Cushings Diagnosis

[TEason]

My 9 year old puppy was just diagnosed with Cushings disease? She has many of the symptions; excessive thirst and hunger, pot belly, peeing (and pooping!) around the house. The pottying in the house just started about a week ago. Two things I am trying to figure out (I have an appointment with the vet on Monday) is the affects of this disease on her as we manage it with medication. Right now I am just worried and trying to find out as much info as I can. So many questions:((

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and your girl!

We completely understand how worried you are about your girl being diagnosed with Cushing's, so the first thing I want you to know is that with treatment dogs with Cushing's can have a good quality of life and there is every reason to believe that they can live out their normal life span.

If you could share some specifics about her overall health history, her symptoms, and her actual test results, that would be great. With our new members we ask a lot of questions, this is not because we are nosy, instead, it allows us to provide you with our best possible feedback. So here are some questions that I have ;)

Could you get copies of all tests that were done on your girl and post any abnormalities that are listed? With respect to the blood chemistry and complete blood count (CBC), you need only post the highs and lows and please include the normal reference ranges. We are very interested in all the tests that were performed that diagnosed her Cushing's, could you post those results for us? Does your girl have any underlying illness that she is taking medication for? And if so, what is it and what is the medication? Is she taking any supplements or herbs? Is her urine diluted? Was she diagnosed with the adrenal or pituitary type of Cushing's?

We have a wealth of information regarding Cushing's; the medications used, and treatment protocols, which can be found in our Helpful Resource thread and it also includes articles written by some of the most renown veterinarians that specialize in endocrinology such as David Bruyette, Mark Peterson, and Edward Feldman. So please utilize it to educate yourself and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask them. We all eventually figured out that safe and effective treatment is much easier facilitated if the vet is experienced and the pet owner is educated. Here's a link to our Helpful Resource thread: Helpful Resources for Owners of Cushing's Dogs (http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=10)

I am sorry for the circumstances that brought you here but sure glad you found us. And we surely realize how worried you are about your precious girl, so take some deep breaths and remember we will walk this journey with you. ;)

Hugs, Lori

PS: I have manually approved your membership so now all your posts will be seen right away. Also, please just disregard the validation email that was sent to you from k9cushings.

[DoxieMama]

Welcome to both of you! The answers to Lori's questions will be most helpful; I look forward to reading those. Please feel free to post your questions here, as well as asking your vet about them. Many of the members and admins are quite knowledgeable and helped me understand, learn and even share with my vet's staff some things they did not know. :)

I look forward to learning more about your pup.

Shana