[stedmansmommy]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

First, thanks to everyone for such support and kindness - I even showed Wylie (lol) and said SEE? Everyone is pulling for you and praying for you, so let's take it all into that little body of yours.

Brooke - don't feel bad at *all* - I'm so glad you posted this bc I was actually going to PM you about this very thing. When I found out about Wy and learned more after the research, I TOO thought of the issues you've been having w/ Tatum! So, you might want to (for now) just rule out Cushings and it's very simple -- you want to catch a urine sample at home; Wylie has been peeing tons inside lately on/near the pads - lucky for me () he sometimes just puts his front paws on the pad, and then goes - so his pee ends up on the tile floor - I took a clean, empty syringe (clean it w/ hyd. peroxide or alcohol, if needed) and sucked up the pee (about a small syringe full), put it in a plastic baggy, wrote the time on it, and put in fridge until it was time for the vet. The reason you want an at-home urine is bc if they collect the urine at the vet, when they're stressed, there will be cortisol in the urine from being stressed - so it's not accurate.

The cortisol/cortisol-creatinine test is just a screening test - sooo, if the dog does not show high cortisol or ratio - Cushings can basically be ruled out. If there is high cortisol (normal is <13 - Wylie's was 23), then you'd definitely want to proceed to the ACTH test or Low Dose Dexamethasone Test. Now, I have read here and there (but not much really) that SOMEtimes in a negative urine cortisol test -- they *may* still want to do the diagnostic type tests I just named -- if the dog is showing too many signs of Cushing's. Dogs w/ cushings are very prone to recurrent infections, skin issues, fur loss, UTIs etc -- so it make me wonder a little about Tate.

Here are a couple of links so you can read more and see what you think:

Pet Owner's Crash Course in Canine Cushing's Disease

Cushings

I hope she doesn't have it - it really could be something else...I'm going to keep thinking about her symptoms and see if I can think of anything. Does she have signs of diabetes at all? Is her tummy skin "thin", any red patchy/weird areas (another skin infection related to cushings or hypothyroid)?

See post below....