cushings

[Marcia]

I have a schunazer his name is Picco hes 10 yrs. old.. he has cushing's we started Vetoryl 60mg once a day only had 3 pills so far. and Soloxine 3mg thyro tabs twice a day.. he seems to be in pain very restless so i give him half a pill of Deramaxx 75mg. it seems to help for a little while. now he seems to be losing his eye sight is this part of cushings and will it clear up in time. i feel so bad for him.. :confused:

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[frijole]

Hi! I'm a schnauzer lover too. We'll be asking alot of questions in order to make sure we can help you.

Schnauzers are prone to both diabetes and cushings. Did your vet rule out diabetes? I ask because you mentioned blindness. Also there is a disease called SARDS (Sudden acquired retinal degeneration). We have seen dogs misdiagnosed as having cushings when in fact it is SARDS. Here is a link but there is tons of info on the web.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_acquired_retinal_degeneration

Please read up on it because some have been able to save their dog's vision if the SARDS is caught quickly.

Now on to cushings - first off it is not a death sentence. THere is also no need to treat it UNLESS your dog has symptoms. Could you please tell us your story including symptoms, timeline, and all testing that was done to confirm this diagnosis?

We get hundreds of cases a year with dogs who do not really have cushings so we really want to make sure. It can be hard to diagnose.

Lastly - how much does your dog weigh? I am asking because while I did not use vetoryl/trilostane - that dose seems very high for a schnauzer unless yours is not a miniature. Were you given prednisone along with the vetoryl?

Sorry to ask so many questions... just making sure we know the whole story is all.

Glad you found us. Kim

[BreeandDaisy]

That does sound like a large dosage noting it is once a day. Having said that, Daisy was on a large dosage for her size (30 mg a day for an 8 pound dog). My vet told me that there is not limit to the amount that can be given, but there are norms dogs usually fall within regarding dosages.

He also told me that he found many small dogs start with a large dosage but it actually comes down after a few months. This did not happen in my case but definitely we had regular and frequent blood work.

Lil' Daisyhas passed on, but not due to the Cushings. She had a myriad of health issues but in the end dementia got her. My Havanese also has Cushings disease. He is 11 and he happens to be developing a cataract in one eye (not related to Cushings). I should stress that Cushings is not contagious, I just happened to win that lottery having two dogs with it. (why I couldn't have won that $50 Million last week I do not know...would have helped!)

This is a great board to be part of. You will learn a lot about various symptoms etc. Bree has some Daisy did not really have and vice versa.

Welcome!
Shari

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi Marcia,

Welcome to you and Picco! :)

I am so sorry for what you are going through but am so glad you found us. We will be here by your side from now on - you and Picco are now family here at k9c. ;)

SARDS certainly sounds possible. Cushing's just does not come on suddenly but rather takes years to be obvious. However, SARDS does come on suddenly and presents just like Cushing's even tho it is NOT actually the disease so no treatment is required. Once the vision is lost, the body will return to normal - the cortisol that is showing up on the Cushing's test will return to normal. So if it were me, I would not start treatment just yet at any dose. I would want to rule SARDS out first since these are extremely potent drugs that should not be used unless absolutely necessary. ;)

And you have time to rule it out. As already said, Cushing's moves at a snails pace so there is rarely a need to rush into treatment. We nearly always have time to make sure of the diagnosis and decide which treatment path we wish to follow if the diagnosis is confirmed. So today, take a deep breath and try to relax just a little bit, 'k? Hard, I know, but we are here to help. :)

I want to share a story with you that happened yesterday. I have a dear friend who is a cat person, does not like dogs at all. She is not mean to them, just prefers cats to dogs. She came to visit yesterday morning. She had been watching my little male Chi walking around the kitchen floor cleaning the various breakfast plates and bowls, and my little female white fluffball fly hunt on the porch. After a little bit, she looked at me and said, "You know I'm not a dog person but I just love watching your dogs. They are so unique and so totally amazing, just mind-blowing. I feel like I should feel sorry for them but I don't at all. In fact, watching them makes me feel very good inside for some reason."

Both of those babies she was talking about are totally blind. One from Glaucoma, one from Hydrocephalus. And they are both "totally amazing, just mind-blowing". I tell you this so that maybe you will feel a bit less sad if Picco is going blind. Dogs can and usually do handle this much better than we humans handle it for them...or for ourselves. :o

Please stay in touch and let us know how things are going.
Hugs,
Leslie and the gang