My Gracie, 12 year old corgi

[B. Norris]

Hello! My dog has had 3 UTIs since May and has just finished a round of antibiotics a few days ago. I also have her on pain meds since she seems uncomfortable and is not lying in the cute corgi way of sticking her legs straight out in back - instead she has been lying on her side for several weeks. Last night, she panted all night at rest and drank lots of water, and I'm sure that her abdomen is distended. No accidents inside, but when I took her out this morning, she could barely make it and stumbled and fell trying to jump a curb. She is looking at me with that "do something!" look. She has been healthy except for 5 years ago when she blew a disk jumping off of a couch and was paraylzed in her rear - we had the surgery and she recovered to about 95% normal.
As I look at her now, she is starting to look like a pot-bellied pig. She had gained 8 pounds at the vet over a 3 month period and I thought it was because I had changed her food but now I am thinking otherwise. I have cut back on her food and changed to grain-free, all natural food and I think she may have lost a pound or two but still feels heavy when I have to carry her up the stairs. She has also had recurrent skin infections (and even an eye infection which was dx as conjunctivitis and given drops for), ravenous appetite (although this is not new to her), and has squatted for urination a few times over the last few days with nothing happening (even after she has already gone once). All of this points to Cushing's, I think. I am not in a position to spend a lot of money but will take her back to the vet tomorrow and ask if we can try Vetoryl to see if she responds (assuming she has the pituitary version since it is by far the most common) - I really can't afford the urine, blood testing and ultrasounds, CTs or MRIs. Does this sound reasonable?

[Squirt's Mom]

DO NOT START TREATMENT WITH ANY OF THE DRUGS FOR CUSHING'S WITHOUT TESTING TO COMFIRM SHE HAS THE DISEASE!!!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek:

That could well be fatal to your precious Gracie. :( These drugs are very powerful and should be respected as such. Hopefully your vet is knowledgeable enough to know that as well but not all are so I want to be sure you understand beyond a shadow of a doubt how extremely risky that would be. ;)

Now, welcome to you and Gracie! :)

The signs you have listed are associated with Cushing's but Cushing's doesn't come on over a short period of time - it is a very slowly progressing condition. And those signs could be due to many other things as well....another UTI OR a problem with the spine again. The back is the first thing I would be checking out. The urination could easily be due to Gracie hurting too much to carry on with her normal pee routine as could the stumbling and curb hesitation. So that is where I would start.

Cushing's is one of, if not THE, most difficult canine conditions to correctly diagnose and other problems, like spine or UTI, can skew the cush tests causing false positives. So the first thing is to rule out all other possibilities...and her back is one I would consider as on the top of the list.

I'm glad you found us and hope to learn more as time passes. I'm sure others will be along soon to add their thoughts as well.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[B. Norris]

Thank you, Leslie. OK, got it re: the meds. What would be the least expensive way to confirm what I am suspecting? It has not been a sudden onset of symptoms -- the panting has been a while, lethargy and general discomfort has been there for a while. And recurrent UTIs. And the skin infections as well. She's lying here panting heavily right now and chewing on her front leg, grunting as if it's a heavy workload. Thank you!

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Gracie!

Is her urine diluted (looks watered down)? If UTI's keep occurring it just may be that the antibiotic prescribed is not the appropriate one that can kill that particular bacteria so than an urine culture and sensitivity test should be done. This type of test determines what bacteria or yeast may be present in an urine sample, so the proper medication is used to kill that bacteria/yeast.

Although some of Gracie's symptoms can be associated with Cushing's other possible medical problems need to be ruled out. If this were me I would start with that urine culture and sensitivity test so that an UTI can be positively excluded.

Hugs, Lori

[judymaggie]

Hi and welcome to you and Gracie! Leslie and Lori have gotten you started in the right direction. I agree that a urine culture and sensitivity test is the next step.

Gracie's symptoms don't scream Cushing's to me. My Cush pup, Abbie, has IVDD and had surgery in February to repair a herniated disc in her neck. She is now having issues with her thoracic discs. As I'm sure you are aware, the pain associated with that can affect many different behaviors. The stumbling you describe is not characteristic of Cushing's nor is an inability to urinate. A problem with bladder stones is the first think I think of re the latter.

[B. Norris]

Hello! Thank you Lori and Judy! Yes, we did a culture 3 weeks ago after the 2nd round of anitbiotics and they still found bacteria -- this last round of antibiotics was to address that.

And she does urinate regularly (and on request) but then may squat again during that outing with no results. It's like she sometimes still feels like she still has to go but doesn't (or maybe she is just smelling some other dog which triggers that -- who knows?) It doesn't happen every time. I live in a neighborhood with LOTS and LOTS of dogs!

But I will definitely ask about the bladder stones -- that would be a blessing - I think it sounds better than Cushing's! They did an x-ray in May when I first took her for her first UTI and didn't find stones then.
But I know things can change...

What do you think about the excessive panting and recurring skin infections? She's miserable...

[Harley PoMMom]

Skin infections can be caused by hypothyroidism, this is usually checked via blood on a chemistry panel and is abbreviated as T4.

[labblab]

A "pre-Cushing's" test that you might consider is a urine creatinine:creatinine ratio, or UC:CR. Since stress can falsely elevate the results, the recommended protocol for this test is to have the owner retrieve a free-catch urine sample at home. First pee of the morning is best, and pooling three refrigerated samples from three consecutive days is better yet. The urine is taken in to your vet and then analyzed by a lab. There is a very high degree of certainty that a dog who tests within the normal range does not have Cushing's. If the result is elevated, the cause cannot be isolated to Cushing's and you'd need to run additional Cushing's-specific blood testing for further confirmation. But the UC:CR might be a reasonable place to start, and you can ask your vet what the cost would be.

From your description of Gracie's recurrent infections and behavior, I do think Cushing's is a possibility. If other issues are ruled out and you want to pursue the diagnostics further, the UC:CR sure might be worth considering.

Marianne

[judymaggie]

Hi! Since Gracie has had reoccurring UTIs, I would recommend that your vet do a repeat urinalysis to make certain that there are no signs of infection. Some UTIs are particularly difficult to clear up, particularly e-coli, and require a repeat round of antibiotics. Do you know what the culture showed, i.e., what type of infection?

The panting and skin issues could, as has been noted, be from other issues or, indeed, could be related to Cushing's. However, everything needs to be ruled out before testing for Cushing's can proceed in order to make certain that any Cushing's test results are accurate.

It would help us if you could you get copies of all tests that were done on Gracie 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. Is Gracie currently taking any medications or supplements? What were the results of the urinalysis and culture with respect to urine specific gravity?

Has your vet evaluated Gracie for spinal pain? My Abbie's surgery was done by a neurological surgeon but my general vet is able to accurately assess pain.

[B. Norris]

No blood work has been done -- only 2 urinalyses and then the culture last time 3 weeks ago. I can check on the specific gravity.

I just took her out and she urinated (only once) and defacated a little. She got into a bag of IAMS Sensitive Naturals (Ocean Fish and Rice formula) food last night and ate some but not a great deal. I switched her to that for just a day 3 days ago (from the horrible Kibbles and Bits that she's eaten forever) and then switched again 2 days ago to California Natural Pure & Simple (Grain free Salmon Meal & Peas formula - recommended by my pet store person to try to combat her skin infections/allergies). Could this be it?

She just finished a 2 week round of 68 mg Enrofloxacin 3-4 days ago and is only on Carprofen and Culturelle (probiotics) once daily now.

Yikes!

[molly muffin]

The main thing is to get rid of that UTI as no point in checking for cushings as long as it is there. It could affect and cause a false positive on the cushing tests. So lets see how she is once that UTI has been cleared up. Some can be very persistent little buggers.