Cushings

[Scottiemom]

Does anyone have a dog with Cushings? My 10-year old wheaton Scottie is being tested today. She goes in at 7:30 for the low-dex test.

Dale

[Scottiemom]

Thought I would give everyone an update on Butterscotch. If you've been reading the thread, you know she has had a UTI for a year now and we haven't had much success getting rid of it. In December, the vet I was using insisted on a test for Cushing's and that was negative. Happy day indeed, but we still have the nasty UTI.

The vet I was using did not seem too interested in my concerns about what was happening. So the search was on for another vet. We have no specialists in the valley, so we could either pack up and leave and take her to a teaching vet school, or find an interested vet. We were happy we found such a vet. He poured over the 40+ pages I gave him and did an ultrasound right there in the office. Said he wanted to keep her for the day and let her bladder fill and do another U/S and then a cystoscopy. He found her loaded with tiny bladder stones which he flushed out. Also found infection in the ****** vault which he also flushed out. Found what he believes to be a genetic malformation of the urethra which makes emptying her bladder a slow process. And it creates a perfect environment to breed bacteria. Found a small suspicious lump in the bladder, but because of the malformation, he was not able to use the biopsy tool.

So the treatment is antibiotics and she may actually have to stay on them for life to keep the bladder free from infection. She will have a culture and another scope before we leave the valley to check on things. He also changed her to a prescription diet for urinary care.

She seems to be very slowly starting to feel better.

The good news is no big tumors and we have a treatment plan!

Dale

[dturm]

Very good news. When I've had these refractory UTIs, I've had success doing long term antibiotics and cultures before stopping antibiotics and then possibly switching antibiotics during the course of treatment.

Doug, DVM

[AZPops]

Excellent NEWS! ...


Pops n' Calvin

[camperforlife]

Scottiemom wrote:
NO CUSHINGS FOR BUTTERSCOTCH!!!!!! The vet called today and said her bloodwork was nearly perfect with regard to that. So since she has also had scans that ruled out tumors, etc., her problem is likely a bad UTI that we have never quite gotten cleared up. She seems to be responding well to the sulfa drug, and seems to be feeling perkier.

We arrived last night in Indiana, driving 1500 from the RGV. We are here for a family funeral and on Sunday will start the grueling (and I do mean grueling) drive back. Airfare for "on the spur of the moment" purchase was cost prohibitive, plus we would have had to board the dogs. So we decided to take our girls with us since Butterscotch was having issues.

They travel so well, sleeping mostly, don't complain about stopping for potty breaks, but they really don't like getting back in the car! They really are the best girlies.

Thanks for caring everyone and for your responses and insights.

Dale

Happy,Happy, Happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great to hear!

[Scottiemom]

NO CUSHINGS FOR BUTTERSCOTCH!!!!!! The vet called today and said her bloodwork was nearly perfect with regard to that. So since she has also had scans that ruled out tumors, etc., her problem is likely a bad UTI that we have never quite gotten cleared up. She seems to be responding well to the sulfa drug, and seems to be feeling perkier.

We arrived last night in Indiana, driving 1500 from the RGV. We are here for a family funeral and on Sunday will start the grueling (and I do mean grueling) drive back. Airfare for "on the spur of the moment" purchase was cost prohibitive, plus we would have had to board the dogs. So we decided to take our girls with us since Butterscotch was having issues.

They travel so well, sleeping mostly, don't complain about stopping for potty breaks, but they really don't like getting back in the car! They really are the best girlies.

Thanks for caring everyone and for your responses and insights.

Dale

[LJAZ]

Several years ago we had a dachshund, Gus, with Cushings. He had skin issues which were fairly mild. We just gave him regular baths with medicated dog shampoo. He also had occasional nerve related issues as he got older. One time he could not move his back legs at all. Surprisingly an acupuncture treatment cured that. He was on a med called selegiline which worked pretty well for him. It was fairly cheap when he started on it. After about a year the price went though the roof and I was able to find it from a non-US internet seller for a lot less. He passed about 3 years ago so I've no idea what it costs now.

[xteacher]

Praying for good results for your fur baby!

[nabi]

Keeping Butterscotch in my prayers..

[Scottiemom]

Thanks for your insight Dr. Doug. We leave in the morning. It has been cold and rainy so I opted not to bathe the girls before we leave. They just had baths last week anyway. I did wash all their bedding and they will be warm and comfy in the backseat and harnessed.

Butterscotch hasn't shown any ill effects from any of the meds we have given her. She has been on the sulfa for four days now. The vet also put her on Dexxamax (?) I think for pain. I give her a tsp of boiled hamburger to get her to eat her food, which she gladly does. Her pills I give her in cream cheese, the low fat kind. I especially want her to have food with her pills.

They told us 3-4 days for the results but since the testing was done New Year's Eve day, I'm gonna guess that might be delayed.

I'll keep you posted.

Dale

[dturm]

Just leaving a dog is a cage was one of my BIG pet peeves. There is no excuse, if that is what happened. Sometimes, dogs do hold it, but with high urine output due to Cushing's, UTI or renal disease, most take the advantage of any opportunity to relieve themselves.

Contrary to personal experiences related here, potentiated sulfa drugs are one of the best choices for UTIs. They have a very low incidence of side effects and are remarkably effective in treating almost all of them. As with all drugs, the potential for side effects are always present, but these are situations that the vet takes into consideration evaluating each individual's health conditions and issues.

Cushing's is a pretty common disease and there are a few medication available for treatment now days. Lysodren was the only one available years ago and is still a good drug, but has some potential side effects the others don't seem to have as much.

Here's hoping that this is a situation that can successfully treated and your little one gets back to normal.

Have a safe trip "back home to Indiana."

Doug, DVM

[rockhillmanor]

Scottiemom wrote:
It would be good if I could take her to our vet back home. I don't know that he's lot better than any others, but he's been our vet for over 30 years, is a friend, and I trust him totally.

I picked her up at 5:00 this evening. When we took her out, I took her to some grass and she peed a lot and it was ALL pink. I went back inside and asked if the stuff they injected could cause that. The vet said that she was "holding it" and so it should clear up in a day or so. So I'm guessing that means that no one took this poor little girl out to potty while they had her all day. And we know she has an active infection. Hmmmmmmmm

WE have to drive from Texas to Indiana, leaving Saturday, to attend a family funeral. We are taking the girls with us because we didn't want to stress Butterscotch out with boarding her. Call them spoiled, cause that's what they are. 🙂

She has been on amoxicillin and a penicillin drug and two others. The current one is a sulfa drug. I just want her to be better.

I appreciate all your posts. Scotties are prone to Cushings and bladder cancers. I will take Cushings over the other. There are quite a few in the Scottie Cushings group I found that have success stories, so I am going for that.Dale

when will they give you the results of the test?

Keep an eye on the side effects of the sulfa drug. It can effect the kidneys, liver, pancreas, which regulate insulin and glucose levels. All which your pet already might have problems with which will skew tests. It's a vicious cycle muddying the diagnosis. The addition of the sulfa drug for my dog was what was causing more problems for him. Took him off it.

Laymen terms sulfa type drugs acts as a stimulant to the beta cells that release certain amount of endogenous insulin into the blood. For my dog it sent him into hypoglycemia within minutes of administering the sulfa drug further compromising the kidney and liver from functioning properly. In your case with a possible cushings diagnosis it might be falsely causing higher insulin levels.

You will be in our prayers for a safe trip to Indiana and a healthy new year for your dog.:C

[Scottiemom]

It would be good if I could take her to our vet back home. I don't know that he's lot better than any others, but he's been our vet for over 30 years, is a friend, and I trust him totally.

I picked her up at 5:00 this evening. When we took her out, I took her to some grass and she peed a lot and it was ALL pink. I went back inside and asked if the stuff they injected could cause that. The vet said that she was "holding it" and so it should clear up in a day or so. So I'm guessing that means that no one took this poor little girl out to potty while they had her all day. And we know she has an active infection. Hmmmmmmmm

WE have to drive from Texas to Indiana, leaving Saturday, to attend a family funeral. We are taking the girls with us because we didn't want to stress Butterscotch out with boarding her. Call them spoiled, cause that's what they are. 🙂

She has been on amoxicillin and a penicillin drug and two others. The current one is a sulfa drug. I just want her to be better.

I appreciate all your posts. Scotties are prone to Cushings and bladder cancers. I will take Cushings over the other. There are quite a few in the Scottie Cushings group I found that have success stories, so I am going for that.

Dale

[rockhillmanor]

My old timer was diagnosed with UTI too.

They threw so many different designer antibiotics at him that almost killed him. And none of them were working.

I finally insisted they do a culture on the urine. Two things. One was the antibiotic that showed up to work was of all things something as simple as amoxy! And they found it to be a 'kidney' infection not a urinary infection. And by then the kidneys were failing.

I always thought that if a dog was in kidney failure that was it for them. My home vet said no. What they do now and I forgot the term something like sineese?

What my vet did was put him on a VERY VERY slow drip of fluids taking all day to do for 5 days, then subQ for 5 days. And administering Amoxy.

Vet said what kills most of them is a vet rapidly shooting down bags of IV's into the dog.

I had to cancel my trip back down south and extend my stay at the CG up there, but when he was done with the treatment he was checked out A-OK and ready to travel back south just before the snow hit!

He's still here today sleeping under the computer table and looking pretty darn good for 16 years old. I love my Vet back home! :C

[camperforlife]

When Mom was in the nursing home we were caring for her Boston Terrier who was diagnosed with Cushings. This was 7 years ago so my memory on the facts are not 100%.

She was treated with Lysodren, if I remember right was a form of a chemo treatment. Her minor issue was the urinary infections, she suffered horribly with skin issues.

My brother and I struggled with the decision on how far to take the treatments but just couldn't give up since Mom was confident that both she and the dog would get better and go home. I finally made the decision to put her down as the treatments just didn't work. While she seemed happy and in no pain, she ended up looking like a zombie dog from the very bad skin issue. We lost Mom later that year as well. Sorry for the downer post.