My name is Kim & my 6-yr old Shih-tzu/Maltese mix is Archie. My vet has suspected Archie has had Cushing’s Disease since he was 3, even though that is extremely young. A little background on Archie because he’s not your usual pup: I got Archie when he was just 8 weeks old. He was a “gift” from my brother. From the first day Archie & I met, I knew he wasn’t your “normal” pup. He nipped at me the first time I picked him up but I thought it was just him being nervous & a puppy but I have learned that Archie does not like to be touched. You can’t pet him for more than a few seconds & pretty much only under the chin before he will growl & give you a warning air-nip. I have never been able to check his paws or ears or pet him like a real dog. You can’t touch him while sleeping or he wakes up snarling & biting. He has to be sedated to go to the vets office & has to be “knocked out” for blood draws & X-rays. But I know Archie loves me & is generally happy...he follows me everywhere, sits at my feet & comes to me for his 10 seconds of under chin pets. He’s always happy to see friends, the groomer and the vet-just don’t try to pet him. Neither my vet nor I can figure out the behavior but it’s just Archie...or so I thought. Since Archie was very young he’s had problems-eye, ear & skin infections, heavy panting day & night. And when he was 2 he hurt his leg & it never fully healed right. We thought maybe early arthritis but as time passed more symptoms-panting got worse, he was thirsty all the time & peeing up a storm, his hunger has gone through the roof, he’s got a pot belly & more skin infections. Also, he rubs & scratches his face constantly. We’ve changed foods, giving Apoquel & the Cadia injections & he still itches all the time. At this time he was 3 & my vet mentioned Cushing’s but said he was young. Fast forward to this past year..another skin infection & my vet said we need to run some tests...his liver enzymes were very high (ALP was 1149) & he has protein in his urine. Now my vet seriously suspects Cushing’s but because of cost of testing & his behavior problems she doesn’t think testing should be done. A few weeks later he went to the groomers (where he has to be muzzled & my groomer wears chain mail gloves to “groom” him) & when he came home he was in terrible pain. The groomer thought she cut his nail too far as that’s when he yelped but 2 days later he was worse & we went to the vet. It was his neck & shoulder on the same “leg” he had hurt in the past. Archie was put on Carprofen, Gabapentin & Hydrocodone to help with pain & we started laser therapy. Luckily Archie was being pretty sedated so for laser therapy we only had to muzzle him & use a towel over his head for eye protection & to help keep him still. Since this has happened Archie has started pooping in the house. It’s like he doesn’t even know he has to go until it’s happening. He hadn’t been going on his normal morning walk because of his neck injury & I thought that was part of it but when we tried going back to normal routine he would still poop in house. It happens when he’s barking or running around...you know, something that puts pressure on his “pooper”. (Sorry, not using official terminology). It’s now been 2 1/2 months since Archie’s neck injury & he’s doing better as far as his pain but he falls down & stumbles a lot and he’s doing better about the pooping but still has an accident in the house a couple times a week. We’ve stopped the gabapentin & hydrocodone. We are weaning down from the Carprofen but he still needs it at times. I asked my vet if all this could be related to Cushing’s & she thought a lot of it was. But she doesn’t want to test Archie for Cushing’s yet for a few reasons 1) his behavior issues make him a bad candidate for the ACTH test because he has to be sedated & it would throw off the test 2) the cost..I’m already over $15K in the last year on his vet bills. She said when he starts urinating in the house then we should consider testing/medicating. We retested his urine & his numbers went down (1.053, ph 6, 3+ protein in July to 1.020, ph 5.5, 1+ protein in September). I feel so lost & confused. I read many dogs are on medication with fewer symptoms than Archie but I also understand that there are a lot of potential side effects with the medication. I don’t know what to do, should I get a second opinion? But how will Archie react to a stranger? Any advice would be appreciated. And thank you for taking the time to read my ridiculously long post.