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Thread: New User Here Seeking Advice About My Cushings Boxer

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2022
    Posts
    7

    Default New User Here Seeking Advice About My Cushings Boxer

    I have been reading some threads on the site and decided to create a user so that maybe I could pick some of you more experienced folks brain. I'll try to sum this up the best that I can..... My 9 year old boxer Dozer had to have surgery 2/1/22 to remove a blockage from his stomach but prior to that was normal. When he came home from surgery I started noticing him peeing in his sleep and having accidents in the floor which he has never done he has been very good since he was housebroken. I also started noticing he would walk around the yard peeing multiple times like little bits at a time. So I contacted the vet and they thought it was a UTI so put him on antibiotics, but he did not get any better. They then suggested to me that we test for Cushing's disease since he was also drinking a ton of water. They did a blood test which took all day I believe they had to do like 3 different samples, and they called when the results came back saying that he had Cushing's. He at this time weighed about 78 pounds so they put him on Vetoryl dose 70mg per day. He was on this same dose until I would say some time towards the end of May, but I just noticed he was losing muscle mass drastically, and he never really got any better with the drinking and peeing. He now has to wear belly band because he cannot control his urine at all. They tried putting him on Proin for incontinence, but that made him very sick he would not eat or anything. So he was taken off that medication, and I just do the belly bands. In the weeks following that he just seemed to not have much interest in anything, his appetite was not very good, he would still walk around trying to pee multiple times, and sometimes it was like he was confused if he was needing to pee or poop like he would squat to poop, but he would be peeing. I let the vet know all of this and they had me take him down to 60mg per day. He was on that dose for a couple of weeks, but I took him back in because he was looking very thin to me and just not seeming like himself. They had not been able to fill my Vetoryl so he had been without it for about 2-3 days whenever I took him into the vet and they wanted to do some blood work. They said his cortisol levels were out of wack and they felt like he needed to go back to the 70mg even though I explained they had not been able to fill his medicine for a couple days so he had been without it. So I did go ahead and follow their advice and put him back on the 70mg. He is now down to 71lbs, I can see almost his whole skull, his spine, and his hip bones. His muscle loss is just unreal to me... He also does not have a very good appetite, still drinks and pees like crazy(sometimes waking me up 5 times a night), and doesn't seem to have much interest in anything at all. He is scheduled for an abdominal ultrasound tomorrow, but I just am feeling very discouraged as I have had him on this medicine and have spent a lot of money on it and the testing, and there has been no improvement. Have any of you experienced anything like this? I do understand that he is now 10 so some of this could be aging, but I just find myself being so blown away that I took a normal healthy happy dog in for a surgery in February and here we are now almost to July and he is a totally different dog. It is almost like he is worse since he has been on the medicine, I did read that it does have some side effects. Everybody's reviews that I read about this medicine are so positive though and I have not had that luck at all. I am just hoping somebody has some input or advice, or maybe has had a similar experience.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    15,292

    Default Re: New User Here Seeking Advice About My Cushings Boxer

    Hello and welcome to you and Dozer! I’m so sorry he’s having such a rough time, and I share your worry that there may be something going on here aside from, or in addition to, Cushing’s. I want to take the time to carefully read through your post and give it more thought before adding a more detailed reply of my own. So it may be tomorrow before I make it back here again, but I wanted to have the opportunity to quickly welcome you and Dozer to our family.

    So do stay tuned, and in the meantime, we’re so glad you’ve joined us.
    Marianne

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    rural central ARK
    Posts
    14,549

    Default Re: New User Here Seeking Advice About My Cushings Boxer

    Hi and welcome to you and Dozer!

    Please stop the Vetoryl. I am highly suspicious of the diagnosis to start with, thinking he has been misdiagnosed. This can happen very easily....I've had two misdiagnosed. Cushing's does NOT come on suddenly. This is a disease that moves at a snail's pace, causing most parents to think their baby is simply aging. None of of the signs start suddenly. So the fact that you say he had no issues at all before the surgery tells me something is very wrong with the diagnosis of Cushing's. Second his reaction to the Vetoryl....if he had Cushing's we would expect to see improvements by not, not worsening.

    So your homework is to get copies of all the testing done to diagnose Dozer - the blood work that shows things like ALP, CHOL, BUN, T4, etc. We only need to see the values that are too high or too low. And the CBC that shows things like eosinophils and monocytes. Also the ACTH and/or LDDS test(s). We need to see all the numbers on these two tests. If Dozer had an abdominal ultrasound we need to see all the comments from that test.

    Has he had an ultrasound since the surgery to be sure there was no damage incurred or anything else that might be causing this? That might be my first step...have him checked out thoroughly since this started right after the surgery. But please do stop giving the Vetoryl for now. And when you can, share those test results with us if you don't mind. That will help us give you better feedback.

    I am 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.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2022
    Posts
    7

    Default Re: New User Here Seeking Advice About My Cushings Boxer

    Thank you both for the warm welcome! I do actually have his lab results that are on my computer at work so I will put those up tomorrow and share those. He has his abdominal ultrasound tomorrow but this will be the only one he has ever had he has only ever had X-rays on his abdomen before when he was having some stomach issues due to eating strange things! He has always been a gobbler of the strange lol I will share the results of the ultrasound and I really do appreciate you all even taking the time to read through all of this and give me some insight!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Glen Cove, NY
    Posts
    1,941

    Default Re: New User Here Seeking Advice About My Cushings Boxer

    Hello and welcome from me, too. I agree with Leslie. Please stop the Vetoryl. Stopping won't hurt him, but continuing it could. That starting dose was high to begin with, if he does indeed have Cushing's, which I also question.
    Joan, mom to my Angel Lena, Angel Gable, Angel Phoenix, Angel Doree, Cooper, Sibble, and now Raina.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2022
    Posts
    7

    Default Re: New User Here Seeking Advice About My Cushings Boxer

    Good Morning All,

    I dropped Dozer off this morning for his ultrasound so hopefully I will know the results of that this afternoon or tomorrow. I did pull up his lab work is there a way to put a PDF attachment in here or do I just need to type it out? I have looked and looked to see if I can do an attachment, but am not seeing it. I could just be totally blind lol

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    rural central ARK
    Posts
    14,549

    Default Re: New User Here Seeking Advice About My Cushings Boxer

    I know it's a bit of a PIA but typing out the results is usually best. From the blood work it would look something like this -

    EXAMPLE ONLY:
    ALP 660 ug/dl 100-300

    This will give us the results as well as the units of measurement and normal ranges for each abnormal value.

    The ACTH and LDDS are typically 2 and 3 numbers respectively...again with the little letters that follow (ug/dl, mnol/l, etc) and the normal ranges from that lab. Different labs use different normal ranges and different units of measurement. Comments from the ultrasound will be just that...words about each organ that was seen and sharing those will be helpful as well.

    Best of luck on the US and let us know how it went!
    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.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2022
    Posts
    7

    Default Re: New User Here Seeking Advice About My Cushings Boxer

    Okie Dokie Here it goes....

    Starting 2/17/22

    ALT 96 normal range 12-118 IU/L
    AST 27 normal range 15-66 IU/L
    Alk Phosphatase 494 normal range 5-131 IU/L (this one flagged as High)
    BUN/Creatinine 16 normal range 4-27
    Glucose 86 normal range 70-138 mg/dL
    Sodim 152 normal range 139-154 mg/DL
    Potassium 6.1 normal range 3.6-5.5 mEq/L (this one flagged as High)
    NA/K RATIO 25 normal range 27-38 (this one flagged as Low)
    PrecisionPSL 246 normal range 24-140 U/L (this one flagged as High)
    CPK 26 normal range 24-140 U/L (this one flagged as Low)
    Lymphocytes 19 normal range 12-30 %
    Monocytes 5 normal range 3-10 %
    Eosinophils 1 normal range 2-10 % (this one flagged as Low)
    T4 3.5 normal range 0.8-3.5
    Free T4 (Dialysis) 59.0 normal range 8-40 (this one flagged as High)

    2/21/22 Cortisol Serial 3 DEX
    Cortisol Sample 1 "Pre" 2.9 normal range 1.0-5.0 mg/dL
    Cortisol Sample 2 "Post 4" 3.9 normal range 0.0-1.4 mg/dL (this one flagged High)
    Cortisol Sample 3 "Post 8" 1.5 normal range 0.0-1.4 mg/dL (this one flagged High)

    4/5/22 Cortisol Serial 2 ACTH---- (This was his check up after being on initial 70mg dose of Vetoryl for about a month)
    Cortisol Sample 1 "Pre" 1.8 normal range 1.0-5.0 mg/dL
    Cortisol Sample 2 "Post" 5.0 normal range 8.0-17.0 mg/dL(this one flagged Low)

    6/6/22

    ALT 171 normal range 12-118 IU/L (this one flagged High)
    Alk Phosphatase 959 normal range 5-131 IU/L (this one flagged High)
    Glucose 95 normal range 70-138 mg/dL
    Sodium 161 normal range 139-154 mEq/L(this one flagged High)
    Cholesterol 184 normal range 92-324 mg/dL
    PrecisionPSL 514 normal range 24-140 U/L(this one flagged High)
    CPK 71 normal range 59-895 IU/L
    Monocytes 7 normal range 3-10 %
    Eoosinophils 2 normal range 2-10
    Lymphocytes 15 normal range 12-30
    T4 2.5 normal range 0.8-3.5 mg/dL
    Free T4 (Dialysis) 42.1 normal range 8-40 pmol/L(this one flagged High)

    6/6/22-- This was taken when he was out of Vetoryl for about 2-3 days because they could not fill my prescription and I took him in to the vet because I was complaining about his appetite etc
    Cortisol Serial 2 ACTH
    Cortisol Sample 1" Baseline" 10.6 normal range 1.0-5.0 (this one flagged High)
    Cortisol Sample 2 "Not Stated" 17.1 normal range 8.0-17.0 (this one flagged High)


    I know this is a lot of information! :l I did hear on his ultrasound this afternoon and they are stating that he has "lesions" on his liver they said it could be a couple of different things, but cancer being one of them. They said his bladder and everything else looked fine. So they asked if they could do an xray of his chest and lungs and all of that to see if there were signs of anything in those areas. So I did agree to that, I did not give him the Vetoryl yesterday. I am hoping that will help him to perk up and have better appetite. He was down to 66lbs though when I took him in this morning. Granted he had to be fasted, and did not eat really great last night. That is nearly 5lbs from when he was weighed last Monday.

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