New - Louisiana Catahoula w/ Cushings & incontinence

[atozede2002]

Hi folks, I'm new here. I have a Louisiana Catahoula 13.5 years with Cushings, she's been on Vetoryl 60mg for 3 years and now Incurin for intcontinence, which doesn't seem to make a difference. She's just had her gallbladder removed. I'm looking for support and guidance for incontinence - she peepees in the night on her bed and on the kitchen floor every night, and she seems very depressed (whimpers and whines or is otherwise sleeping, and wakes me up every night). Wondering if anyone has tried doggie diapers and how that went. I've ordered a peepee pad from Amazon, so we'll see how that goes.

Finally, I have to ask the inevitable: when is enough? So far her quality of life is OK, but just OK. The problem is my life is starting to suffer, and I feel horrible for even thinking of putting her down when she is still managing. What are signs to look for, either with Cushing's or otherwise? The vet keeps wanting to do more meds, more operations but after a point this seems unfair to both me and my dog. Any advice welcome.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and your girl!

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.

I'm sorry that the incurine is not helping your girl's incontinence, there is the option in trying other medications for this issue. The 2 medicines, that I know of, to treat incontinence are diethylstilbestrol (DES) or Proin (phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride.

Urinary tract infections and/or bladder stones can cause incontinence in dogs, and both can be painful which could be why she is whimpering/whining, was your girl checked for either of these?

Could you tell us when her last ACTH stimulation test was performed and post those results for us?

I do recall members using doggie diapers and it could help with the leaking urine.

What symptoms did your girl display that led to the testing for Cushing's? And are these symptoms controlled? How is your girl's appetite? Is she drinking and urinating normally?

I am sorry for the reasons that brought you here but glad you found us and we will help in any way we can.

Hugs, Lori

[dsbailey]

I'm sorry that the incurine is not helping your girl's incontinence, there is the option in trying other medications for this issue. The 2 medicines, that I know of, to treat incontinence are diethylstilbestrol (DES) or Proin (phenylpropanolamine hydrochloride.

It could be something as simple as "Spay Incontinence". My girl was on DES for years. DES is a synthetic estrogen so care needs to be given to find the lowest dose for control or you could end up with an old dog in heat (not good). My girl was controlled on 1 mg every three days. There is a loading period where she may need to take 1 mg a day for a few days to start.

Darrell and Lolita

[atozede2002]

Thanks for the replies, esp during the holidays. She started drinking a lot of water - enormous amounts - plus losing her fur more than usual in Sept 2013, so I took her to the vet right away. He did all the tests and found she has adrenal based Cushings, and Vetoryl has made a difference, she's had a happy life these last three years until last spring when she needed knee surgery. The vet tested her 2 weeks ago and her hormonal levels are normal. She became consistently incontinent (nightly) in September, so we started her on Incurin which helped for about 3 weeks, before she relapsed. She began whining quite a bit day and night, so back to the vet for tests and a scan, which revealed she needed emergency gallbladder removal December 3 (it was at the point of rupturing). Since then the recovery has been tough: numerous meds and continuous incontinence and drinking lots of h2o, though I'm thinking this is due to the recovery meds, which she has now finished. Vet also tested for UTI or related and the tests came back normal. She still cries in the night, especially when trying to settle herself, and I'm wondering if she's in pain. We're both having difficulty sleeping (she sleeps on a cushion next to me). I asked about Prolin (?) and they said it can create hypertension in dogs with Cushings. I've ordered a peepee pad from Amazon for the kitchen floor. The mess is annoying, but I can deal, I just want to be realistic to be sure she's not suffering and to make sure I'm doing everything to make everyone as comfortable and happy as possible. She's whining constantly and seems distinctly unhappy.

Thanks for your support, I'm dealing with this alone in a foreign country, and my poor sweet doggie, a rescue from having been dumped in Utah at 6 weeks old, never expected to live her life in Paris!

[Harley PoMMom]

The whining can definitely be due to pain and if the vet agrees I would start the pain medication back up.

Could you post her last ACTH stimulation results? Many times we have seen a dog"s cortisol not be within the therapeutic ranges when the vet says it is. The reference ranges for a dog on treatment for Cushing's are different than the labs normal ranges and some vets are just not Cushing's savvy enough to know this which is why we ask to see the results. ;)

If your girl's urine is diluted a regular urinalysis may not be sensitive enough to pick up the bacteria so an urine culture and sensitivity test is recommended.

You and your precious girl have been through a lot and I sure understand how unnerving it can be to deal with all of this in a foreign country. I hope it brings you some comfort knowing we are here for you and your sweet girl.

Hugs, Lori

[atozede2002]

Thank you Lori. I don't have the actual numbers of the cortisol levels. This is France, and they don't necessarily find it necessary to communicate this. That being said, I trust my vet, I've been seeing him for 10 years, he's knowledgeable, compassionate and great all around. I will contact them this next week to see if my regular vet has returned from vacation and talk about pain management. He did do a urine culture, which came back fine. I think the previous poster is correct: that this is related to being an old, spayed female. That said, my girl is not herself, to be sure. I am preparing myself that this may be the beginning of the end.

Thanks for the support from far away.

[molly muffin]

hello and welcome. I find that just straight out asking, what was the results of the ACTH test, usually works alright and they just tell you, or say they can look it up on the chart.

They determined that it was adrenal based cushings via blood testing or ultrasound? I'm guessing they must have visualized it though some point, perhaps when they checked the gallbladder and did that surgery?

I think I would keep up the pain meds as long as she seems to be so uncomfortable and in some degree of pain.

It's never easy seeing them go through anything painful or uncomfortable and our natural instinct is to try and fix what's wrong. I'm hoping that once she has recovered from the gall bladder surgery completely and is no longer in any pain that things will improve all around.