New Cushings diagnosis for 16 yr old

[LucysMom]

Hi, my 16 year old dog, Lucy started spitting up blood 6 days ago. It is a few tablespoons only but she has never done this before. The vet diagnosed her with Cushings Disease. Is bleeding from the mouth associated with Cushings and has anyone else experienced this? She has no wounds in her mouth. She has spit up blood approximately 5 times over the past week. She overheated a few days before the blood started showing up but rebounded and acts like she feels fine otherwise. I have an appt to drop her off at the vet for observation. I am hoping others have had a similar experience and can tell me what is going on. She also has been diagnosed with a heart murmur. Thank you!

[gpgscott]

Welcome to you and Lucy.

I am sorry Lucy is having issues. 16 is elderly for any of the breeds and particularly so for the large breeds.

I am concerned about the blood, a smear to so due to an oral abrasion is one thing, but in my opinion if the blood is not coming from an obvious wound in the mouth this is an emergency issue.

Is the blood coming up in response to mealtime or something else she may be eating? And is she eating and drinking normally.

You mentioned a diagnosis, would you please post about the testing done and the results. Would you also post symptoms Lucy is exhibiting which lead the Dr. to suspect Cushing's. And would you also post about her breed and any other conditions she has like the heart murmur.

I would not allow my dog to continue to bleed from the mouth without an obvious reason. I do not mean to alarm you but I have to state again that I would view this as an emergency.

Thanks for joining, please let us know, and good luck. Scott

[LucysMom]

When I brought her to the vet on Monday, I did not know the origin of the blood. I think the vet thought it may have been coming out of her bottom because at the time she had diarrhea. She was given medication for that and it has since cleared up. She ran bloodwork which made her diagnosis the Cushings. She also is losing hair, has weakened hind legs and hair loss on her back. I originally brought her in concerned about the blood and then got the Cushings diagnosis. I called Tuesday when I actually saw the blood come up in her mouth and they told me to wait a few days for her medication to work (metronizale? for diarrhea). I did not notice the blood again till last night and called them again this morning. That is when they advised me to drop her off Monday for observation. She is eating and drinking well. The blood usually appears after she gets up from sleeping, not after eating that I have noticed. She is half American Eskimo, around 40-50 lbs. I am way past alarmed and have considered changing vets.

[SaxLady]

I hope you get a diagnosis soon. Did she have a chest x-ray to see if her lungs are ok? If not, I would make sure that the vet does one. An ultrasound might be helpful as well. Other longtime members will be along to help you on this. Hoping for the very best for you and Lucy.
Candy

[LucysMom]

Thanks, Candy. No xrays or ultrasound have been done yet. They spoke of sedating her Monday so maybe they will search more extensively for the source of the bleeding. I fear the worst; I realize she is old and has lived a good life but the thought of losing her is terrible.

[Wylie's Mom]

I'm sorry Lucy is not well. Was she taking any medications before the diarrhea & spitting up blood? Also, please get copies of any past and present test results from your vet to have for your records... just in case you have to have to go to an emergency vet and also if you are considering switching vets.

-Susy

[lulusmom]

First let me say welcome to you and Lucy and that I am very sorry for the circumstances that brought you here. Secondly, congratulations for being such a superb mom. I bet that Lucy has probably beat the odds already by exceeded her life expectancy and I am sure you have played a huge part in this success. I think that's great and you can take a bow now. :D

Bleeding from the mouth is absolutely not a symptom of cushing's; however, dogs with cushing's are more prone to periodontal disease. If you cannot see any obvious reasons for the bleeding, such an inflamed gums, apparent abcess, loose tooth, etc., I highly recommend that you find somebody that can see Lucy today. I am trying to figure out the logic behind your vet's wanting to wait for diarrhea medicine to work before investigating why Lucy has been spitting up blood for six days. Huh??? Blood in the stool from diarrhea is understandable but spitting up blood is absolutely not. I usually ask a ton of questions of our new members regarding their dogs' cushing's diagnosis; however, I just put those on the back burner. Lucy has a lot more going on than cushing's right now and and her current problems are a lot more important.

Please keep us posted and in the meantime, I'll be sending positive thoughts and prayers your way.

Glynda

[MiniSchnauzerMom]

Hi and welcome from me also. I agree with the other members, blood coming up into Lucy's mouth is not normal. IMO I would get her in to see somebody right away and not wait until Monday. I'm sorry your Lucy is ill and you are are emotionally having to go through all this. I know how frantic I would be.

FYI since Lucy has several things going on with her health wise it is possible, with an existing underlying condition, for the cushings testing to be skewed and give a false positive. If all that was done was a wellness panel, that's not enough to give a firm diagnosis of cushings either.

As Glynda and the other members have said the bleeding issue needs to be tended to right away so if it were me, I'd put further investigation the cushings on hold and get to the bottom of the bleeding today.

Keeping positive thoughts for you and Lucy.

Louise

P.S. What is your name???

[StarDeb55]

First, let me say welcome to you & Lucy! I'm sure sorry that Lucy is having such serious issues right now. I will back up everything that you have already been told that bleeding from the mouth is absolutely not a symptom of Cushing's. Is it possible that the blood you are seeing could be coming from further down, say her throat or lungs? Regardless, this is an urgent situation that needs medical attention ASAP. I'm a lab tech with nearly 30 years experience. For this type of bleeding to occur, it frequently indicates that there may be a problem with the platelets which are the blood cell that is the first step in the body's mechanism to form a blood clot. There a huge number of things that might cause a platelet problem, & this type of bleeding, but Cushing's is not one of them.

When it comes to the testing that was done, Louise is spot on. Routine bloodwork can't be used to diagnose Cushing's. The most frequent test used to diagnose Cushing's is called a low dose dexamethasone suppression test which requires your pup to spend the day at the vet. If Lucy didn't spend the day at the vet, it's very doubtful that this type of diagnostic testing was done.

Debbie

[LucysMom]

Thanks for all your comments! The bleeding is very alarming to me, and it is strange that there is no urgency in Lucy's vet. Everyone thinks I'm crazy because she acts so happy and normal other than the spitting of the blood. :(
Thanks, Tracy