Hondo lane ..my dog has been diagnosed with cushings .need help with ? for specialist

[coolhndlk777]

My dog Hondo Lane blue heller, age 11, has been in the last month diagnosed cushings disease,diabetes mellitus,lumbosacral joint,intervertebral disc diesease,and seziures that started it all off for a emergency room visit on dec 26th 2014...hes home now as of the 28th he on a mirage of drugs ..pheno b,antibiotics,valium,trilostane,and humulin-n u100 insulin, to date he still cant use his rear legs almost paralized in a way,i dont know if its sideffects of the P barb or somthing more has anyone experienced this or can help me with questions,I GO TO THE SPECIALIST IN THE MORNING NEED ADVICE...ANY FEEDBACK WOULD BE APPRECIATED... lotta sleepless nites latley.. THANK YOU LUKE ...tx

[coolhndlk777]

MY dog Hondo Lane.. blue heller, age 11, tested positve for cushings disease,all started on dec 26th 2014 with seziures and a emergency room visit, diabetes mellitus,lumbosacral joint,intervertebral disc disease,since hes on Pheno barb,valium,antibotics,humilin n insulin,trilostane,he still cant get up back legs almost paralized, NEED HELP I SEE SPECIALISTS TOMMROW NEED BEST COURSE OF ACTION TO GO WITH>>any feedback would be appreciated greatly..THANK YOU ...luke tx

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi Luke,

Welcome to you and Hondo Lane, gosh so sorry for the reasons that brought you here but glad you found us.

I have manually approved your membership so now all your posts will be seen right away. Also please just disregard the validation email that was sent to you from k9cushings.

Could you tell us the reason Hondo Lane was at the emergency clinic? Is he still taking the Trilostane? If so, my first recommendation would be to stop the Trilostane because it should never be given to a dog that is feeling unwell.

It would help us if you could get copies of all tests that were done on Hondo Lane and post any abnormalities that are listed along with the references ranges and units of measurement...as an example.....ALT 150 U/L (5-50) Also we are especially interested in the results of the diagnostic tests that were performed to diagnose his Cushing's.

Were the seizures something new that has happened or has Hondo Lane been experiencing them for a while? Is the diabetes under control? We have a sister site that deals with canine diabetes and I do urge you to join there too, here's a link to their forum: http://www.k9diabetes.com/forum/ They are wonderful people and can answer all your questions about canine diabetes that you may have.

Could you tell us the strengths and how many times a day of each of the medications he is taking and post how much he weighs?

We will help in any way we can, ok, so please do not hesitate to ask all the questions you want.

Hugs, Lori

[molly muffin]

Welcome to the forum.

What did the specialist have to say?

[coolhndlk777]

yes hondo went to the specialist today and he was there from 10am to 4.30 pm. Im trying to take this all in just got him home wile back gotta change around his meds. I think these vets see me a a jackpot since 11/26/14 to present. I've spent 4.000. almost like there just passin around the buck, so to speak. So they all get a piece. And one vet says one thing the emergency room says another now the specialist says they may be wrong. And want to take a another course of action and treatment. Taking him off off trilostane and the valium cutting the phenob dose to wheen him off and giving keppra instead. Said insulin dose was too little and needed 2 x daily not just one injection. I will post again later more in length and details and vet forms and test read outs you asked about. So you can help me. Thank you so much for your replys. I'm gonna be glued to the computer this weeknd. To learn as much as i can. Another sleeplless nite. luke

[molly muffin]

Oh gosh, this sounds horrid. Like they don't know and everyone is guessing at what is wrong and what to do.

Okay, when it comes to test results, we need the ones that are not in normal range, so for example like this:

ALKP 860ug (range 50 - 150ug)

It is all a learning curve with these and cushings itself can be tricky, along with diabetes. (definitely join the k9diabetes.com sister site, as they are very knowledgable) Remember with diabetes if you have cushings, then it's dosing, every 12 hours, no more than 1mg/1lb total. So, weight is very important and the twice a day dosing is important. Although you said, the specialist said to stop the trilostane. (so if you go back to it, then that is the dosing regime)

[coolhndlk777]

ty very much.im waiting on the specialists test results as well. should get call in next two days,from acth test and blood work,which were already confirmed cushin by my vet.

[Harley PoMMom]

I am glad to see that the specialist has stopped the Trilostane, when a dog has a non-adrenal illness, such as uncontrolled diabetes, it can create a false positive result on the Cushing's tests.

I'm providing an excerpt and a link to an article regarding diagnosing Cushing's in a dog with diabetes, it is written on Dr Mark Peterson's blog:

The problem with diabetic dogs is that it's very difficult to make a diagnosis of Cushing's with certainty unless we see cutaneous changes. PU/PD, polyphagia, and high liver values all could be secondary to the diabetes. False-positive test results on a LDDST are very common in dogs with nonadrenal illness, such as diabetes

Full article here: http://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/201...e-in-dogs.html

Dr Peterson is a renown Cushing's expert and also is a contributor to Dechra's continuing education site.

Hugs, Lori

[Squirt's Mom]

If Hondo's diabetes isn't controlled, the Cushing's tests results cannot be counted on to be accurate. It also sounds like the vets he has seen thing something other than diabetes and Cushing's could be going on. Any illness can skew the tests for Cushing's so you want to address everything else first.

I am so sorry this is such a mess with the vets saying different things. And I so understand those sleepless nights! That's what happens to good pet parents when our babies get sick.

[Dixie'sMom]

Oh wow. How frustrating for you. And especially after all of the expense to feel like you are back at square 1. Don't give up hope... it will all get resolved, but it may be quite crazy until it does. We're here for you! Be sure and post those test results when you get them.