My dog has cushing's

[Kathleen Jordan]

And I am losing it...

This all started about 8 months ago when she began drinking entire bowls of water and waking me up six to eight times per night to go outside to use the bathroom. I took her to one vet who did a whole battery of tests and said that her urine was dilute and her liver values were raised but he saw nothing wrong with her.

After another couple of months (and no sleep) I found another vet. This one said the same thing but said that when you see the intense drinking and raised liver values, that is Cushing's. He didn't recommend the medication for Cushing's because it is fraught with side effects and cost prohibitive for a dog her size. He recommended a medication that would help tighten her bladder sphincter. That didn't work. Then he recommended a sedative...which is where we are now.

The sedative works sometimes. Sometimes, it works too well and she urinates all over the floor while sleeping. Sometimes, like last night, it doesn't work at all and she wakes me up 8 times to go outside. The prescription is written that I can give her one or one and a half pills, but if I give her the stronger dose, she certainly urinates all over herself and the house.

I feel so bad for her.

Oh, and whenever my son dog sits, she never asks to go outside in the middle of the night. Which complicates things, because it makes it seem behavioral, but I'm not sure.

Do any of you have any advice for this situation?

 

[Kathleen Jordan]

In 2017, I spent thousands of dollars on vet costs and medication when my bichon Coco was repeatedly misdiagnosed before finally being correctly diagnosed with Cushing disease.

Lessons learned: if your dog is drinking and peeing constantly, don’t accept a diagnosis of urinary tract infection. Dogs with UTIs generally restrict water intake.

If your vet does not have much experience with Cushings, consider finding an internal medicine specialist. Costlierin the short run, but cheaper than spending a lot of money at a local vet who doesn’t have enough expertise to properly diagnose and treat Cushings.

If your dog is diagnosed with Cushings, insist on starting medication (“Vetoryl”/ trilostane) at the initial dose suggested by UC Davis Veterinary Department, rather than the manufacturer’s recommendation which is frequently much too high.

The best place to buy Vetoryl is from Valley Vet. Valleyvet.com. Their prices are less than half of what a local vet charges, and if you order multiple months, shipping is likely free. Also, they are so customer friendly.

If you have a small dog, you may need to start with 5mg.of Vetoryl. Don’t let your vet tell you that the 5 mg dosage doesn’t exist. My dog almost died from the 10 mg. that was twice as high as needed.