Recently diagnosed and have questions....

[Vandh]

My 15 y/o Jack Russell Terrier (BJ) was diagnosed with arthritis in his hind legs/hips a few weeks ago and he was put on metacam. Something just didn't seem right to me, as he was not only suffering from weakness in his hind legs but had also started dragging one of them occasionally. In addition, he had also become rabid around food and had some signs of incontinence.

I took him back a few weeks later because he was getting worse. The vet mentioned possible cushing's syndrome but also wanted to start adequan injections in his hips, so a return visit was scheduled for dosing. Those results came back today and the diagnosis was indeed cushing's syndrome of the pituitary gland. He was subsequently put on "vetoryl".

I have so many questions I just couldn't think of what all to ask. The vet seemed to think he had a good chance of responding to treatment so that gave me some hope for optimism.

While I know this is a long, uphill battle, is it possible his leg weakness will decrease and he will potentially regain some mobility?

Any help from you guys would be appreciated.........

Regards,

Vandh

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and BJ!

First I want you to know that Cushing's is indeed treatable and most cush pups live out their normal life span. My own Squirt passed at 16 and a few months from simple old age not Cushing's. ;) So don't lose hope just yet...there are many reasons to have hope!

I have manually approved your post so members can start responding to you. Please check your email for a message from us that you need to reply to in order to free your account. An Admin may see your post and take care of that for you but just in case... :)

If you have copies of the testing done to diagnose the Cushing's it would be a big help to us if you would post those results. The more you can tell us the better. We LOVE details! :D

I'm glad you found us!
Hugs,
Leslie

[molly muffin]

Welcome. Is he still on metacam? I ask because that is hard on the liver and not great for cushing dogs. Tramadol is better if there is pain, but if not pain then I wouldn't give pain meds.

Do you have copies of his test results? If so can you post them here? Did they do regular blood work too? If so what was high or low on those results.

Yes it can be a long road, also did they check spine, etc for any issue that could affect legs?

Deep breaths.

[Vandh]

Well, they didn't tell me to stop the metacam so I just assumed they wanted to keep him on it and he also was given tramadol as well. The Xrays showed arthritis in both back legs with some muscle atrophy, with one being worse than the other (that's the one he's dragging occasionally). The spine xrays were o.k.

I will try to get copies of his results and post.

[molly muffin]

Maybe he can just be on tramadol. Something to speak with your vet about.

[Vandh]

I called the Vet today and they told me to keep him on the metacam and the enalapril too, as well as the tramadol. Not sure what to think.

[molly muffin]

Keep an eye on his liver numbers. I'd keep an eye on the liver numbers, as that is one of the main organs that metacam can affect negatively. Then if that happens, discuss concerns about that with the vet