5 yo lab mix possible Cushing's

[Carrie2223]

Hi. My 5 year old lab mix will be heading to the vet on Monday for the ACTH test after his ALk PHOS came back at 790. We took him to the vet after noticing that he seems hungrier than normal and is drinking about 70 oz of water a day. The vet suggested testing him for Cushing's as our guy, Trooper does have a bit of a pot belly. We really have only noticed the increase in hunger and thirst over the past couple of months. No accidents and doesn't seem to need to go outside anymore frequently. No skin issues or muscle weakness... Still loves his walks. He weighs about 76 lbs. My questions are... Could this be nothing and regarding there ACTH test... Wouldn't the results come back elevated anyway as he will be stressed from being at the vet? My pup is not fond of leaving my husband and I. Also, isn't he pretty young to have Cushing's? If it does turn out to be Cushing's, and we treat it accordingly can we expect his life expectancy to be close to the same if he didn't have Cushing's? I've seen so many posts about life expectancy in a dog with Cushing's around 2 years. Trooper is my world and still had so much zest for life!! Thank you for the help!!

[labblab]

Hello and welcome to you and Trooper! I'm sorry that you are having problems right now, but very glad you've found us. I will try to answer a few of your questions, and hopefully some other folks will be by to welcome you as well. For some reason, it's been a little "slow" here on the forum this weekend.

First, Cushing's is often thought of as being an illness that manifests more often in older dogs, but we have seen it strike in dogs of Trooper's age, as well, and occasionally even younger. In terms of the diagnostic blood testing (either ACTH or LDDS), it is true that stress can elevate cortisol readings, but if a result is significantly elevated in a symptomatic dog, it's unlikely that stress would be the sole cause. So let's see what Trooper's actual test results turn out to be, and we can go from there.

You mention elevated ALKP -- did Trooper have any other abnormal readings on his standard blood or urine panels? If so, it'll be great if you can supply those numbers, alongside the normal reference range.

As far as the two-year lifespan, I am happy to say that we've had many dogs on our forum who have proceeded to live out their normal lifespans after treatment has successfully lowered cortisol levels into desired treatment range. For a younger dog like Trooper, in addition to relieving outward symptoms, the treatment goal would be to minimize the longterm, chronic internal damage that can result (things like hypertension, kidney changes, vulnerability to ligament damage, etc.). But we can talk more about all that as his testing proceeds.

For right now, I really want to welcome you to the site. We'll try our best to answer all your questions, or at least to steer you in the direction of resource info.

Marianne

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Trooper from me as well! Marianne has covered the questions you asked and I really don't have anything to add, I just wanted to stop by to greet you and your sweet boy.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask them.

Hugs, Lori

[PennysDad]

Welcome to the right place! There are many people here who are experts, and I am not one of them. Just another dog lover who is 18 months into the adventure that is Cushings disease.

Try not to worry about the 2 year thing. I've have never heard that and my vet says penny has years left and Cushings will likely NOT be the thing that eventually takes her from us.

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum from me too.

You could always have the LDDS test which is another test for cushings. Depending on how the cortisol is though, if really out of range (high) then it is likely to be cushing, as something other than normal stress would be needed to bring it really, really high.

The good thing is that finding it early, getting the cortisol within range, lowers the possible of long term damage to other organs so that is something to think about and discuss with your vet.
I too don't worry too much about the 2 year mark. They say that alot but most dogs are diagnosed later in life as you mentioned and 2 years ends up being the normal life span, we've seen dogs on treatment much longer.