Cushing's

[jimmy85]

Charlie is my 8yo spayed female Yorkie with a medical h/o complicated urinary tract infection and bladder stone surgery at age 3.
She battled repeated uti's until she was 4.5.
She is being evaluated for possible Cushingoid diagnosis.
Her symptoms have been some urinary accidents, excessive licking and some hyperactivity. All of which I am happy to live with.
Does anyone have experience with Cushing's Disease and or treatment ?

[ladyjane]

Wylie's Mom does...I am sure she will see this and comment...or you can message her!

[jimmy85]

Thank you

[ladyjane]

I sent her a message...she is usually on in the mornings.

[Wylie's Mom]

Hi and welcome to YT .

My Wylie has Atypical Cushings. He was diagnosed w/ Atypical Cushings when he was only about 4.5yrs old, which is *really* young for Cushings. He is now 11, but if you met him you'd think he was 1/2 that age. So, let that be a little assurance that Cushings dogs can lead full/long/rich lives.

While the meds are known to be quite toxic meds - they're given at lower doses. I can tell you that my Wylie has never, ever had a single side effect from any of the meds he's been on. For years now, he takes Lysodren (aka mitotane) on MWF...and that may be a drug that you try as well. It may also be suggested to you at first that you try Melatonin (BID, 3mg) and Flax Lignans (a certain brand)...as that *may* work for some dogs.

Some links for ya:

Yahoo Cushings group that is FULL of exhaustive information (can be overwhelming). Has good list of Vets all over US who are familiar w/ Cushings dogs: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...mmuneCare/info

My favorite Cushings Overview: Cushings (Hyperadrenocorticism)

U of Tennessee vet endocrine lab....if needed for further testing for Atypical Cushings etc: https://vetmed.tennessee.edu/vmc/dls...s/default.aspx

A great, supportive forum where you can read others' experiences, share your own, and ask anything: Canine Cushing's Information and Support Forums - Powered by vBulletin

Another no-reply forum that has a plethora of info in a nicely organized format: Important Information and Resources - Canine Cushing's Forums

[jimmy85]

Hi,
Thank you for your sharing your experience and good news regarding the Cushing's with your Wylie.
What symptoms did Wylie have that led to the diagnosis ?
1.Charlie has had some accidents
2.She licks things (everything) after eating for an hour despite antacid treatment, distractions.
3. She never seems to be in any pain.

How long did it take to figure out the MWF dose of Lysodren was appropriate for Wylie ?


Charlie is a very happy, energetic 7lb girl.


She had blood work done in August and then again in October that didn't show any excess cortisol levels in the blood. An X ray was ordered because she had an involuntary accident (urination) in front of me that made me concerned she may have been having stones again. The X ray revealed an enlarged liver that the vet was not extremely concerned about. Since September she hasn't had any involuntary accidents that I know of. She gets some urine leakage when sleeping.


That X ray led the vet to say we "could" do an ultrasound.
The ultrasound showed both adrenal glands to be swollen (The radiologist said the glands were mildly enlarged)
All other organs were deemed normal.


The radiologist stated that it is possible that the enlarged glands could be an outlier and that it's possible that she has an estrogen based sphincter weakness assuming the urine cortisol test is a negative.


We just want to make the best decision for Charlie. We won't spare any expense to keep her healthy but we don't want her to be unnecessarily treated when the diagnosis at this point is murky.

[jimmy85]

I'm assuming that Wylie's diagnosis of Atypical Cushing's means that Wylie had some of the signs/symptoms of Cushing's but it wasn't clear cut.


I'm curious what sign/symptom made the vet decide that was the correct diagnosis. Obviously they/you were right in going down the path of treatment for Wylie's case.

[Wylie's Mom]

Wylie's main symptoms were recurring skin infections (pyoderma), ear infections, excessive drinking/peeing, excessive hunger, and hair loss.

As far as getting the correct med and getting it titrated - that took close to 1.5 years AFTER diagnosis...which is not unusual, to be honest. The reason is that you try 1 regimen and dose to start...then you give it for 6wks...then you test levels. If level is not good, you increase the dose or start a different med....give for 6 wks...then test again. So you can see why this can really take time and patience.

In a nutshell, "Atypical" means that physical symptoms are there and bloodwork symptoms are present, however, the dog's response to Cushings testings can result in "intermediate", rather than "positive" or "negative". Usually to get a correct Atypical diagnosis, the bloodwork is sent to the U of Tennessee.

[TEKOMI]

Teal'c has Calcinosis cutis on his penis & possible cushings. He has been shaking and diarrhea with excessive thirst and hunger. Still waiting for lab on cytology on the nodule scraping. Anyone with this diagnosis and was it from a tumor?

[jimmy85]

We took Charlie to vet over 1 month ago and then were referred to another vet and 12/10/15 she had ultrasound and we were told that her adrenal glands were the size of a 30 pound cocker spaniel. We were told that her blood work done 10/15 and 12/15 was within normal limits and not definitive for Cushing's.
Both vets then said that if we as owners were OK with the occasional "accident" not to treat her at this time.
Our course of action moving forward is simply monitoring her behavior and having blood work/urinalysis done on a regular basis. They felt like every 6 months made sense.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by jimmy85

We took Charlie to vet over 1 month ago and then were referred to another vet and 12/10/15 she had ultrasound and we were told that her adrenal glands were the size of a 30 pound cocker spaniel. We were told that her blood work done 10/15 and 12/15 was within normal limits and not definitive for Cushing's.
Both vets then said that if we as owners were OK with the occasional "accident" not to treat her at this time.
Our course of action moving forward is simply monitoring her behavior and having blood work/urinalysis done on a regular basis. They felt like every 6 months made sense.

To me, this totally sounds like Atypical Cushings and is indicative for testing further for it at U of Tenn. Did the vets not mention this...????

[Gew]

My dog, Icy, had atypical Cushing, also. All testing was through the U of Tenn. I used the site as my Cushings Bible. Icy died in July at 17........after being diagnosed with atypical Cushings for six years.

Please pay careful attention to the brands of lignans and melatonin they recommend. There have been several studies that show the difference in their efficacy.

Gew

[Gew]

My collie had atypical Cushings. We followed the University of Tenn. protocol for her remains four years. Our internist put her on denamarin, Marin in addition to the lignans and melatonin in the protocol. His warning was to be sure to use the brands of lignans and melatonin recommended by the U of Tenn..

I panicked when Icy was diagnosed with Cushings. The supplements and tests were expensive but the disease was manageable. There is a great forum, K-9 Cushings Forum with great people. Again Ivy was a 53 pound collie, not a six pound Yorkie, so meds cost more for her.

Good luck.

Gew

[jimmy85]

Charlie has done very well the past 14 months. We've kept our
Appointments for her blood work and bi monthly urinalysis
Because of her complicated uti history.
Our internist said that Cushings treatment is often diagnosed by clinical signs as well as lab tests, hard #s, etc. She didn't recommend treatment but observation. Charlie's excessive licking has almost gone away. The only thing we have differently that I think may have affected the licking is immediately when she's done eating I take her for long walk or golf cart ride.

She still has occasional accidents when sleeping but her activity is normal and she enjoys all the things she did as a puppy.
Thank you for reply

[Elenitag]

I have an 11yr old female who just got home from the ER today. One of her many findings was large Adrenal glands with a history of nerve damage in 2016. The ER Vet stated possible Cushing Disease. After reading this I see my vet missed the many signs. She has nerve damage on her left side resembling a stroke, and she has been licking everything, especially the carpet for a year now. I told my vet this a year ago and he just said hmmm. Now after her Pancreatitis calms down I will get the blood test to have a definite answer. I am sure it is Cushing Disease and glad i can help her live with it.