introducing Rain

[awbondi]

Rain is a 12 year old Black Lab that seemed to be to have Labored breathing.
Local vet said that was due to being over weight. over the next 6 months she seemed to be worse , she would wake up gagging.
Went to a different vet who felt Rain had LP. This vet did not treat LP so Arrangements were made for an exam at the UC Davis vet school. She was given prednizone for the LP. During that exam at Davis it was determined that she did not have LP. They felt that she may have Cushings. They did blood work and an ultra sound that day. She was taken off the medication and is scheduled to go back for the urine tests at the end of the month.
The local vet told me that they did not treat Cushings because
She has a brain tumor
The medication is very expensive
The medication will not treat Cushings , it will only help relieve some of the symptoms
And the medications side effects may make the dog sicker than she already is.

I contacted UC Davis after hearing that and the Dr.highly recommended that I bring her back in to complete the testing

so that is Rains story
I am Anthony
good night

[DoxieMama]

Hi Anthony and welcome to you and Rain. Did you get copies of the test results or ultrasound report? We would love to see what abnormalities were in those results, as well as what was noted in that report.

Does Rain have any of the typical symptoms of Cushings? What symptoms does she have?

It is true that the medication helps to relieve the symptoms, and there could be side effects. But the chance of those is greatly reduced so long as you follow the proper protocols. However, that's getting ahead of things. You need to determine if she does have Cushings first. The knowledgeable folks here can help with that.

Shana

[awbondi]

thank you for your reply. I do have test results from the blood work, I am not sure how to get that transfered to my computer to post them.
Of the blood work the only item that was out of the normal range was the creatine kinase The range is 55-257 and she was at 292

I dont have a report for the ultra sound, as they sent me a CD

The symptoms that led them to suspect cushings is
her breathing, panting

After giving her 20 mg Prednisone every other day for 3 months I began to notice that she was hungry all the time and thirsty all the time

I noticed that she was gaining weight in her belly
her back legs are becoming weak and she is losing patches of hair. not really totally losing but thinning

Since she was given prednisone when the vet suspected Larenginal Paralysis
the DR at UC Davis wanted that medication stopped and I am to bring her back for further testing after 30 days (july 26)

I will try and scan the test results and post them for you
Thank You again
Anthony

[awbondi]

I am trying to upload a document but I am unable to

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome Anthony and Rain.

Did you see Mariannes reply about the document upload?

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8646

Mainly we just want to know what is high/low abnormal results and you mentioned already that only the creatine kinase was elevated.

"Creatinine is a by-product of muscle metabolism and is eliminated by the kidneys. Elevated levels can indicate early stages of kidney disease , muscle disease, arthritis, hyperthyroidism, and diabetes. Mild elevations can be seen with dehydration.

The most common reason for elevation of CK with normal BUN levels are muscle disorders. even recent exercise prior to the blood test can cause mild elevations, In some cases selenium/Vitamin E deficiencies and trauma to the muscles can also cause elevations in the CK"

The predinisone can cause all of the symptoms you mentioned as I am guessing you started to see these symptoms after you started her on the predinsone?

We call that itrogenic cushings (caused by a steroid) If this is the cause then you should start to see symptoms decrease as the steroid is removed from her system.

The vet is right in that medication is used for the symptoms, it doesn't cure the disease, however, with a dog with no other health issues, they can live out a normal life on cushings meds and we have seen dogs treated for years and years with no other issues. Macro and adrenal tumors can be the exception to that, as both are tumors that tend to grow and cause other problems. A small pitutitary tumor though that doesn't enlarge, can be treated for the life of the dog.

[awbondi]

We call that itrogenic cushings (caused by a steroid) If this is the cause then you should start to see symptoms decrease as the steroid is removed from her system.

She has been off of the predinisone since the 15th of June and I have noticed that the symptoms that she had are not affecting her now. She still sleeps alot but she is not eating like she was (looking for food all the time) She is not drinking as much at all. She just seems all together happier, her back legs are even getting stronger again. She wants to run again and I have to stop her from doing so

I got frustrated trying to post her results but I will try again

[molly muffin]

Perfect, so it seems that the cushing symptoms were caused by the prednison, which is good, as they are now disappearing and the legs should continue to get stronger.

what I do is to type out on texpad, notepad, document and then copy paste into the forum window.

Remember, only post what is out of range, not what is okay and add the range next to the value.

I did it like this for example:

5/6/2017
ACTH
pre 10.
post 35. (range 10 - 25)

ALKP
600ug (range 50 - 150ug)

So that is just an example, but maybe will help.