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Sullivan'smom
07-16-2018, 05:58 PM
Good afternoon everyone, I posted on here a few months ago when my beautiful boxer Sullivan was quickly diagnosed with Cushings. Well it has been a few months and the pain still guts me daily.

My father emailed me today and informed me that my brothers dog (my brother and his dog live with my dad, where my Sullivan lived) was just diagnosed with diabetes. Now I know that diabetes and Cushings are 2 totally different things but what is bothering me is the following:

My dad has been having issues with his neighbors for a while.they have been hostile towards him, they threatened my brother by saying "if you're gonna have your dog off leash, we will let ours out and he will kill you and your dog!" Now I'm not a supporter of having your dog off leash unless at a dog park, but I can assure you that my brothers dog stays at his side 100% of the time and doesnt wander.. plus a fence divides the 2 properties. Anyways, my brothers dog who has been very healthy his whole life (minus an ear infection or 2) suddenly about 3-4 weeks ago starting having accidents in the house (same happened to Sullivan), then he started becoming increasingly thirsty and hungry (same happened to Sullivan).. he started to have trouble peeing and it was noticed that his urine was "sticky" for lack of a better term (Sully did not have this). Sullivan was first diagnosed with thyroid problems a year ago and pancreatitis 3 years ago.. right when my dad first moved into his house. We didn't assume anything was the cause of a neighbor, especially one with dogs.. but the lo ger Sullivan was there the worse he got. Last year in late summer my dad took Sullivan on an extended trip up north, did not change his food from the home cooked recipes he had been using since Sullivan was diagnosed with pancreatitis, my brother was not living at the house with dad then either so his dog was healthy. During the nearly 6 months my dad was away, Sullivan did not worsen.. he improved slightly and it was also determined that the thyroid meds weren't helping and were stopped. As soon as Sullivan came home, within a month he began to worsen again.

My dad has caught the neighbors throwing household batteries, pieces of tarps, nails, bits of wood and the likes over the fence (has never seen food items). They have come outside and yelled at my father repeatedly, once scaring him so badly he had to go in and take his nitro spray because he got chest pains from how scared he was due to their aggression.

What I am wondering is is there a toxin that the neighbor could be baiting the dogs with that could have caused both dogs to become ill and ultimately cause Sullivan to present as a cushings dog and my brothers dog to appear diabetic?

It is too late for Sullivan, but if the neighbors have been baiting the dogs, there may be time to save my brothers dog and at least get these people charged and held accountable for their actions.

I have already advised my dad to outfit the yard with an IR trail camera and ensure my brothers dog is being watched when he is outside. I also told him to do checks of the yard and look for anything suspicious or dangerous.

Any ideas on if there is some sort of toxin that could link these two dogs illness would be appreciated. I just find it way too suspicious that 2 dogs of different breeds, different ages fall seriously ill within mere months of each other.. and that Sullivan seemed to be doing better when he was away on his trip.

Your thoughts are appreciated greatly

Thanks!
Sullivans Momma

labblab
07-18-2018, 10:25 AM
Hi again, and gosh, I’m so sorry to hear about these dreadful neighbors that your father has to deal with!! However, I really don’t know of any poison or contaminant that would cause either Cushing’s or diabetes. When animals get into toxic materials, I think kidney failure or liver failure are two common life-threatening results. But I think those are also more commonly sudden, acute issues. So aside from the horrible stress of living alongside those awful people, I don’t know that they are directly poisoning the dogs. But that doesn’t mean they won’t start :-(((((((. Unfortunately, I’d sure be very leery right now about letting a dog wander in the yard unsupervised, not knowing what those guys might toss over the fence.

I’m so sorry your family has to deal with this on top of health issues. And we remain so sorry about your loss of sweet Sullivan. We know how much it hurts, and are always here for you to talk. And by the way, we have a sister site that may be very helpful to your brother as he deals with his dog’s diabetes. They have great people over there! Here’s a link to their forum:

http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/

Please do take care,
Marianne