,

I have manually approved your post so members may begin responding to you.

Welcome to the forum.

Unfortunately we have not found a herbal route that adequately lowers cortisol enough in the case of cushings to be a factor.

The best route usually for a confirmed diangosis is still the medication route. Which many of our dogs are on successfully for years and years. The key to using the medications is to know the proper dosages and the testing protocols.

We do tend to ask a lot of questions here, which makes it easier to give more accurate feedback, so here goes:

Has your dog been on any medication yet? Vetroyl (trilostane) or lysodren?

What symptoms did your dog have that made you and your vet test for cushings?

Was diabetes, thyroid, kidney ruled out? (Cushings is one of the hardest disease to get a diagnosis of as so many other disease have the same symptoms)

Do you have copies of any blood work, urinalysis and cushings test and if so can you post the high and lows with ranges?

As far as food goes, people feed different things, some like dry, some wet, some a combo and some raw. In general a good quality protein and lower in fat works. (cushing dogs can be prone to pancreatis, so that is why lower in fat)

[kathyg805]

Yes Archie had all test ultra sound, urine, blood. But I didnt get the #s on these test. In hind sight I guess I should have. The vet wanted us to see a holistic vet or use the meds and Archie would then have to have urine test every 3 weeks or so and that would be very costly she said. I have another lab 18 months already on prescription food and Apoquel for skin itch. I just wanted Arch to be comfortable. He still plays ball and plays with Raven. He has ALL the signs of Cushing....Thirst, pees, hunger, eat anything,and strange odor. I guess Meds is Archies`s next step.? Hoping I could fix him but I cant.

[dsbailey]

You can't fix him but can help him. Get the lab results and post them, read everything you can especially from the people here. Archie is middle aged but can most likely live to old age and a (looking for the words here) - um Happy life, it won't be easy but he will never notice - :)

[molly muffin]

Once started on medication and if you are using trilostane, it should start at no more than 1mg/1lb. Then you would do initial testing (*not urine) but ACTH at 4 - 6 hours after medicaiton is given with food) and once the right dosage is reached, you would do follow up testing less often.

Also, instead of using the brand name vetroyl, you can use the compounded trilostane. Many of our members use one called Diamondback out of Arizona. Their vet just calls in the prescription and they will fill and ship it to you. This is a cost saving method also.