Cushing's Disease

[Jeri Cunningham]

Our Krissy is being tested for this has anyone had a dog with Cushing's disease before?


Cushing's Disease is a disease in which the adrenal glands overproduce certain hormones. Another medical term for this disease is hyperadrenocorticism

[tumismom]

oh no! I don't know anything about the disease but I am praying for your baby!

[kalina82]

I'm sorry i don't know too much about cushings disease. I've only seen patients with cushions that could be helped with surgery. i don't see their before or after care, tho. An Adrenalectomy is preformed if there is a tumor on an adrenal glad that is causing the problem. Any surgery correction for this disease is a major procedure and you should only have the best board surgeon perform it.

If it can be medically managed then a board certified internal medicine vet would be the way to go

[Malia]

no, I don't know much about it, but do share with us so we know what it is.

Good luck to Krissy! Keep us updated...

What are the symptoms?

[Patti]

Maya my 11 year old pom was diagnosed with it about a year and a half ago. We treated her with Lysodren which is a very toxic drug. She never loaded properly and seemed worse on the medicine, After about 5 months she was worse so I switched her to a different specialist and they found she had liver failure from the Cushing's disease so we had to treat that and stop the Cushing's treatment. After about 5 months on the liver meds she was much better. Just recently she was diagnosesd with Congestive heart failure but is on 2 meds and doing great. Her hair has come back a lot and her sores have cleared up from the Cushing's but she is starving all the time and thirsty. She wants to eat every 2 hours day and night. If definatley is a complicated disease and my best advice is to find a vet who is very familiar with treating it. Maya's was not the type that surgery would correct. I know it is possible to treat in many dogs. Keep us posted.

[YorkieChick1]

I have had 2 dogs with Cushings disease, Molly (RIP) and her daughter Mindy who I have now. Molly lived without medicines until 15 1/2 yrs. and Mindy is 12 1/2 yrs. I read about this condition and decided to treat the symptoms rather than put them on toxic medicines. They drink, eat, pee and poop alot. Get ear infections, have thinning hair and both of mine have gone deaf. But I think I had Molly for 3 times as long with out the meds. They usually give you 3-4 years with Cushing's dogs but Molly lived over 8 years with it. Mindy has had it for 6 years. I just decided that I would rather deal with the symptoms of Cushings' rather than the effects of the medicines. Good Luck!

[Jeri Cunningham]

Thanks for the great information. The vet said it was not inheritable but YorkieChick1 did your vet say the daughter got it from her mom?


Krissy is only three so that is why the vet is not sure until the test comes back. Normally it happens in older dogs.

Her symptoms are just like the condition says:
What are the clinical signs?

The most common clinical signs associated with Cushing's Disease are a tremendous increase in appetite, water consumption, and urination. Lethargy, or lack of activity, and a poor hair coat are also common. Many of these dogs develop a bloated appearance to their abdomen due to an increase of fat within the abdominal organs and a stretching of the abdominal wall as the organs get heavier. The pot-bellied appearance also develops because the muscles of the abdominal wall become weaker. Panting is another common finding with this disease.


This is exactly what Krissy has + the fainting.

[jeanietoo]

My Ashlee had Cushing's. She lived for several years after diagnosis with no treatment. Many times the treatment is worse than the disease IMO. She had severs arthritis and a very bad spine so the cortisol actully haelped to keep her from having pain. The worst part was she drank huge quantities of water and peed constantly. We had our carpet ripped out and I just kept a mop and bucket and cleaned up all the time. She lived to a few months past her 16th birthday when she caught some type of virus which killed her

[Patti]

Maya is actually better with no treatment but still pants all the time, and starving. Does anyone know besides feeding her all the time if there is anything to do to supress her apetite? She wakes me all night to eat.

[Jeri Cunningham]

Originally Posted by Patti

Maya is actually better with no treatment but still pants all the time, and starving. Does anyone know besides feeding her all the time if there is anything to do to supress her apetite? She wakes me all night to eat.

Krissy is whinning to eat all the time now and fills up to 5 pee-pads a day. I feed her before bed a little and she slept all night with lots of panting. She did whin a few times. I sure hope there is a appetite suppressant for her if it gets worse.

I will really think twice after getting all this great information about treatment for the problem.

Krissy's isn't due to cortisol and I know there are a few causes. My main concern id she is very young to get this.

[AprilLove]

Jeri, I am sorry to hear Krissy might have Cushings. If she does, or if you want much more info on Lysodren, treatment, types of Cushings etc, there is a wonderful forum full of Cushings owners where you can ask questions, find out more as well. Has your Krissy been tested for diabetes too? Cushings can be a very difficult one to diagnose.
Here is a link to the cushings forum:

Canine Cushing's Forums - Powered by vBulletin

[Jeri Cunningham]

I just talked to Krissy vet and her cortisol levels are 22 when it should be below 13. She will go to the vet on Sunday and spend the night for nore testing as based on the previous testing the vet thinks it is this:

Pituitary gland tumor: The most common cause of Cushing's Disease (85% of all cases) is a tumor of the pituitary gland. The tumor may be either benign or malignant. The tumor causes the pituitary to overproduce a hormone, which stimulates the adrenal glands. Excessive cortisone secretion results. The tumor may be either microscopic or quite large. Depending on the size of the tumor, the presence of signs other than Cushing's will be variable. Generally, if the activity of the adrenal gland can be controlled, many dogs with this form of Cushing's Disease can live normal lives for many years as long as they take their medication and stay under close medical supervision. Growth of the pituitary tumor would give the patient a less favorable prognosis.


My husband wants to fix her no matter what but I worry about her quality of life. She is not happy now and I don't want her to be unhappy for years. This is going to be a tough one to decide whats best. I may try the medication and see what happens and just take it from there.

Her sugar levels are fine so no diabetes.

We will know more after the testing Sunday and Monday. The vet said some tumors don't grow beyond a certain point and she heard of one dog at UC Davis when she worked there doing well for 12 years.

[Tae1107]

My Peppy has all the symptoms of Cushings and every time I did a test (blood test) it came back fine..non-cushings...... it was finally determined that he had a tumor on one of his adernal glands (by ultra-sound).... I had the tumor/gland removed (unfortunately alittle spread to his aorta). The tumor was cancerous...I did five rounds of chemo with him and was told he had six months. (by surgeon..not the vet who did the chemo)...it has been over two years...and after most of the tumor was removed most of his symptoms got better...his peeing and drinking decreased and so did his panting...his pot belly stayed though :-)

...and he had/has a great quality of life.he goes for long walks every day and he loves his toys...the past few months his symptoms are getting worse again, including loosing some hearing and eye sight..and I am getting ready to take him in for another blood test and ultra-sound to see what is going on.

He is on no meds, except azydol which is for kidneys....

[jfalz73]

So sorry that your krissy is going through this..i will keep her and you in my prayers

[Jeri Cunningham]

Originally Posted by Tae1107

My Peppy has all the symptoms of Cushings and every time I did a test (blood test) it came back fine..non-cushings...... it was finally determined that he had a tumor on one of his adernal glands (by ultra-sound).... I had the tumor/gland removed (unfortunately alittle spread to his aorta). The tumor was cancerous...I did five rounds of chemo with him and was told he had six months. (by surgeon..not the vet who did the chemo)...it has been over two years...and after most of the tumor was removed most of his symptoms got better...his peeing and drinking decreased and so did his panting...his pot belly stayed though :-)

...and he had/has a great quality of life.he goes for long walks every day and he loves his toys...the past few months his symptoms are getting worse again, including loosing some hearing and eye sight..and I am getting ready to take him in for another blood test and ultra-sound to see what is going on.

He is on no meds, except azydol which is for kidneys....

I don't know how you do it. I think the last time I got a good nights sleep was the night before Krissy fainted for the first time which was 8/4. I have been an emotional wreck and I really think I would have a stroke if I had to go thru that much with Krissy.
I admire and envy you your ability to do so much for your fur baby. I will pray for him along with Krissy.