Hi all! I have just come across this website and posting for the first time. Just wanted to hear what everyone is doing for their dogs with cushing's, and if anyone else has experience with battling both Cushing's and diabetes at the same time. My maltese is 8.5 years old, fairly young to be having all of these endocrine issues. We have suspected Cushing's for a couple of years, but decided not to put her on medication and formally diagnose based on what I had read about Vetoryl being a dangerous medication. Until July of this year when Daisy started to drink excessively and urinate a lot. We figured it was the fact that her cushing's was progressing, and somehow diabetes didn't cross my mind at all! Until Daisy went into a DKA episode, she got really sick, and we had to hospitalize her. It was a very heartbreaking time as we thought we would lose her. The hospital bill for just 2 nights was outrageous of course, and caused debates in our family about whether or now we should have hospitalized her to begin with, but anyway that's another topic.

So after we diagnosed her with Diabetes and started treating with insulin, the vet suggested that she be formally diagnosed and treated for Cushing's as well, as it's most likely that Cushing's was the underlining cause for the Diabetes. So she did test positive for Cushing's, and we have had her on 5mg of Vetoryl once a day for over 3 months now. The initial lab test was within good limits. Now we have to take her back in for a ACTH test 3 months later. Daisy's sugars have not been easy to regulate. I do glucose curves at home from time to time, and they're always different. Sometimes she's within good limits of 100's-200's, other times she's in the 300's-500's. We feed her 12 hours apart the same way, so that doesn't vary too much. Not sure what else to do for Daisy at this point, should we continue her on Vetoryl? What can we do to stabilize those sugars? All of it is adding up to so much money between the medications, and the tests, the insulin, syringes and glucose strips, and not to mention the time everyone has to put into it to be home at certain time for the shots. Of course we love our little fur baby, and are willing to go above and beyond for her. I just wish we could establish more or less a stability with her cushing's and diabetes, without always feeling like things will go downhill at any moment.

What is your expert advice?

Thank you!

-Daisy's mom