Alivia was recently diagnosed with Cushing's - Alivia has passed

Hi Mary Beth,

So glad Alivia is feeling better. Good idea with the groomer info. Maddie didn't do well at the groomers so I found a place I could bath her myself--good bonding time even though it wasn't her favorite thing to do, but she felt better afterwards.

You asked about the desert tortoises--we have two that are 26 yrs old.--same age as our daughter. We got them when they were 3 yrs old. Both turned out to be males and they fight all the time. Maddie use to separate them and come get us to tell us they were fighting. We will see what Ella does--so far she likes to give them kisses and look for their poop--not sure what could taste so good about it, but Maddie like it too. :eek: They do not bite so that is good. They are very social and like to be petted. Ella started barking at them a little yesterday--just play barking like to get their attention--what a herding dog would do...:p

Have a great day!!!

Hi, Marie! Interesting about the tortoises...so Ella will be herding tortoises?! I have a feeling they will not move fast enough to suit her. :)

Looking at the picture I posted on 6/18, I realized that Alivia has a bare belly from being shaved for an ultrasound, but Maxwell has a bare neck for some unknown reason! Initially, I thought his collar was rubbing the fur off because he jumps up a tree in my yard trying to catch squirrels. So I have been taking his collar off in the house for months and even most of the time when he is in my yard because it is very securely fenced. The fur still has not grown back! :eek: I also use harnesses instead of regular collars when I walk them. Maxwell has only been sick enough to go to the vet's twice in his entire life (He'll be 11 in August). He is extremely active and has no other symptoms other than the fur loss under his neck. Any ideas?

Hi Mary Beth,

Does he scratch at his neck, does the skin look normal or is it red or flaky? Could be a flea bite, skin infection, allergic reaction to his collar, the start of hypothyroidism, a million things. Maybe his hair was getting caught in the collar?:confused::confused:

Probably best to see a vet about it if it is not growing back and you stopped using the collar, though hair follicles do have a cycle they have to go through.

Sorry to hear about Maxwell. Always something.

hugs,
Addy

Hi, Addy. No he does not scratch at his neck and the skin looks perfectly fine, not at all red or flaky. I don't think it's an allergy or an infection. The fur is only missing under his neck. It's a nylon collar, so pretty smooth and soft. I'll give it some more time and if the fur doesn't grow back, I'll ask the vet. I should have asked when he was there because he was sick a couple weeks ago, but forgot.

You're right! It's always something!!

Have a good weekend!!!

Hi Mary Beth,

Just stopping by to say hello and see how Alivia and Maxwell are doing. You too;);)

I hope you had a restful weekend!!!!!

Have a great Sunday. The sun is actually out here. At least I think it is the sun. I seem to remember that is how it looked:p:p:p

Love,
Addy

Hi, Addy and all. Just checking in. Shhhhh...I don't want to say this too loudly...Alivia is doing good. ;) Not really any significant cushing's symptoms at the moment - appetite is normal, thirst normal, no panting. There's even been a visible improvement in the cushing's pot belly! Her fur is still not growing much, though. I bought her a cooling bed, which is actually a waterbed mattress! She seems to like laying on it when it's hot. I even put it on my bed and she has a cool spot to lay on during the night when she wants to. I ordered her and Maxwell cute cooling bandanas, too. Thought those would be nice when we are outside.

At Rene's suggestion and after researching it, I started Alivia on L-Glutamine, 500 mg per day, about a week ago. Everything I've read says it is helpful for colitis, too - Addy, have you tried it for Zoe? You probably have, but thought I'd ask anyway!

Hoping everyone is doing well (and hoping I haven't jinxed myself! :o).

Hi MB...Just making sure no news is good news....shhhhhh......;)

Hi Mary Beth,

Maddie took quite a few months to start growing back her fur once she got on a good maintenance program. It was different than her regular fur in color and texture, but I didn't care it was fur. She had evenly lost on her belly, under her front legs, the feathers on the back legs, and of course her under fur. It came back it just takes time. ;)

You are going a great job!!! :):)

Hi, everyone! I am still around....just have taken a break from things for awhile. Alivia continues to confuse me. She has some symptoms of cushing's - her fur does not grow and she has a pot belly. She sometimes has rear leg weakness, but she can go up and down steps pretty easily. She is panting MUCH less and her appetite and thirst seem normal. She defintely doesn't have the stamina she used to have and seems to tire easily. She occasionally has a day (or just a few hours) that she doesn't want to eat anything. I still worry about pancreatitis or maybe the possibility that she has chronic pancreatitis. A month or so ago, I switched her canned food to Holistic Select. She seems to really like it and doesn't seem to be as finiky about eating it as she had been with some others. I still have doubts that she has just an adrenal tumor. When she had the LDDST she suppressed at 4 hours and 8 hours and according to Dr. Peterson, that is not possible for a dog with an adrenal tumor. :confused: I have been reading Kim's post about "pheochromocytoma" and I wonder... Anyway, I have been trying unsuccessfully to forget all this stuff. There is never a day that I don't worry and wonder what is going on with Alivia. Fortunately, she has not been bothered by anything enough that she's had to go to the vet's since her hospitalization in May - KNOCK ON WOOD. In fact, her regular vet called yesterday and left a message. He was wondering how she was doing, since it's been awhile since he's seen her and he thinks that we probably should consider running an ACTH test again to see where things stand. We are fortunate to have such a caring vet. The fact that he is one block from my house is an added bonus! So, I guess the ACTH will be soon - maybe next week.

So, not much has changed...I am as confused as ever! :eek:

I just read your entire thread and there are some similarities to our stories though not identical.

Things they have in common: HBP, appetite changes, elevated sex hormones, rear leg weakness (intermittent), panting, shaking, spine pain, fever, licking of paws/butt, a HIGH baseline number on the ldds test

I have some questions -

1. Does or did Alivia drink abnormal amounts of water and pee alot? I mean buckets not 'alot' of water. IF she weighs 18 lbs then normal would be 18 oz of water a day

2. You mentioned cush appetite - did she breath between bites? Did she headbutt the trashcan or walk around looking for food like she was starved? What % of the time has her appetite been normal vs abnormal?

3. Is her hair thinning or just slow to grow back?

4. Did you ever have an acth test done? I never saw results for one, only the LDDS test. I would LOVE to know what her results were for it if you did have one (or more) done.

5. Have you ever noticed that her skin turns pink when she is feverish? Have you seen a correlation between fever and the panting and shakes? Have you seen a correlation between these episodes and appetite?

6. Can you feel her tummy gurgling? Annie's is coming from the lower stomach where her leg meets it.

I was so focused on cushings that it took me a long time to realize that Annie has cushings like symptoms because her body is producing cortisol to fight other issues. Her sex hormones are elevated I am sure (I never did the UTK panel and glad i didn't because it would have just been more confusing and irrelevant). I give her melatonin.

Annie's tumor is not always 'active' but when it is I know it. She shivers, sometimes is sweaty, her skin is red/bright pink. Right before the episode she stops eating. She sleeps alot/lays around because the episodes are exhausting. Her body emits adrenaline.

One night her breathing was so heavy I thought she was in cardiac arrest. She was panting and breathing faster than I thought possible and her whole chest was going in and out with each breath. The episode lasted about 5 mins.

Oh - Tell Dr Pedersen that a dog CAN have an LDDS test with suppression! I had TWO of them. Both times Annie's came back with a perfect curve diagnosing her with pituitary cushings. We did a catscan to verify - no pituitary tumor. Bottom line is that if a dog has other illnesses the tests for cushings can result in false positives. It happened to me SEVEN times.

Sorry for the long post but I had alot of questions. :p Give Alivia a big hug for me. She truly is a miracle dog. Kim