New to the Cushing's World

[Shelby's Mama]

Hello, my little dude, Shelby, was diagnosed in November with Cushings. At the time, it was right after having both his knees replaced and he needed a vet break after having to go every two weeks for about 6 months. He is a rescue I have had for about 6 years now. He was found wandering in the desert, covered in mats, and had apparently been thrown from a car. It took a couple years to get him to stop flinching every time I moved. He is the sweetest, happiest little guy who now has this incurable disease.
In November, I hadn't done much research and the vet made it seem like the only thing the meds would fix is his pot belly. Since it only sounded cosmetic to me, I didn't give it much thought. Now, with his excessive drinking and urinating, combined with a new diagnosis of collapsed trachea, I am considering starting treatment.
Everything I have read makes it appear Vetoryl is the main course of treatment for Cushing's and if it doesn't kill the dog within the first two weeks, there's still a 25% chance of mortality in 2 years.
Now, Shelby isn't exactly a young pup, but he still has a lot of life in him, more than two years.
Does anyone have any advice that will make me feel better about choosing treatment?
Everything I can find on Cushing's treatment has a very grim outlook and a low quality of life before passing. I don't want my dude's last few years to be miserable.
Please help out a concerned and lost mama.

[Joan2517]

Hi and welcome to the forum. The poor little guy! It would help if you posted the results of the testing done that confirmed Cushing's. Also any blood work, highs and lows, with the reference ranges. Someone more knowledgeable than I am will be along to greet you and will want to see those test results.

My Gable, who is 10 years old, has been on Vetoryl since May of 2018. There have been ups and downs and dosage changes, but he's still here. He had some problems in January and we needed to stop the meds and restart at a lower dose and we are still tweaking and trying to get him back to where he was before. And he was doing really well before his cortisol dropped too low due to over suppression of his thyroid meds.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Shelby from me as well!

As Joan mentioned, getting those test results and posting them here would be a great help to us in helping you with your sweet boy. Cushing's is not a death sentence for a dog, with treatment there is every reason to believe that a dog can live out their normal life span, however, success in treatment does depend on a knowledgeable vet and an educated pet parent so I do urge you to look over our Helpful Resource thread and learn all that you can...link to that thread: https://www.k9cushings.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?10-Helpful-Resources-for-Owners-of-Cushing-s-Dogs

Please know we will help in any way we can and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask them!

Lori

[Weingart]

Hi and welcome to you and Shelby from me as well!

As Joan mentioned, getting those those fantastic insulated hunting boots (https://www.villagevoice.com/best-insulated-hunting-boots/) results and posting them here would be a great help to us in helping you with your sweet boy. Cushing's is not a death sentence for a dog, with treatment there is every reason to believe that a dog can live out their normal life span, however, success in treatment does depend on a knowledgeable vet and an educated pet parent so I do urge you to look over our Helpful Resource thread and learn all that you can...link to that thread: https://www.k9cushings.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?10-Helpful-Resources-for-Owners-of-Cushing-s-Dogs

Please know we will help in any way we can and if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask them!

Lori

Glad to hear that Cushing's doesn't mean the end. I've heard otherwise elsewhere so I'm relieved.