Re: Confused in the uk 🇬🇧
Hi!
Welcome to you and your baby girl!
I want to say first that I am sorry for the loss of your furbaby. I've been in your shoes many times and know your pain. Just remember that you are now being watched over with that same love the two of you shared in this life. One day we will see our precious babies once again.
A question - How long after the dental was the LDDS performed?
You just type out the abnormal results for us; it would look something like this:
ALP 800 ug/dl 110-220
BUN 28 mnol/L 13-21
Be sure to include the little letters and normal ranges for each abnormal (too high or too low) value you list.
The first time I heard the word Cushing's was when my Squirt had pre-surgical labs for a dental also. Her ultrasound found a tumor on her spleen and once that tumor and half her spleen were removed her cortisol returned to normal. So anytime the spleen shows as anything other than normal on an US my warning bells go off. Her vet had done the UC:CR, LDDS, HDDS (no longer in use) plus the ACTH and based on all those tests she had the pituitary form of Cushing's...until the ultrasound. In time Squirt did actually develop Cushing's but when she was first diagnosed she didn't have it, she had a tumor on her spleen. My second dog to be diagnosed with Cushing's had numerous things going on with her and her necropsy (autopsy for animals) proved she never had Cushing's at all - it was the stress of all those other things going on in her little body that caused false positives on all her testing too. Anytime there is stress on the dog, external or internal, the cortisol rises as a natural response and can cause false positives on all the cush testing. The LDDS is notorious for false readings if a non-adrenal issue, like the tumor on Squirt's spleen, is present. The ACTH can come back positive in a dog who simply gets very stressed going to the vet's office. So the signs are a critical part of the diagnostic process. The fact that you say she has none of the signs associated with Cushing's makes those alarm bells ring harder. Another thing dinging those bells are her allergies. Cortisol is a natural anti-inflammatory and will "treat" things like arthritis and allergies. It is when the cush pup starts treatment and the cortisol is lowered down to a more normal level that we will see those inflammatory conditions rear their heads....not typical prior to treatment. So there are several things here that make me hesitant to say your baby girl definitely has Cushing's and in your shoes I would not start treatment just yet.
I am sure others will be along soon and chat with you as well but there's my 2 cent's worth!
I'm very glad you found us and look forward to learning more soon!
Hugs,
Leslie
"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.