Cushing disease

C

candyfranklin

Forums Novice
What a blessing to have this site for Sheltie lovers to communicate! I just joined yesterday. I have 3 Sheltie rescues all around 13 years old. My sweet Maggie has been having acute liver, kidney and pancreas issues. She was hospitalized for 2 weeks and I brought her home 3 weeks ago with a feeding tube since she will not eat. She starting eating and drinking water on her on last Friday and ate a little for a couple of days. She is back to not eating. The vet internal medicine specialist thinks she is showing signs of Cushing disease. She will be my 3rd Sheltie with this illness. Does anyone have experience with this or suggestions on food to encourage her to eat on her own? I have tried chicken and rice, baby food, green beans, ground beef and rice, cheese, etc. Many thanks.
 
Did you do a sonogram? My landlords dog had with Cushings-like symptoms, and it was because a tumor had ground around her adrenal glands and was pressing against her heart and esophagus, which caused her to not eat. They did a sonogram before the chemical testing because I guess the tumor thing frequently mimics cushings.
 
We did a sonogram Rachael when she first went to the doctor. They did not see any tumors and they did a needle asperation on her liver, but it did not show any signs of malignancy.
 
Did the vet suggest ultra sound? Gall bladder issues can be a problem with our shelties, can cause all sorts of problems, with liver, pancreas etc.

I do wish you good luck with your babies, there are some very experienced people in here and their suggestions are invaluable.

Best,
Kate
 
Cushing's disease

Dear Candy,

Oh boy, it still hurts me to talk about Cushing's in Shelties. I have had two sweethearts who developed it around age 13 or so. I am so sorry to hear this is your third baby with it. My first baby, Vickie, went through a lot with it. She got to a point where she didn't want to eat. We tried everything too, then ham slices (Oscar Meyer, whatever) and that was helpful but she stopped eating again and we got her an ice cream cone (vanilla) and she really loved that. Then she started eating again and did pretty good for another two months. My other Sheltie who had it, Bonnie, my soulmate, was eating fine until the day she died. I wish you all the best in taking care of your little Maggie. Your little ones are very lucky to have you.

Maida, sweet Christopher and little Ritchie
 
So sorry to hear about all the medical problems your fur babies have :no:. I think you have come to a terrific place with tons of support, experienced and sound medical advice!
 
Do what's in the dog's best interest

I can surely sympathize with you as we had to put our first trio of shelties down one year apart. After the first passed my husband and I promised each other that we would not let our other two get that sick and miserable. Bringing a sheltie home at 13 with a feeding tube? I can only imagine the fear and pain your precious fur ball must be experiencing. When they stop eating for extended periods that's them saying "please let me go." Put your fear aside and do the right thing.
 
Candyfranklin

My rescue is 5 and has had issues since we gotmhim atntwo and a half. Now he has pancreatitus. I cook for him and he eats most of the time, but not today, have you tried building up hsi immune system with probiotics, i'm working with a nutitionist and she has recommended many things recently that seem to be helping. Please don't give baby food that was on a do not list i read. Are you feeding small portions four times a day. Stay away from carbs, a little sweet potato is ok. I would look into supplements, it can't hurt.
 
candyfranklin said:
. She is back to not eating. The vet internal medicine specialist thinks she is showing signs of Cushing disease.
Click to expand...

As you probably know if you have dealt with Cushing's, it is more likely to cause an increase in appetite than a decrease.
So I think you have the other issues to deal with first - pancreas, liver, and kidney, with Cushing's a bit 'on the back burner' for the moment. Treatment for Cushing's will generally decrease, rather then increase, appetite.
I understand that you are dealing with an internal medicine specialist, who knows far more about these issues than a GP like myself, but there may be a bit of a communication issue here, and you may want to clarify whether Cushing's is an underlying cause or an additional complication to be dealt with once the other issues are resolved. - Dr. Mac
 
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