Rokko’s Mom
07-03-2018, 09:04 PM
Sorry this is so long!
Our sweet Rokko is a 14 year old dachshund. He was diagnosed with Cushing’s about a month ago, but we suspect he’s had it and been symptomatic for several years now.
We first started taking Rokko to the vet because of accidents in the house back in 2014. We were told it was a UTI and given antibiotics.
Between then and now, his excessive drinking and urination have gotten worse. Over the four years, Cushing’s was mentioned several times due to high liver enzymes (I have several years of these values), but there was always some other diagnosis that came up as the more likely cause. Several bladder infections, and in 2017 a giant bladder stone was found and removed. He’s been on special prescription food for the last couple of years to try and help with the bladder stones, but they’re already forming again.
Over the last year, things have really gotten worse. He started drinking our drinks, then would knock over plants to get the water in the tray, and has recently started drinking his own urine every time he has an accident in the house. This is all despite our constantly refilling his water bowl. He will literally drink until he’s throwing up water if given the chance, and has become aggressive a couple of times when we try to pull him away from water.
We’ve since had an ultra sound that confirmed it was the pituitary form of Cushing’s. The vet said both his adrenal glands are twice the size they’re supposed to be, his liver and pancreas are enlarged, and there is debris in several of the organs.
Add to this, we have a new baby at home. We’re concerned about the hygiene issue of constant urination (with Rokko seeming to pee in order to have a drink, will this get better if he’s medicated? He seems to have lost all housetraining!) and medical bills (baby was hospitalized for three months), and some of the side effects we’ve read about trilostane, we’re not sure what to do.
We’ve spent hours on the phone with the vet talking over our options, and he’s told us that he knows we’ve done everything we can for Rokko up until this point. He said if we were his family, he’d suggest it’s time to say goodbye to Rokko. He hasn’t been himself for two years now. He doesn’t play anymore, is completely uninterested in us and his toys, won’t stay and be petted, and has gone deaf. He spends his whole day either seeking out water or sleeping.
I’m just torn. Rokko has been my buddy for 14 years, but at the same time I can’t imagine a life where he’s not happy and is so thirsty he’s driven to drink his own urine.
Our sweet Rokko is a 14 year old dachshund. He was diagnosed with Cushing’s about a month ago, but we suspect he’s had it and been symptomatic for several years now.
We first started taking Rokko to the vet because of accidents in the house back in 2014. We were told it was a UTI and given antibiotics.
Between then and now, his excessive drinking and urination have gotten worse. Over the four years, Cushing’s was mentioned several times due to high liver enzymes (I have several years of these values), but there was always some other diagnosis that came up as the more likely cause. Several bladder infections, and in 2017 a giant bladder stone was found and removed. He’s been on special prescription food for the last couple of years to try and help with the bladder stones, but they’re already forming again.
Over the last year, things have really gotten worse. He started drinking our drinks, then would knock over plants to get the water in the tray, and has recently started drinking his own urine every time he has an accident in the house. This is all despite our constantly refilling his water bowl. He will literally drink until he’s throwing up water if given the chance, and has become aggressive a couple of times when we try to pull him away from water.
We’ve since had an ultra sound that confirmed it was the pituitary form of Cushing’s. The vet said both his adrenal glands are twice the size they’re supposed to be, his liver and pancreas are enlarged, and there is debris in several of the organs.
Add to this, we have a new baby at home. We’re concerned about the hygiene issue of constant urination (with Rokko seeming to pee in order to have a drink, will this get better if he’s medicated? He seems to have lost all housetraining!) and medical bills (baby was hospitalized for three months), and some of the side effects we’ve read about trilostane, we’re not sure what to do.
We’ve spent hours on the phone with the vet talking over our options, and he’s told us that he knows we’ve done everything we can for Rokko up until this point. He said if we were his family, he’d suggest it’s time to say goodbye to Rokko. He hasn’t been himself for two years now. He doesn’t play anymore, is completely uninterested in us and his toys, won’t stay and be petted, and has gone deaf. He spends his whole day either seeking out water or sleeping.
I’m just torn. Rokko has been my buddy for 14 years, but at the same time I can’t imagine a life where he’s not happy and is so thirsty he’s driven to drink his own urine.