That is great! So glad he has rediscovered his appetite. I hope that continues too, so you can restart treatment and get the cortisol down again.
That is great! So glad he has rediscovered his appetite. I hope that continues too, so you can restart treatment and get the cortisol down again.
Sharlene and the late great diva - Molly muffin (always missed and never forgotten)
Thanks for your thoughts Sharlene. In fact I just gave him a small amount for dinner as he was hanging around his food bowl for a few hours. As soon as I put it down for him and got him up, he ate the entire portion and even went back to lick out the bowl. He cleaned it up pretty good, LOL. It's really great to see him eating again.
That's fantastic!!!!
Sharlene and the late great diva - Molly muffin (always missed and never forgotten)
Yep, I just hope it continues. Paws Crossed
Just wondering if anyone has noticed a change in their dogs sense of ability to smell with Cushings?
It's interesting that you raised this issue; I've wondered the same thing. Skippy had radiation over two months ago and has lost some hearing. Since starting back on Vetoryl nearly three weeks ago he has become a much pickier eater, but he does eat, sometimes in two sessions especially in the evening. I'm serving him gourmet meals and he will usually eat the human food (likely chicken or beef) but ignores the kibble. Just read an article http://www.brainfacts.org/sensing-th...ste-and-smell/, that says that taste and smell are intimately related and that partly explains eating issues - sometimes. Doesn't answer your question as to whether Cushing's and/or radiation diminishes those senses in some dogs. I hope your pup is continuing to eat!
Carole
Skippy's Mom
According to my experience with my cushdogs, there was nothing wrong with their sense of smell. Even with perfect control of cortisol, they could smell food a mile away.
Thanks for your response.
Thanks for that info Carole. What I am wondering is whether uncontrolled Cushings changes their sense of either smell or taste. As you so rightly state, both are very related to their desire to eat. But my dog has another major issue as well and that is the condition of his eyes which had major operations a couple months ago. So his ability to actually find the food in his bowl seems to be affected. And then if his sense of smell or tasted is impaired it probably creates multiple problems for him. As far as eating, he was eating very aggressively when I first changed from the dry to the canned. But now it appears that he has lost a bit of interest, although he is eating if I actually feed him with a spoon. And this creates a problem as he is only eating 2 cans and since he has lost so much weight over these many months his vet wants me to try to increase his intake another 2 cans. But that does not appear to be something that will happen, as he is barely eating the 2 cans. But this issue of smell & taste is interesting and complicated as he started to lose weight while he was still on his Cushings meds. So I am not exactly sure how this all fits in. Just very frustrating as he is not gaining weight and the vet does not want to restart his Cushings meds until he can regain some of the weight he lost. She fears putting him back on the meds will cause him to stop eating. Feels like I am caught between a rock and a hard place.
Last edited by TysonsHuman; 09-15-2017 at 05:16 PM.
One thing to keep in mind...just like humans, as our dogs age they start to lose their senses - sight, hearing, sense of smell. It is simply part of the aging process and most cush babies are older dogs. So as our babies age often we need to resort to "sneaky methods" to entice appetite such as pouring a little tuna water over the food or sprinkling a teeny bit of Parmesan cheese. Anything that has an odor, especially a new odor, will work most of the time. Smell starts the digestive process for us as well as dogs so have a good smell coming from our bowls is a great thing all the way around.
"May you know that absence is full of tender presence and that nothing is ever lost or forgotten." John O'Donahue, "Eternal Echoes"
Death is not a changing of worlds as most imagine, as much as the walls of this world infinitely expanding.