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06-24-2014, 09:23 AM | #1 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Arlington Heights, IL
Posts: 2
| Cushings My 13.5 year old 7.4lb Yorkie has been diagnosed with Cushings which we suspected she had the start of three years ago. She has had the ski infections, bigger belly, bad breath, and loss of hair. She is about to go on some drug therapy after the confirmation of the disease from an ACTH Stim-1 test. Up until six months ago she was jumping on the sofa, running and playing, and quite remarkable and surprising to others who saw her and found out her age. Other than being on a special ID diet for the last few years (that solved all of her GI issues, great product), she had been doing very well, until this past February. She had knee surgery followed by almost 20 physical therapy sessions which were okay at best and very inconsistent. As you would for yourself be very careful with a physical therapist. Ours did hydrotherapy in a treadmill pool and no instructions for us until we complained about the therapist after six visits doing ten minutes in the water. It was very stressful for her and because stress is what causes Cushings to accelerate I'm sorry we put there through that process. The surgeon was incredible and with a warm intelligent and patient manner. But, the PT was suspect and in addition to the stress I'm wondering if the water therapy worsened her skin condition which is also a tough side effect of Cushings. Since this type of knee surgery is common for older Yorkies and Cushings is also common, it's a bad combination. So proceed with caution doing PT outside of home because the added stress and side effects of water with chemicals was not good for sweetie, and I would not have had a problem with the $1,000 in PT costs if I worked (yes I'm going to ask for some of my money back). I would welcome any feedback from others who have had Yorkies in similar situations and what you did to help them and how you went about caring for them while they have had Cushings. It's hard to ask, but I'd welcome thoughts about your experiences with end of life situations with Yorkies suffering from Cushings. Thanks so much. |
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06-24-2014, 09:37 AM | #2 |
Donating YT 1000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 2,631
| I'm really sorry to hear that. check out this cushings group on yahoo groups https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/...mmunecare/info |
06-25-2014, 05:34 AM | #3 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | Hi and welcome to YT ! The good news is that Cushings is very treatable. My Wylie has had Atypical Cushings since he was about 4 or 5, so very young! He is now almost 10 and you'd never ever know that he has it bc he is super athletic, a wild man, and doesn't show any major symptoms except for recurrent skin issues (even when cortisol is controlled). It can take a long time to titrate Cushings meds, but once you have her on the correct med and it's titrated, you will see many of her symptoms resolve since the cortisol is no longer running rampant. So, it's really important to start meds asap. They are not the greatest of meds, they're quite toxic - but most dogs do so well on them - Wylie has never shown a side effect to the meds. Hang in there and just know that Cushings, while serious, isn't a death sentence and that dogs can live very well with the disease.
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
06-25-2014, 06:26 AM | #4 |
Donating Senior Yorkie Talker Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: By the sea
Posts: 129
| A great vet is critical. With good care and proper meds, a cushings dog can live comfortably for an extended time. For me (and my last dog -not a yorkie) I had to avoid reading too much on the internet and instead trust my vet and more importantly really look for how she felt each day. You've had some challenges but hang in there. Sending good thoughts your way! |
06-28-2014, 07:50 AM | #5 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | How is your kiddo doing? Any decisions on the meds etc?
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
06-29-2014, 03:52 AM | #6 |
YorkieTalk Newbie! Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Arlington Heights, IL
Posts: 2
| Holly is doing okay. We have a wonderful doctor, and an old time druggist who is compounding trilostane for her. She is going on day three, and so far tolerating it well. I'm so grateful to this community and your outpouring of information, support, and encouragement. Rarely do I use or let along stroll through these types of sites , and yorkietalk.com has had an immediate and positive impact on Holly. Thanks so much for following up. |
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