Vet Called

[Chestersmom]

Hello all, hoping someone can give me some insight!

My Chester's yearly exam was last Monday. My only new concern was he has been drinking a lot of water and since he is over weight I was concerned about diabetes.
Upon exam the vet said everything looked great, good heart and lungs etc. hes been over weight for about 3 years now should be about 14-16 pounds and weighs 22 but has only gained a 1/2 of pound this year. he has a lot of arthritis from an accident several years ago but has been doing a little better since I started him on dasaquin in January.

I get a call today from the vet himself telling me hes a little worried that Chesters blood test were a little different then last years. He said hes a little worried that Chester may have Cushings and he will need to come in for additional testing.
the vet bill for his yearly exam is over 400.00 I'm afraid to think what this would cost me. I don't know how I can do it being on a fixed income, yet I'm afraid not to.

I also wondered if the Dasaquin could cause the change?

I'm seriously considering not getting him tested (waiting for a call back with an estimate) but this little guy is my best friend, my bud. we do everything together so how can I not?
Can anyone give me any insights. Cost, care, ect. seriously crying....

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Chester!

I am sorry for the reasons that brought you here but so glad you found us. If you could get copies of his blood panel and post those results here that would help us in determining whether Cushing's could be the cause. Some of the common symptoms that dogs with Cushing's display are: ravenous hunger, pot-bellied appearance, skin or hair issues, a reluctance to jump on furniture or go down steps, seeking cool places to rest, panting. Increased drinking, as Chester has, is another symptom of Cushing's but does he have any of the other ones? Is his urine dilute?

We surely do understand and sympathize with you regarding the cost. The initial expense is during the diagnostic phase and when a dog becomes stabilized on treatment the cost does go down considerably. The medications used to treat Cushing's can be compounded and this does help with keeping the cost down. Those ACTH stimulation tests that are used for monitoring are expensive because of the stimulating agent. Cortrosyn is generally the stim agent used and if the dog is small in weight another cost savings would be for the vet to reconstitute the Cortrosyn...but more on that later. Lets see what the test/s results are and we will go on from there.

Please remember we are here for both you and Chester, and we will help in any way we can. If there questions that you have do not hesitate to ask them ;)

Hugs, Lori

[Chestersmom]

Thank you so much for your response.

Unfortunately Chester displays all the signs you mentioned above. I attributed to his arthritis and over weight. My vet called back and I agreed to set him up for an all day testing tomorrow called low dose TYL for $176.40. I guess I will just have to take it from there. I will work on getting his blood results and posting it.

Thank you again!

[molly muffin]

Hello, I just want to say hi and welcome you and Chester to the forum.

We'll know a lot more once the LDDS (that is the all day test you are having done) is completed. Ask for copies of those results and of all blood and urine work he has had done. Just let the vet know you will be wanting copies of all labs so you can keep your own file and refer to them as needed. That is what I did and it helped alot for me to be able to see what test results are and refer back to them when I wanted to. Call it your sanity file. :)

Also you can keep a journal of how chester is from day to day, that helps you sometimes as the mind can play tricks with memory.

What all this does is gives you a solid foundation to make decisions on. Same as keeping track of the bills, and what is being spent for what.