Recently diagnosed with Cushings-starting with Cushex M

[ducky728]

Hello everyone!

My name is Desireé and I'm new to the forum. My little man, Manny, is 13 years old and was just diagnosed with Cushings. His journey started a few months ago, he had a lump on his head that was unlike the rest of his lumps (very lumpy old man, all fatty cysts) so I got it tested and results were inconclusive so we decided to remove it and get his teeth cleaned while we were at it (he ended up getting 3 teeth removed). The blood work prior to surgery revealed high liver enzymes and we started him on Denamaren. Surgery went well and the lump was benign and we continued to test the liver enzymes to figure out what was going on with that. One month it was low, next month it was back up and coincidentally the month it was high he was also drinking and peeing more often as well as panting heavily, which I relayed to my vet because they had asked me before if he was doing that. So they decided to do an ultrasound and the low dose dex suppression test, ultrasound looked very good but dex test showed indications that he had Cushings, in the meantime he slowed down with drinking and peeing but still panting more than normal. Also his sister was diagnosed with Cushings a year or so ago (his actual sister from the same litter, my sister is her mother) and she has been on Vetoryl and doing well with it. My vet gave me the option of Vetoryl or Cushex. I did a little research on both but decided to go with Cushex M since none of his symptoms are really bad. Vet said if his symptoms were more extreme and intolerable then Vetoryl would be the way to go, so for now we will monitor his symptoms and see how he does. I was just wondering if anyone else has used Cushex M and what their experience with it has been etc. I'm just a nervous mother wanting to know if I made the right decision or not.

[labblab]

Hello, Desireé, and welcome to you and Manny! Thanks so much for all the introductory information that you’ve provided. Based on what you’ve told us, I do not disagree with your decision to hold off on “official” Cushing’s treatment at this stage of the game. Given Manny’s age and lack of truly troublesome symptoms, it may be the case that treatment may never be necessary. But if his symptoms worsen, it’s so good to know that your sister is already experienced in the use of Vetoryl, and that her dog is doing well. That should be a great source of support for you.

Here’s a quote from noted endocrinologist, Dr. David Bruyette, that may make you feel more comfortable with your current decision. When he talks about diagnosing Cushing’s “incidentally,” I believe he’s referring to lab abnormalities such as elevated liver enzymes that have popped up in conjunction with other issues or procedures. Pre-surgical bloodwork such as Manny’s is a classic example.

Two more things to keep in mind when treating hyperadrenocorticism: First (and make sure that you relay this to your clients before beginning treatment or it could come back to bite you) not every dog will have resolution of every clinical sign. Second, there is no evidence that if a dog with hyperadrenocorticism that has no clinical signs is treated that it will live any longer than without treatment. So if you happen to diagnose hyperadrenocorticism incidentally and the dog is not exhibiting any clinical signs, the recommendation at this time is to not treat the dog for hyperadrenocorticism.

As for the Cushex, I don’t know whether it will be of any help or not. As far as we know, the maker has never conducted any controlled tests that demonstrate any genuine effectiveness. One of our staffers directly contacted them a few years ago, and could obtain no evidence from them of proven benefit. That has been frustrating to us, given their claims. However, having said that, we’ve read anecdotal reports that some owners feel as though their dog’s symptoms have improved while taking the supplement, at least for a time. So if you do decide to give it a try, we’ll be interested in your feedback.

In the meantime, we’re so glad you’ve found us and we’ll be happy to answer any additional questions that come to mind.

Marianne

[ducky728]

Thank you so much for your reply Marianne. Cushex has yet to come in for me to try it, but in the meantime I've been noticing that he has good days and bad in just that he'll have days that the panting is excessive and he's wanting to go out a lot, then other days there is not much panting or wanting to go out. Not sure if that's normal for the early stages or not. Also wondering if anyone has changed the food given? I've read that high protein and low fat is better for Cushings dogs, but wondering if some have gone to homemade foods or have stayed with processed and if so which foods are they using? Moving him over to more wet food since having his teeth removed because it seemed like he was having a hard time eating the kibble, so exploring additional options.

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and Manny!

There really isn't any "best" food for a cush pup other than low fat. High protein foods work well with dogs that are very active - as in sled dogs, agility dogs, etc. Protein levels for cush pups are good at around 18-20%. So if what he is eating now is working for him and has relatively low fats I wouldn't change it. Especially now. The Cushex contains herbs that can cause some digestive and urinary changes - or did the last time I looked at the ingredients (they change frequently!) and you don't want to muddy the waters if he should start to have diarrhea or an overactive bladder. You need to know if the food or the supplement may be the cause. So check the fats in his current feed and if they are low, under say 15%, continue that for now.

Hugs
Leslie

[ducky728]

Thank you so much Leslie! His current dry food is 19% protein and 9% fat, and wet is 9.5% protein and 6.5% fat so i'll stick with that for now, although he has been having some on/off issues with loose stool but I think there were other factors involved. Keeping a close eye on him for now, thank you all for your help!!