Newly diagnosed 9 yo dachshund mix LENA

[Gmatis]

Hello, all.

Thanks to my sister for directing me to this valuable forum! Our dog, about 20 pounds, has just been diagnosed with Cushing’s. A year or so ago, she was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. After 9 days on Vetoryl (10 mg in morning with food), she vomited all day. Our regular vet (non an internal medicine specialist), said to take her off Vetoryl and hypothyroid meds for several days. He’s not convinced this vomiting was due to the medication, but I’m concerned that it was a side effect and am reticent to put her back on it. She stopped vomiting that evening, but she’s been low energy ever since. I’m planning to contact a specialist today and have Lena’s case reviewed before resuming Vetoryl. If anyone has advice, I’d appreciate it. Thank you.

Gretchen

[Squirt's Mom]

Hi and welcome to you and your baby girl!

First we'll play 20 Questions.

Would you mind getting copies of all the testing done to diagnose the Cushing's and posting those results here? There should be a test that shows things like BUN, CHOL, T4, ALP, etc. If you could post just the abnormal values along with the little letters that follow and the normal ranges for each one that would be perfect. The two blood tests for Cushing's are the LDDS (a dexamethasone test that takes all day) and the ACTH (a test using Cortrosyn that takes 1-2 hours). All the numbers on these tests are needed. If your baby had an abdominal ultrasound the comments from that test are what we need to see.

What signs were you seeing that prompted the testing for Cushing's in the first place? Or what did the vet see that made them test? Since the starting dose for a dog of your baby's weight is not too high the reaction of vomiting and lethargy is not expected so I am suspicious of a misdiagnosis - which is very easy; I know, it happened with both my dogs who were diagnosed with Cushing's.

Does your baby have any other health issues other than the hypothyroidism? Does she take any medications other than the med for the thyroid? Any herbs, supplements, etc?

Is she eating and drinking ok or has that stopped?

Did she have any loose stools or diarrhea?

Is she walking with her back hunched up or is she going down in the play position a lot (front legs extended out on the floor with the butt in the air)?

Is she showing any signs of tenderness in the belly region?

If the vet can see her I would ask that an ACTH be done to check the cortisol level and that the electrolytes be checked as well just to be sure the cortisol hasn't dropped too low....which is a very serious situation. I would also want to rule out pancreatitis as that can also be very serious.

Please let us know what the vet has to say. I hope your precious girl is feeling a bit better today.

Hugs,
Leslie

[labblab]

I just want to welcome you to our family, as well! I see that Leslie has already done a wonderful job of greeting you, so I’ll await further info about your sweet girl before writing any more. I’m very relieved, though, to hear that you’re contacting a specialist before considering resuming the Vetoryl. And in the meantime, I couldn’t resist stopping by to say hello, and to hope that Lena will soon be feeling much better.

Marianne