Just joined, so glad to have and need support

[kitty]

Thank you for welcoming me. My maltipoo, Kaya age 7, has been diagnosed/treated for Cushings since Sept of 14' I am alarmed at this time as she has begun to loss her vision, thus causing the vet to say her pituitary tumor is growing rapidly. I am curious if anyone in the group has experienced a similar situation with their dog? My course of action is to make an appointment with a vet in the NJ area to get a CT scan; the game plan is to get an idea of the size of the tumor and then make my sweetie comfortable as possible. I am feeling perplexed after doing hours of research, if I should put her thru the sedation and the CT scan because there is not a course of treatment I can financially pursue (surgery, radiation, chemo = only options) nor would I put her through that at this point with her loss of vision and her anxiety (she is nervous now and confused) Any words of wisdom for me?

[mytil]

Hi and welcome to our site. I am truly sorry you and your pup are having to deal with this.

When you can, post all the results of the tests performed to come to Kaya's diagnosis of Cushing's (LDDS, ACTH). Include any elevated numbers in any blood panel as well (ALT for example).

Is she on any medication at this point?

What symptoms is Kaya exhibiting? There is a condition called SARDS that is sometimes associated with Cushing's causing loss of sight rapidly. Has your vet discussed this with you?

Keep us posted
Terry

[ShibaMom]

Hi Kitty,

Welcome to the site! I'm sorry for why you're here, though. Poor Kaya, I'm sure she IS scared and confused.

You're in great hands with the more seasoned members, but wanted to say hello.

My non-cushpup Chip has lost some vision, but I've heard the #1 thing is to not move furniture around, since she knows where things are. That will help keep her anxiety from escalating.

Also, I just recently read that putting "runners" down can really help. You put them like in the middle of the best paths for Kaya, and she'll learn to know the feel and that they're "safe" areas and to traverse them. You can get some for pretty cheap. Just a thought

Hugs to you for the challenges you're dealing with. You've come to a great place!

Regards,
Samantha, Zanya and crew

[misvickie]

Hi Kitty, So sorry to hear your baby has Cushings I can give you a little information that Helped our Oreo when she was ill with cushings. With deep sadness in my heart we just lost our lil girl this weekend and it was heart breaking for us having her in our family for almost 16 years. I found out in 2013 Oreo was had cushings she started out showing signs of panting drinking more wanting to eat all the time and the stuff she would get into looking for food was unreal! had all the blood work done and vet confirmed it but didnt want to put her on meds because of her age so with help from dear friends and research I started her on a raw diet because nothing was keeping her full and she was out of control wanting to eat and getting so thin. She lost a lot of weight fatty tumors all over her dry scabby skin and her nose was really dry with cracks in it and she was going blind in one eye. Once I the raw diet and the homeopathy cushing drops she made a complete turn around as far as her health was. Gained weight hair skin improved was just doing great and her Vet was amazed in the transformation. And told me to keep what I was doing and she did great for almost 2 years until some other issues came up and she started going down hill again. Her blindness was in one eye didn't seem to affect her to much she would tend to walk in one direction more is what I noticed and sometimes got confused so I kept everything in the house as she knew it so she could find her way easy. So I wouldn't worry much about the blindness because she still smells and feels as well and with you to guide her that helps too. I could write a book from the past 2 plus years on her but don't want to take up more of your time but please feel free to ask I will be more then happy to try and help answer questions. Take care, Vickie

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

My dog has had vision loss. However, it is not from the pituitary tumor growing, it is from High Blood Pressure which often goes along with cushings. The high blood pressure causes retinal bleeds, which then scar over and eyesight is lost. The only way I was able to have this determined was by seeing a dog ophthalmologist and then having blood pressure checks regularly to get it under control. She has significant focal point loss of sight at this point, but it hasn't gotten any worse so far, as long as we can keep the BP under control.
This all happened very fast, within 3 months, she went from perfect vision to significant loss.

I don't think I would necessarily pursue the CAT scan for the pituitary tumor growth, until you have ruled out blood pressure and cataracts, etc as possible culprits. It is a whole lot easier and cheaper to have the BP checked. They need to take it several times over a course of several hours and then do a sort of curve to determine the average.