Cushings Disease

Legolas

Well-Known Member
I'm after some advice if anyone has any to offer. I have an 8 year old springer who has some hair loss/thinning and I think is also drinking more than he used to. Hair loss appeared after he spent a week in kennels and then three weeks at my Dad's whilst we were on holiday. The vet suggested it may be stress /diet related due to the month away so come back if it doesn't clear up. its a couple of months down the line and the hair loss is has extended from two patches on one side to include a larger patch of thinning on the other side. Back in the vets today and had a blood test for thyroid etc which came back normal - good news, so booked in tomorrow for another two stage test for Cushings disease. Obviously I've never heard of it, I have done a quick google but don't want to jump to any incorrect assumptions. My vet is very good and I trust him in having the dog's best interests at heart rather than how to make a few quid out of the situation, BUT, when I'm in there with my best pal, I seem to fog up and rational thought and my ability to comprehend what the vet is telling me seem t leave me. Are there any points or observations/questions I should be asking, or is there any information that I should be passing on to the vet. I went for my pre-op check for the snip last week no problems, but when I'm taking my pup to the vets I clam up completely!!!
 
Testing for Cushing's seems a perfectly reasonable next step. After that you are really looking at skin biopsies.

Let us know the results
 
Yes, agree it seems logical. There are two tests for cushiness, the ACTH stimulation that will say cushiness or not and the LDDMS test that can determine what sort. IN brief it is either due to an enlarged adrenal gland, or to an excess of adrenal growth hormone from the pituitary. Its complex!
I'm not surprised by your comments regarding rational thought at the vets, it is known that only about 1/3 of what we (and doctors) says is retained.

Good luck
 
Many thanks for the feedback gents. Dog dropped off this morning for the ACTH test. Will keep you posted.
 
I would also be interested to hear how the dog is.
My terrier cross had similar symptoms and we had blood tests, skin tests etc and it turns out he has an allergic reaction to grass pollen,house dust mites and storage mites.
We manage his condition with Atopica we have him on 1 every third day now after a couple of months on 1per day then one every other day and a monthly dose of advocate for external pests/mange etc. We bath him once per week with Allermyl Shampoo. Occasionally he has a flare up and his skin is red with some thinning of the hair - we usually increase his dosage of Atopica to 1 per day until the symptoms subside. More-Than Pet insurance have been great no fuss, refunding 70% of the cost.
Best advice - don't try folksy remedies stick to what the vet says.
He still scratches and rolls around in grass, if he get the chance but we keep a kiddies T-shirt on him in the house.
hope all goes well.
essbee
 
Had a call from the vet today - the ACHT stimulation test came back as completely normal. The other bloods came back as perfectly normal too. Current outlook from the vet is to keep an eye on him and see if it's a seasonal thing before doing anything else. I'm pretty happy with that as he's not disturbed/distressed/irritated by the patches and I'd rather not put him through any more tests if not neccessary.
 
Had a call from the vet today - the ACHT stimulation test came back as completely normal. The other bloods came back as perfectly normal too. Current outlook from the vet is to keep an eye on him and see if it's a seasonal thing before doing anything else. I'm pretty happy with that as he's not disturbed/distressed/irritated by the patches and I'd rather not put him through any more tests if not neccessary.

Thats a great result from the cushins perspective, one of my wifes horses had it and it ended up as it normaly does with this problem with the horse being shot. It is controllable but she has known lots of people whose horses had it and the prognosis was never good. Best of luck with your hound.
ATB
John.
 
Back
Top