Littleberry, diagnosis issues

[littleberry]

Hi, thanks to Natalie for letting me join this site. My dog is suspected of being in early stages of Cushings and I was a new member of the caninecushings.net/ which has suddenly gone off line.

I know many people here have also dealt with Cushings dogs so it's good to have a place to go as questions arise. Ten year old Poodle has suspicious blood work and physical signs, thinning hair on body, slight tummy and constant ear inflammation.

She recently went on Thyroid pills as that tested low but I learned Cushings can affect Thyroid levels. Not drinking excessive water or pottying too often yet

She has to retake the 8hr Dex test in a few weeks since the first one she took was lost in the mail. [We're waiting for inflammation from last test to heal before repeating the test]. I have new appreciation for everyone going through these difficult illnesses and I know many of these dogs are older and must leave us eventually but it's such a hard road to travel.

[BaileyBear]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

Just wanted to welcome you!

Strange about the cushings site - I hope it's temporary and is back online soon. I know it's a big lifeline for many. My dog doesn't have cushings (as far as we know), but I'm sure there will be others more familiar with the disease who will chime in.

Welcome again - glad you had another place to post when the site went down.

[BestBuddy]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

Hi,
I am missing the cushings site too so I hope it will be back online soon. I am so sorry that the stupid vet lost your first sample. My Buddy who I lost this last January, not to cushings but to age, also had thyroid problems but that resolved with the cushings treatment. He had the thinning/bald spots on his trunk and down his legs but didn't have a pot belly. He was drinking and peeing a lot but we also found out he had a UTI. The main reason we started the cushings testing was that his blood glucose (yes he was diabetic too) was all over the place and mostly high after years of having good regulation. Buddy had the LDDS and the HDDS testing done and also ACTH and he never had any injuries. He was always a little down for a day or so after but no swelling or holes in him.
Jenny

[littleberry]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

Thanks BaileyBear, this is a great site.

[littleberry]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

Jenny, I'm sorry you lost your Buddy, he was lucky not to have swelling from the repeated blood draws for that all day test. Everyone who's drawn blood from my 17 lb Poodle's neck always has to put the needle in over three times just to find the vessel. I gave her extra liquids before we go in just to plump up her vessels, too!

[eyelostit]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

Hi littleberry, love your name

Welcome

Don't know about the cushings site, it should be up soon.

[littleberry]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

Thanks eyelostit ... you've really got a unique name.

[eyelostit]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

I went to the cushings site, I don't remember it looking that way. When I paste the site in my browser it has a M in front of the address line, maybe Nat or Kathy knows about it.

[eyelostit]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

Thanks eyelostit ... you've really got a unique name.

LOL thank you.

[BestBuddy]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

I suppose if there is trouble finding the vein then that would cause problems if they had to repeatedly put a needle in. The good news is that those all days test should only have to be done the once. My Buddy was only 11lbs and I'm sure his neck veins were not great either. I do know all the vets were instructed not to use his front legs to get blood as there were no usable veins. The initial testing really is the hard part and then if you decide to treat once you get the right dosage testing (ACTH) is only done every 3-6 months depending on with route you use.
Jenny

[CarolW]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

I kept trying the Cushings forum; it's still offline. Let's hope it comes back up soon! Though my Kumbi doesn't have Cushings, I'm interested.

There IS another Cushings group; it is astounding! A friend of mine pointed me there. It's a Yahoo Group, so you would need a Yahoo ID (Yahoo will guide you on how to get one), and you have to apply to join the group, same as here. Too bad their messages aren't public, so you can't read them until your membership is accepted.

The group is here:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Canine...utoimmuneCare/

A shorter version of that link:

http://tinyurl.com/vdyw

When your membership is accepted, they send you a bunch of files, with quite a few links in them. I felt quite overwhelmed - but I've spent all my long life dealing with being overwhelmed, and I have a trade secret (ha!) about coping when you get thrown much more than you can possibly do (I was taught this in school, some 50 years ago):

Do what interests you most, and you feel able to do - and set the rest aside! You can always come back to it later!

I can say this about that forum: it is very thorough, and has truly excellent information. It is also supportive, in the same way as here and on the Cushings online forum that just disappeared.

So, I'd keep checking for the now-missing forum (I'll be doing that too, because I love reading there), but also, I'd go look at that Yahoo Group forum, and consider joining there. If you do join, you'll find me there too.

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 06:52:39 (PDT)

[CarolW]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

Back from giving Kumbi his morning insulin, I want to add this about the Cushings.net online forum, and the Yahoo group I just pointed to. I am NOT suggesting you substitute the Yahoo group for our much-loved cushings.net forum! I'm suggesting it in ADDITION.

I don't think there's another forum quite like the cushings.net one. I really hope they can get back online soon. Hope they didn't get hit by some kind of technical problem - maybe a problem with billing, but surely they'd be able to straighten that out (I hope!) very soon .I'll be checking several times a day, till they come back online, as many of you here are my friends there (though I barely post there).

P.S. Today is Kwali's 14th birthday, and Kumbi's 12.5 UnBirthday.

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 07:09:13 (PDT)

[Lulusmom]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

I'd also like to thank Natalie for letting us cc.net folks use her site to communicate with each other. I'm a member of both sites but I know just enough about diabetes to be dangerous. I have two dogs with cushing's, one also diagnosed with hypothyroidism and the other we suspect has diabetes insipidus.

I'm sorry to say that I am disorganized and lose my train of thought easily so I take the easy road in responding to posts. See my comments in blue below:

I know many people here have also dealt with Cushings dogs so it's good to have a place to go as questions arise. Ten year old Poodle has suspicious blood work and physical signs, thinning hair on body, slight tummy and constant ear inflammation.

Hypothyroidism and cushing's are two conditions that are not uncommon to toy and miniature poodles. All of the symptoms you have listed are symptoms associated with both conditions as well. I'm not sure about the suspicious bloodwork though. Can you please post the abnormal blood values, including the reference ranges?

80%+ of dogs with cushing's experience increase in appetite (polyphagia) and/or excessive drinking and peeing (Polydipsia/Polyuria) Have you noticed any change in appetite or thirst in your dog.

She recently went on Thyroid pills as that tested low but I learned Cushings can affect Thyroid levels. Not drinking excessive water or pottying too often yet

Yes, Cushing's can definitely affect the thyroid. As a matter of fact a good majority of cushdogs, prior to treatment, have what is called Euthyroid Sick Syndrome. The elevated cortisol levels in a cushdog transiently lowers thyroid levels (low total T4 concentrations are common); however, once the cortisol is brought down to desired levels via effective treatment, the thyroid levels usually correct themselves.

She has to retake the 8hr Dex test in a few weeks since the first one she took was lost in the mail. [We're waiting for inflammation from last test to heal before repeating the test]. I have new appreciation for everyone going through these difficult illnesses and I know many of these dogs are older and must leave us eventually but it's such a hard road to travel.

I didn't have time to post to your thread on cc.net but I do remember reading your post and thinking about how angry I would be if the blood for or results of an LDDS test were lost in the mail. This is pretty inexcusable and I certainly hope the second one is free of charge. We'll look forward to seeing the results once you get them.

I'll be checking in again and look forward to more information.....the more you can give us the better able we can provide appropriate feedback.

Glynda

[acushdogsmom]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

I really just have a minute but wanted to say that I don't think they absolutely have to take blood samples from the neck area. In fact I know they don't have to.

My Cushing's dog had ACTH stims done many times over the six years in which he was successfully treated with Lysodren, and they always took the necessary blood samples from his legs. Always.

Why? Because I asked them to do it that way.

My cushdog (15 lb Bichon) had a very bad experience when he was younger (at a previous GP Vet) which involved a blood sample being taken from his neck. So when I realised he was going to have to have numerous blood draws over the rest of his lifetime, I asked for the samples to be taken from the legs instead.

edited to add:

I think it may be easier for the Vet Techs to get blood samples from the neck area, but they can definitely use the legs for the blood draws.

Apparently, not all Vet Techs can get blood samples from the legs, maybe because it's a bit harder to find a good vein in the legs, but one of the two the Vet Techs who knew how to do it was always assigned to do our dog's blood draws.

[rhodesian46]

Re: caninecushings.net site is down - nice to be here

Hi and welcome,
I had a Siberian Husky named Pebbles. She was on thyroid pills( Soloxine),had Cushings and Diabetes. Dogs with these diseases are prone for more infections. Pebbles was on these thyroid pills even after her Cushings was under control. Also dogs that are first diagnosed with Cushings may have high blood pressure. Has your dog been tested for that? Normally the meds are given and usually discontinued after a few months.

If you could post more info as to the results of her blood work we would all love to help you. The liver enzymes are generally high with cush pups. Washter any more tests done such as an abdominal ultrasound?