Cushings in dogs

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paulineh

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Does anyone have any experience with a dog with Cushings.

I was talking to my equine vet yesterday and asking what he thought the patches of coat loss were and the thinning of the coat over my dog Jacks chest. He came up with the possibility of Cushings.
He has a normal winter coat and it is not excessively thick

I have recently started him on Hills prescription reduced calorie j/d dried food (Although the patches and coat thinning were there before) because he has Arthritis. He is drinking more (but not peeing a lot more than before).I put the increase in drinking down to changing him to dry food.

He is a dog that has always had very good bladder control and continues to have good control.

He still enjoys his walks and since starting the Hills food has been less stiff

He has gained weight, but I put that down to being less active.

He is due to see the vet next Tuesday for a blood test (This is done every six months due to the drugs he is on) so I will ask her for advice and see if there is a blood test that can be done.

He and my other dogs live outside at night (They are in a good waterproof ,draft-proof and warm kennel.

Any in-site into this disease would be helpful.

Many Thanks
 
I have a friend who's whippet has cushings. He was a top show dog and now he looks like a fat black mongrel. His symptoms were that he was insatiably hungry, his coat fell out and he was drinking a great deal which made it hard for him to keep his legs crossed overnight. Her vets took a long time to reach the diagnosis, maybe because she likes homoepathic vets, in the end they treated him with regular drugs. He is fine now, and his coat grew back, but it is now really thick, and as I say, you would not recognise him as a whippet because he no longer has a waist.
 
Our dog has Cushings. She was diagnosed after she had an ACTH Stimulation Test, although the first time she had the test it came back as a false negative. She had a skin lesion on her leg that wouldn't heal, and the vet gave her a steriod injection to help. She then started drinking loads (in excess of 5 litres a day) and after the second ACTH test Cushings was diagnosed. The Cushings was rumbling, hence the skin lesion and hair loss, and her body couldn't cope with the steroid injection although we didn't know that at the time!

She has an ACTH every 3 months or so now to monitor her condition. She started off on 120mg of Vetoryl a day and after about 18 months it dropped down to 30mg a day. She has had it for over 4 years, and although she now also has water diabetes (which can occur as a knock on from Cushings), is fine in herself.

I hope you can sort Jack out, I'd ask for an ACTH and see what the results are. Hope that helps. If you'd like any more information PM me.
 
Never ventured into ‘Dogs’ before, didn’t even know it was here. One of mine (middle one) was diagnosed 3 years ago when he peed in the house a couple of times which was completely out of character. It’s reasonably easy to control and I’ve found no real symptoms besides an insatiable appetite; we only pop to see vet every 6 months for a weigh in and prescription check. The Vetoryl is very expensive at his size unfortunately. It’s a constant battle to keep his weight down especially now his hips are beginning to play up and I can’t exercise him. Hope your test results are clear but don’t despair if they’re positive, there is hope.
 
Good news :) B was tested for that and thyroid and came back clear, thank God.

OT, but JoelB, do I detect another potential member of the GSD Mafia? Full size pics of that handsome pack, please :D
 
My old boy shane (GSD) was diagnosed with cushings, his symptoms where excessive drinking, hair loss, skin liaisons/scabbing and the most noticeable was the pot belly he had .

He had treatment for over a year and did quite well, but the cushing developed further and treatment started to fail, his hips where also going and his hearing, his age was against him also as he was 10 years old . So in the end we decided to call it a day .


Col x
 
Congratulations OP, great result for you and Jack.

Now the o/t stuff (sorry OP) - wow there is a GSD Mafia; definitely count me in. No mine aren’t from rescue but I could cheerfully send them some days. Hope to rescue next time if the right one comes along. As requested:
3pooches.jpg
 
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