New to Cushings

[judypink]

Our little rescue Pink is anywhere from 11 and up and is suspected of having Cushings. From the symptoms she is having I agree. The excessive thirst, hungry all the time, panting and a huge pot belly are all obvious. She is a chihuahua. We've taken her to our vet before with concerns and even suggested Cushings, and he kind of pooh poohed it. She came down with projectile diarreah, so we took her to see him again. He didn't even take her temp. he gave her something orally to try to control her problem..... late next day she had blood in her still projectile diarrhea. It was late Saturday so we took her to the pet ER. This is where our concerns were confirmed. They gave her fluids under her skin, and sent us on our way with three prescriptions and a suggestion to take her to our vet first thing Monday. I am now in the position of finding a new vet. We love Pink with all our heart and will do what we can. We are seniors on a limited income and worried out of our minds. Any comments on experience with Cushings and the meds needed to treat her would be greatly appreciated.
Pinks Mom

[labblab]

Hello and welcome to you and little Pink, although I've very sorry that she's not doing well right now. It does sound as though you are ready to make a vet change, and I hope you are able to quickly find an office that you're happy with, as well as a professional who has experience treating Cushing's.

Right now, though, stabilizing the GI issues would seem to be the first priority. You actually don't want to proceed with specific Cushing's diagnostic testing until the current acute medical crisis has passed. This is because Cushing's blood and urine tests are vulnerable to producing "false positives" when the body is stressed by other medical problems. So step one will involve resolving the diarrhea. In conjunction with figuring that out, the new vet may very well want to perform some general lab tests and imaging. If so, we will be very interested in any currently abnormal results.

I apologize if I'm not yet addressing your specific Cushing's questions, but we'll have plenty of time to talk these over in much greater detail. From your description of Pink's symptoms, it does indeed sound as though Cushing's is a possibility. But as I say, first things first, and let's help you find a competent new vet tomorrow!

Marianne

[DoxieMama]

Welcome from me, too! I'm so sorry that Pink is having such issues right now, though agree with Marianne - figuring out the cause of that is the priority. I hope you are able to find a vet you trust soon.

Shana

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and Pink!

I second and third what Marianne and Shana said - get the digestive issue diagnosed and cleared up then look into Cushing's. Meanwhile we are here to chat with you and answer any questions we can for you about Cushing's.

Hope your little girl is feeling better today!
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[molly muffin]

Hello from me too. I agree with the others, clearing up the digestive issues is most important and you shouldn't go with the cushing meds until that is cleared up, as it can mess up cushing test results. (resulting in false results)

I assume they gave you a antibiotic that works good with digestive problems, a probiotic like floraflora would maybe be helpful too.

Once this is cleared up and she is no longer having diarrhea and digestive upset, then you can revisit the cushings issue.
There is a compounded drug you can get that is cheaper than the name brand, and you should shop around to get a vet with a good pricing for the ACTH test needed as follow up.

But first things first, lets get that diarrhea cleared up.