Testing

[JeanineGrey]

Hi my 14 year old Golden Retriever has been showing symptoms of Cushing for sometime but her Chemistry panels show no sign of anything being wrong. Lucy is 72 lb and a year ago had 2 bouts of vertigo
After that I started reading about things that cause it and stumbled on a Cushings site. As I was reading it
I connected some of the symptoms to Lucy. Heavy panting, she had a few skin infections and very stressed
At night. IÂ’ve switched her food and now give her home cooked foods of mixed meats and veggies with apple cider vinegar, she gets a multi vitamins and Cosiquin and CBD. A few mornings ago I went downstairs to her and she wasnÂ’t able to get up. I luckily have a harness with handles and got her on her feet to eat and go to the bathroom. For 3 days now sheÂ’s been struggling to get up and walk. She is eating and drinking ( more than usual) panting heavy and has a new skin infection. IÂ’m going to have the vet do a test ASAP but IÂ’m convinced itÂ’s Cushings. I have read that there are a lot of holistic remedies. Can anyone tell me whatÂ’s best and how much to give. I want to get her back on her feet! Thanks for reading and any help you can give!
Jeanine and Lucy💕

[labblab]

Hello Jeanine and Lucy, and welcome! I’m sorry that I can’t write a longer note now, but I’ll be back later on to add more. In the meantime, though, I wanted to tell you that we’re really glad you found us, and to stay tuned…;-)

Marianne

[labblab]

Dear Jeanine,

I’m so sorry that it’s taken me this long to get back to you. As the mom of an elderly Lab, myself, my heart goes out to you in the face of Lucy’s mobility issues. My own dog does not have Cushing’s, but she’s nearing 13 and is having a lot of weakness in her rear end, and arthritic changes in her elbows that really limits her movement, too. My previous non-Cushing’s Lab girl suffered from severe arthritis, as well, and that ended up essentially crippling her at the end of her life. So I truly understand the pain and anxiety we fur-parents share when we see our big dogs struggling to stand and walk. I honestly start to panic when I see my Luna stumbling because I know she’s far too heavy for me to carry on my own. Needless to say, we no longer venture very far from home :-((((.

Having said all that and given my own experience with my non-Cushing’s dogs, given Lucy’s age, I think it would be a hard task to separate the inevitable effects of aging on her body as opposed to Cushing’s. Even if the testing turns out to be “positive” for Cushing’s, I’m sadly unaware of any treatment that can quickly reverse muscular or structural changes that the disease may have caused over time. And the medications that effectively treat Cushing’s require frequent vet visits and blood tests for monitoring purposes, along with carrying the potential for causing side effects of their own. And for older dogs, lowering cortisol levels can actually worsen arthritic pain in some cases.

With younger dogs for whom you want to halt the systemic damage that Cushing’s can cause over time, I definitely advocate for treatment because I believe the potential pros outweigh the cons. But for older dogs, immediate quality of life seems most important to me. And so that’s the decision you’d need to be making for Lucy — would there be enough potential benefit from treatment to outweigh the adjustments that would have to be made in her daily life if she begins treatment.

With my older non-Cushing’s girls, I’ve given them prescription NSAIDS to ease their arthritic pain, as well as CBD oil. There has been some research done that suggests that the combination of those two meds can offer stronger pain relief than either one alone. Also, one of our members has recently provided info about a supplement that may facilitate muscle regrowth in legs and hindquarters. I’m anxious to ask my own vet about this, and here’s a link to a thread here that discusses it in more detail:

https://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?9469-Muscle-Regrowth

I’ll go ahead and close for now, and I surely don’t want to discourage you from asking us more about Cushing’s. But I just feel compelled to be honest about my reservations about launching into treatment for a dog of Lucy’s age and mobility issues. I’ll be anxious to learn more about Lucy’s specific situation and health history, though — perhaps I’ll have a different opinion if I learn more about her.

Best wishes no matter what you decide,
Marianne