Natcho my 16 yr old girl, possible cushings - sweet Natcho has passed

Hi ... to all my friends ... Just a few questions to ask .;)
My old girl Natcho has been diagnosed with a grade one heart murmur about six months ago .
However For the last few weeks she has started panting ...more so at night .
And drinking more water .. not urinating frequently ...but when she does its a lot .
At first we thought she may be in pain ... so we gave her Rimadyl 25 mg .. Tablet..1/2 .. for pain . ( Re excess panting ) ..Natcho has had two Cruciate Ligament repairs done on both back legs . ( over a few years ) .

She also has Cartrophen injections to help her .. joints .

Natcho has Cataracts in both eyes ... and has Maxidex eye drops in each eye since ...12/6/2014 ( corticosteroid ophthalmic ... )

Because i had Ebonie 2010 .. passed with Cushings complications ... Alarm bells are starting to ring with this girl also .
Do think this might be heart symptoms ? As the vet checked a few weeks ago and said her heart condition has not changed .
Or am i being paranoid ... re ..Cushings ? ...
We are going into summer here ... But Natcho is an inside dog more than outside ...and our unit is air-conditioned . Has not been hot enough for air yet but we run overhead fans .. She has always felt the heat .:)

But the excessive panting and water .. is bothering me .It is Saturday here in Western Australia .. and our vet wont be open till Monday ..Just thought i would ask advice ... from all you knowledgeable people .
Thank you ... Catherine .. ( Natcho ) ( Lara ) (India ) ..and hubby Ken . :)

Hey sweetie, my first guess would be the eye ointment. ;) Use of external steroids whether topical, eye, ear, etc. can cause Iatrogenic Cushing's which is typically treated by weaning them off the steroids. In Natcho's case, I would think long and hard about stopping the steroids OR treating for Cushing's IF she has it. I think it more likely the things you are seeing are coming from the eye drops, tho. ;)

Hi my girl Tammy had a heart condition and she panted quit a lot. Can't remember if she drank a lot but she was on tablets to cleat fluids so when she weed there was a lot of fluid. Hope this helps

Thank you my friends ... we are going to get 2 Nd opinion at another vet today ... Paws crossed for Natcho and us ... ;)

Yep, I'm thinking the eye drops being steroid is causing a type of Iatrogenic Cushing's as Leslie mentioned. Since she needs the eye drops not sure you could stop those even if you wanted to, and as Leslie said. They help her and at 16, she probably feels more comfortable having a bit of higher cortisol, but the symptoms will definitely come into play.

:( Let us know what the 2nd vet has to say.

hugs

Hi all ... we have been to another vet ... They say her heart murmur has not changed .
However They wanted to X-ray her .. to see if other underlying thing was rearing its ugly head .
Hubby said no ... she is to old for X ray and General Anaesthetic...she is in the high bracket of not coming out of it .
So have given us some tablets to help her ...as they say some times when they get old they can have collapse Traci a issues ...and that would make her puff and pant when resting at night .
The meds are Nuelin 200 mg tablets.. 1.. Once a day .
No unable to take her off the eye drops ..Vet said . ;)
So for now we just keep an eye on her ...
Will keep you all updated ... Thank you for letting me share my experience with you ...much appreciated .:)
Catherine & Crew ...:)

I think you and hubby chose the wise path, the one I would have chosen myself. At that age, frequent vet visits, constant pokes and prods, pills that taste awful every day just aren't things that enhance their days. But that doesn't mean you can be a stranger! We want to hear from you as to how she is doing. ;)

Yes ... Leslie , feel a little better that we had her checked .. :)
I never let my pups suffer .
Our weather is heading for 36 Degrees On Sunday .. Will have to watch her closely .
Can you believe ... Natcho will be 16 on 20 Th November
....Lara will be 4 on 14 Th November
....India will be 3 ... 17 Th November
And we lost Ebonie 16 Th November 2010 .( She to was born in November ) ..
All my girls were born in November ... :)
Bye for now take care all you people with Cush / Pups ..
May god bless you all . Catherine ...and Family . ;)

I. also agree you are doing the right thing for little Natcho. Keep us updated. Hugs .

Natcho not doing so well on ( Nuelin 200 mg tablets.) ...
Has vomited them back up :(
Still drinking lots of water ...
I am not a vet but still predicting Cushings ...
Catherine .and Crew ..