just saw the pictures of reese... she's beautiful! the spots she has do look very similar to spots my zowi has. in the beginning, they were black spots and eventually raised up. zowi's dr said they are lipomas, which are old age spots. we have no current plan to remove them as the risk of surgery is greater than the risk of having the spots according to zowi's dr. with cushing's, their skin becomes very thin and paper like. this may be what you're describing as "wrinkled skin." again, i have no idea if this is what's going on with your girl but i pray you get some answers soon. zowi had several symptoms of cushing's, but no hair loss thankfully. she was 9 years old when symptoms started and is 11 now. many cushing's dogs have only one or two symptoms, it is very unlikely for all the symptoms to be present in one dog, so keep that in mind. not sure if you have it or if others have suggested it but care credit might be a good option? i have added a picture of me holding zowi on a yorkie boat cruise we went on this past september to show you her cushing's pot belly. (this was taken a couple weeks before starting treatment with trilostane.) keeping you and reese in my thoughts and prayers.

Thank you so much for posting your picture. Zowi is adorable and you are a very attractive woman, as well. Zowi and Reese can be sisters based on their bellies....ha, I must admit thought that Reese has always had this type of extended belly. From the time she was a puppy we called her pot belly piglet. Hers seems to have gone down a bit since she lost a lot of weight, due to our dilengence and keeping her on a "jenny craig" for dogs diet. I am only kidding but both of us were/are on a strict diet and we both did very well, finally!

I do have a call into my friend and hopefully he can see her today. My husband is picking up her records of her last blood panel and urine so that he can hopefully figure something out. My husband is getting very angry with me and tells me to stop looking online. Meanwhile my own vet told me to find "calcium low or free" vegetables to give her. I couldnt help then to start my research, again! I am not even sure which crystals she has but based on the low calcium diet advice I suppose she has the calcium oxalate crystals. It was foolish of me not to have asked and when I called they said I needed to speak with the dr and just figured I would have my husband pick the records up and my friend would be able to tell from her records, or call.

I am just surprised that they havent suggested any antibiotics or real diet, and are telling me to search for the appropriate "snacks" vegetables since she has to watch her weight. I am getting very upset with my vet and my husband is upset with me! They did not want to change her food again, which I do understand, so she is on dry natural balance reduced, since I had it in my house prior to putting her on ziwipeak. I add a ton of water and she seems to just swallow them hole, as usual, which cant be too healthy for her either. She has always inhaled her kibble or any food for that matter, but I am sure it is irritating her even more.

I read about using cranberry supplements etc, but my vet doesn't say one word. The next step according to him is the ACTH test. He feels that the crystals are related to cushings.. I am confused since why not try to treat the crystals and then move forward. I am wondering if the hair loss can be a direct relation to the crystals and producing too much of whatever she is.. calcium or protein.. still not clear on that.

I just don't know why he isnt dealing with the crystals first.. even if it is cushings, shouldn't he treat the crystals immediately, or does the cushing med treat the crystals. I know I sound nuts but I just want solid answers.

Based on her symptoms (to me, layperson) she sounds like she has a thyroid problem but yet the thyroid is fine. I just read the repoort and she has calcium oxalates. I probably caused this by giving her all of the wrong vegetables that are high in calcium. I am trying to have her drink more water and we are getting the estimate for my friends acth test, xray or ultrasound of her bladder to check for stones, and dental which she is long overdue for.

Any comments would be appreciated. Her T4 is 1.7 normal and her ph is 6.5, normal. Help????

well thanks very much for the compliments. :) i do hope your friend can see her today and go over all of the results you now have and have some direction as far as the cranberry supplements and what to do next! i wouldn't waste any more time or money with the other vet.

i too am surprised that they haven't started any type of treatment for the crystals. cushing's meds would not directly treat them. the meds for cushing's would keep the cushing's under control so it doesn't create further problems such as utis, hair loss, etc.

there is more to the thyroid than t4 levels. a full thyroid panel would be best at getting the whole picture with t3s and such. looking at zowi's most recent labs her total t4 was 3.7 with a reference range 1.0-4.0 being normal. this is after she was on her thyroid medication for a month. she gets monitored every 3 months to make sure her thyroid med dosage is still correct. so far she has stayed on the same dose, but some dogs require adjustments. if it is a thyroid problem, the medication is given every 12 hours and is inexpensive. the rechecks and monitoring are also fairly inexpensive. much easier and cheaper than treating cushing's or both. it does seem like reese is on the low end of normal and maybe the full panel is warranted here. but these are all just my opinions. best advice i can give you is to find a good vet that you can trust and listens to you! this is the key to you getting the answers you need and reese getting better.

The only suggestion I have is to do a consult with a vet nutrionist. If your vet does not know one in your area, you can find one at:

American College of Veterinary Nutrition

Your vet is right....sometimes these things take time to diagnose. You have to do the tests and follow the clues based upon her symptoms and labs that you do have. Going from one vet to another is not going to yield good results imho. I would pick the one I like and stick with him/her. Clearly your vet has suggested prescription foods....Urinary SO is used for stones (I have two pups on it and they are doing well) ... I suppose he is holding off until he knows for sure what is going on.

I will keep her in my thoughts and prayers.