Oscar was just diagnosed

[Oscarslove]

I have a meeting scheduled with the vet on Thursday. I took Oscar in last week because of a lump. The vet said it was normal because of his age. 10 almost 11. But suggested some blood work because of abnormal skin coloring, pot belly and increases thirst. I had the blood work done. All was normal except liver enzymes, 1400. So he suggested a low dose test for Cushing. Got the results today and they are positive. He suggests vetroyl. I scheduled and appointment on Thursday to discuss. Oscar is a 10 yeare old Cairn terrier. Super healthy with no symptoms. My question is, what questions do I ask. Should we start med school right away? What is the quality of life? Oscar is hands down the best dog I ever met. He is the most sweetest dog ever. I do not want to have him adversely affected. What do I need to ask?

[labblab]

Hello and welcome to you and Oscar! I have only a moment to post right now, but I'll come back later on today and talk with you in more detail. In the meantime, just wanted you to know how glad we are to meet both you and your little boy!

Marianne

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Okay so we ask a lot of questions.
First one was did he say the lump was probably lipoma? Fatty cells. (they can do a needle biopsy to confirm but I'm guessing that is what he thinks based on what he said).

So, no symptoms of cushings? Excessive eating, drinking, peeing?

Cushings is a slow developing disease so often vets don't treat if there aren't any symptoms. If the vet does want to treat and recommends vetroyl, the starting dose is no more than 1mg/1lb and with no symptoms I'd start on the low end of that.

You could also supplement the liver with milk thistle, sam-e supplements. and keep an eye out for any symptoms to show up, if you don't want to treat yet.

More vets I think though are opting to treat early with low dose medication to prevent any future problems from developing too. So that might be the way you and your vet decide to go.

When you say liver enzymes 1400, is that the ALKP? Is that the only value out of range?

Welcome to the forum. The more you can tell us about Oscar, the better feedback we can give you.

[labblab]

Hello again! I'm so glad Sharlene was able to stop by last night. She's done a great job of starting you off, so I only have a couple more comments to make.

On one hand, you've said that Oscar has no symptoms, yet you do mention odd skin coloring, pot belly, and increased thirst. So it does seem as though there are a few noticeable changes. However, would it be fair to say they are not yet significantly affecting either his quality of life or yours? Usually the increased thirst results from increased urination, and that does present problems for many folks. But perhaps not in your case?

If not, then you may not necessarily want to rush into treatment yet, even assuming that Oscar truly has Cushing's. If you can give us the actual numerical numbers for his Cushing's test result, that would be great. Also, were there any other lab abnormalities at all aside from the high ALKP?

As Sharlene says, we'll be able to offer even more thoughts and suggestions after we find out more specifics about his testing and his overall health history. Thanks so much for anything more you can tell us.

Marianne

[Oscarslove]

Thank you so much for the reply's. Over the last year he has been getting a few fatty lumps. The first time I took him in the vet checked him and said they were normal with his aging and just fatty - have gave me a description of what to look for in an abnormal lump. Oscar is large for his breed, cairn terrier, (30 lbs), he is not over weight and very active. I guess I never noticed he had a pot belly? I also did not really notice the increase in thirst, I am not a bad fur mom, I just fill his bowl every day. But then I started to measure his water because the vet wanted me to watch it, and thats when I noticed he was drinking a lot. He has always been hungry!! Always wants treats and people food. We actually use to laugh because he always acts like he is starving but he gets plenty to eat. As far as the urination, we have a fenced yard, and I never really paid that much attention, when we go on walks, he has always peed on anything and everything so I did not notice. He also does not have accidents in the house. The color of his skin I thought was due to his age. So of course I am feeling awful for not noticing these things sooner. Plus, the vet himself was surprised to see his elevated ACTH, because everything else was normal and he is a healthy dog. That is when he decided to do a low dose blood test just to be on the safe side. He told me the numbers, but I can't exactly remember, but his Cortisone??? levels never came down, they were pretty much the same. He is suggesting 30mg to start. But after looking at this drug, it could have some adverse effects on him, so I think I will suggest to do a lower dose in the beginning? I will talk with him about that as well. My vet was not overly concerned either with the condition because he said that it is treatable, he also was not in a rush for him to start the meds, he told me to look around at different places to find less expensive (his office has it at $75 a month) he would write the prescription for it if I found it for less. Let me know if you need more information, or if I should get more information. Again thank you so much for your help.

[Oscarslove]

Oh, and he has never had any medical issues. He has always been healthy, he is allergic to fleas, so he had to be on steroids once to control the itching (I treat him with Trivexis monthly) he never had fleas but I guess they can still jump on and bite. And when he was about 2 he got kennel cough, but other than that, healthy boy.