Not diagnosed but suspicious and scared

[guyfromny]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum and I'm hoping that some of the knowledgeable people here might be able to offer their opinions. This is going to be a bit long and possibly confusing, but please be patient:)

I have a 13 year old male Pekingese who has been under the weather lately. About 4 months ago he started to have a hacking cough that wouldn't go away and seemed to get progressively worse. I had him to the vet several times and he was given a chest x ray. The vet said that his lungs didn't look so great and that he wanted to send me to a cardiology specialist for an echo cardiogram to rule out heart problems. The cardiologist said that his heart looked fine and diagnosed him with pneumonia. He started on baytril, clavamox and theophylline. After several days he seemed to feel a bit better and eventually the cough improved a great deal (but never totally went away). Then, about 3 weeks later, the cough came back and he was put on another round of antibiotics.

Now, here is where cushings comes in. For about 2 weeks he has been behaving differently. His appetite is absolutely ravenous and he will growl and bark desperately until he is fed. He is also panting constantly (though usually the most in the second half of the day). His hair looks fine and he hasn't gained any weight or developed a potbelly but I know that all dogs present differently. He just seems more neurotic and out of sorts than usual.

He also has been taking gabapentin because he has been having a problem with his back legs which the vet x-rayed and said was arthritis. I am planning to take him to his vet on friday and get him tested. His last full blood work was about 3 months ago and everything was in normal range.

For those who were able to follow that, any thoughts?

Thanks so much, Anthony

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Anthony,

Welcome to you and your sweet boy! So sorry your boy is having some issues :( and hopefully soon he is feeling much better. His symptoms don't scream Cushing's to me, generally the first symptoms that are noticed is the excessive peeing and drinking.

It's odd that with taking those antibiotics that he has a ravenous appetite because usually they suppress that in a dog. Is he taking the same antibiotics?

Lori

[guyfromny]

Hi Lori,

Thanks so much for your reply. He is not taking the antibiotics any longer (he stopped about 2 weeks ago). He has always been a very prolific tinkler who has christened every inch of my house unfortunately, so it's kind of hard to tell if it has really increased or he is just marking. I think it's my fault for waiting too long to have him neutered. The reason that I am thinking cushings is because of the panting and the insane appetite. He has also been on short term prednisone several times in his life which may have contributed to it too..

Thanks, Anthony

[Harley PoMMom]

Has he had any form of steroid lately?

[guyfromny]

The last time he was on steroids was about 3 months ago when the vet thought that his chronic hacking might be an inflammation of his airways. It didn't help though. Months before that he was given steroids due to severe itchiness that wouldn't go away..

[Harley PoMMom]

The one unfortunate thing with the tests for Cushing's is that they can yield false positive results when a dog has any non-adrenal illness, even stress will cause the cortisol to rise. If your sweet boy is still having coughing episodes I'd wait to have him tested for Cushing's. If this were me, in another couple months I'd have another Chemistry/CBC blood panel done along with an urinalysis and see what that shows.

Dog's with Cushing's generally have elevations in the ALP (alkaline phosphatase), cholesterol, and blood glucose.

[guyfromny]

Hi Lori,

That all sounds very reasonable and I'm hoping that I'm just being overly protective. I just can't understand the panting which seems to occur later on in the day. Since his heart tested fine, cushings was the only thing that seemed to indicate that..

Imagine how wonderful it would be if they could just tell us how they were feeling and what was bothering them. Oh well..

Thank you, Anthony

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Lori,
Imagine how wonderful it would be if they could just tell us how they were feeling and what was bothering them. Oh well..

Thank you, Anthony

Yes, that would be so wonderful!!!!!