Not Cushing’s....but now what?

S

Shelby's mom

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Well Shelby was tested for Cushing’s and it was negative. Which is good news but what is causing her diluted urine with protein? Lab work shows no kidney or liver issues. Everything abnormal was pointing to Cushing’s.

She does have high blood pressure so we began treating that today. Vet wants to repeat her urine and if it is still abnormal she recommended doing and ultrasound. We are going to wait a few weeks to repeat the urine, wait until she is on the BP meds for a bit. Maybe the high BP is causing this.

I’m not sure if we should continue looking for a cause. Shelby acts perfectly normal for being 9. Not in any discomfort, eats, plays etc. nothing abnormal. I asked the vet what the reason for US would be and she pretty much said it is just to find a cause, if anything is found most likely nothing that could be treated. It is also possible the US would show nothing. She said this would mostly be for our own piece of mind. If US is negative then she recommended seeing a specialist.

My gut tells me we are looking for something we will never find. Shelby is acting 100% normal. And she had protein in her urine when she was about 1 - we did testing which showed nothing wrong. Never continued to check after that.

How do you ever decide when enough has been done and we just move on and enjoy the time we have? We have checked for things we could treat and all were negative. It is just so hard to decide what to do.

Thanks for listening, I know how great everyone on here is! It is nice having people who can understand what we are going through.
 
Gavin turns 14 this Christmas...
we stopped having all his lumps and bumps looked at 2 years ago. We aren't gonna do surgery, so no reason except peace of mind. And a few are getting bigger. But they aren't impacting anything I can tell.

It's all about keeping him happy and active. So we have a PT/exercise schedule. So he can enjoy his trips to the beach and his walks to the park. I had the same response when an MRI was suggested for his limping. We aren't going to do surgery, so it won't do anything except maybe give me a cause. won't change treatment. I had to accept that Gavin wasn't going to get better. and the stress of being an indefinite caregiver has been substantial. Shelby isn't at that level, though, so less impact on you.

I know Shelby is younger, but....I do have an incredible happy and lucky boy :)
 
My thought when you mentioned the polydipsia was IBD. Deska drank a lot and, after numerous urine tests and repeated Cushings and other tests they just diagnosed psychogenic polydipsia (anxiety related). The only thing that showed in any of the tests were slight off readings, such as potassium, which was possibly due to drinking so much. He started doing it around 6 or 7 years old. Much later, when Deska got the intestinal cancer and the IMS said he had severe IBD, I also found out that polydipsia is a sign of IBD. It's like us grabbing a dry biscuit when we're a little nauseous - he was filling his tummy with water. If only the IBD was suggested all those years ago when the polydipsia started.

Would I get an ultrasound - well it depends on how experienced the person doing the test is, I got my dogs u/s regularly after the ASSA recommendation for GBM, my general vet was ok with the gallbladder but managed to miss Deska's cancer so I wish I'd gotten the specialist to do the tests. However, seeing Shelby is 9 you may want to get the gallbladder scanned anyway. And of course the larger the area to scan the bigger the area shaved, so best do it while it's still warm.

Btw - there could be a big difference in treatments depending on what the cause is.
 
pomshe said:
I know this is probably too simple, but could it be diet?
Click to expand...

Yes I agree, and this may be the underlying reason behind dogs diagnosed with IBD as seniors.

Perhaps it's worthwhile trying an elimination diet (single novel protein)? Deska was sensitive to chicken and I've found now Tully is sensitive to chicken, sweet potato and pumpkin. From the IBD FB page they are actually pretty common 'allergies' in dogs (esp chicken).

Might also be worthwhile keeping a record of the time you notice her drinking in large amounts.
 
I agree an ultrasound would be a good idea if only to rule out the gallbladder and check out the kidneys, Especially considering her age. Also the high blood pressure could be caused by her kidneys not functioning as well as they should be so I'd definitely consider changing her diet.
 
I have to vote for getting the ultrasound as well. It's not that expensive, not invasive, and you can get her gallbladder checked also. Maybe she's got cystic kidneys or who knows what, maybe IBD as Caro said. If it shows nothing concerning then I would just go by how she is feeling and eating. I have always wanted, for peace of mind, to get all the info I can. Probably just my training as a nurse.
 
Thanks everyone! As you all mentioned diet this all actually started when we switched her food (due to the DCM scare).

She originally had colitis (treated with Flagyl). At that time we were still trying to figure out how much of the new food to feed her to keep her at 25lbs. She was 24lbs at the vet and she told us to double what we were feeding her. (Vet wants her at 26lbs). When we doubled the food that was when she began drinking more (not emptying her bowl just drinking more than normal). The vet thought it was b/c of the increase in food. But then one day we came home and she peed in the house. Which led us to the urine and blood work and the Cushing’s test. She has not peed in the house since. And she was averaging 3 1/2 cups of water daily. I have since stopped measuring because she was spot on every day. About 3 cups during the day and another half cup at bedtime.

We went through all of this when she was 1 and we were never able to find a cause for the protein in her urine. Part of me feels like we are just repeating everything we did 8 years ago. I think right now we are going to repeat her urine in a few weeks to see if there are any changes. And then decide from there what we will do. It is just so hard to know what the right decision is.
 
Is the protein in the new food different to the protein in the old food? In dogs it's usually the protein that is the source of sensitivity.

Mr D was drinking at 1-2 litres too. At least with all the investigations into his pee we discovered his kidneys were good. He would often go into a 'zone' and I'd pull him back after he drank so he didn't just fill up. If I recall rightly, one of the times was about an hour before dinner. I ended up with a soup tureen for his water bowl and a normal bowl for the cats and Tully.

It is hard to know what to do. Good luck.
 
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