Test Results on Tote - Page 2

pupwhipped · ‎03-11-2010

@grandmamary48 wrote:
Nougat
I'm rather new with responding on the forums so please bear with me. I couldn't locate your initial post regarding Tote and his possible diagnosis. Right now we are dealing with symptoms relating to Cushing's in our 9y/o lab mix and the vet is being very cautious with running tests. Rocco suffers from hypo-thyroid and separation anxiety and is on low protein food due to having bladder stone removal and found to be allergic to proteins. I realize you are not a vet so I won't go into his symptoms but was basically curious as to what you found on Tote to consider Cushing's. If this makes any sense, could you please respond, Thank you.

I can easily respond to this one as years ago I had the poster child dog for Cushing's. Typical symptoms are: High Alkaline Phosphatase level on blood test, excessive drinking and peeing, ravenous appetite, excessive panting, pot bellied appearance, thinning hair that doesn't grow back, and sometimes itching that the dog hasn't experienced before. Those are the ones that come to my mind...may have forgotten one or two. Back in 2004, when I had never even heard of this disease, my beloved Annie had ALL these symptoms with the exception of the thinning hair. I eventually diagnosed her myself before my vet was clued in. I won't go on...that's enough.

@grandmamary48, hope this helps you.

nougat · ‎03-12-2018

Yes of course! My original post was titled "why is my dog peeing so much?"

tote has been drinking tons more than normal and peeing tons more than normal, having accidents everywhere and also peeing the bed in her sleep. For several months now.

vet did total blood work up twice now. First time showed a little kidney distress and I was told to go to low protein food. I did a post "good low protein dog food? " next.

then he repeated the blood work 2 months later and the kidneys were normal so he had no reason to tell me why all the drinking and peeing and said to use pet diapers.

it was only after going on this forum with the "why is my dog peeing so much" that the Cushings idea came back over and over and she seemed to have the exact same symptoms so I went back to the vet with all my info and requested the test.

you can read all about it on that thread I mentioned. Please ask all the questions you want and I will try to help as people here have helped me so much.

nougat · ‎03-12-2018

@grandmamary48

i answered your questions in last post and hope you can find my original threads in the pet lovers thread, even some pics of precious little Tote !!

i must say I was pretty sure Tote had Cushings because I saw a pot belly and the drinking and peeing but she didn't have all the symptoms. She didn't pant or have thinking hair or skin etc.

my my vet didn't think she had it so did a urine cortisol, creatinine test first and it was only 1 point above cut off. I had the Cushings test done and found out result today.

he was right, she doesn't have it so on we go with the mystery............!

hope this helps but don't hesitate to post your symptoms and posters will give you answers including me!

CamilleP · ‎03-09-2010

Nougat, did your vet do the test for Atypical Cushing's Disease, as well as for Typical Cushing's? That would mean he sent the blood to the lab in Tennessee, it's the only lab in the country that does the Atypical hormone assays. It's far easier to treat than Typical Cushing's, and less expensive as well, since the melatonin and lignans are over-the-counter medications. It's not at all uncommon for a dog to have lots of Cushing's symptoms without testing positive for the Typical form, without excess cortisol in the bloodstream, and when the assays are run for the other hormones, those come up far too high because the dog has Atypical Cushing's instead. Good luck in your continued quest to help poor little Tote, I am sure she does not feel at all well any more.

nougat · ‎03-12-2018

@CamilleP.

Thanks for the info @CamilleP. I did ask about atypical Cushings to my vet. He has thought all along it's not Cushings. The day I found out it was negative I did research all day on Diabetes Insipidus and she has all the symptoms for this also. So it's a good possibility that's what it is. Will have to see a specialist though since it's such a rare disease to deal with. So the saga goes on.......sure appreciate all the suggestions and help from you all here !!! @

grandmamary48 · ‎03-02-2016

@nougat

Thank you for the info. Rocco has most of the symptoms of Cushing's - ravenous appetite, shedding hair but no bald spots, excessive drinking and peeing (16 cups per day), very lethargic and just wants to sleep and not play, behavior has changed somewhat from happy to nervous. He looks very depressed. Weight loss. Had his glucose tested and it came back normal. Vet is thinking Cushing's but is doing a conservative approach to this as he has other health issues.

Tomorrow we go back to the vet for a blood draw - hypothyroidism - to check his levels.

Had his urine tested which was sent out to a lab - it looked like chicken soup and that came back ok...Only change was to his creatinine which was slightly off.

I think the vet will do a full blood profile again and see where we are at now. It's just so sad to see my grand-furbaby in this condition.

Thank you for your insight.

nougat · ‎03-12-2018

@grandmamary48

your welcome! sounds just like my Tote except for the hair loss. she gets into such a deep sleep that she jumps out of her bed when i go to wake her to take her out!

sleeping much more than usual too. very worrisome and sad.

so many diseases have such similar symptoms that its hard to figure out just what they have! keep posting your results so it may help another along the way and curious to see what they find out on your furry one!

grandmamary48 · ‎03-02-2016

@pupwhipped

See my response to nougat. Going this afternoon for bloodwork. An adrenal tumor has just crossed my mind. Might have to investigate this also. I do believe an ultrasound would be the best option for this. Wish me luck.

Thank you very much for your help.

qvcaddition · ‎03-10-2010

@nougat

@nougat wrote:
Vet called this morning and Cushings test was Negative.
This means still NO DIAGNOSIS !!!

now only option is to see a specialist in another city!

My vet was right, he did not think it was Cushings. only other possibility is
psychogenic behavior - a habit she aquired like a baby with its blanket or thumb sucking
or Diabetes Insipidus which is so rare that the vet has only ever seen 1 case in his whole career as a vet!! UGH!!!

i do not know what to do!??? what if spend all the money and time to see a specialist and its just a psychogenic behavior??? Cushings would have been so much easier and able to treat!

very upset that still no diagnosis on my sweet dear little Tote!

My vet thought my Dog had cushings, did a urine test and negative. Cost 45.00. No specialist needed- I have a retired old fashion vet. I also have one in case of emergency when mine is not open and they want to run every type of test imaginable. My Grandson's dog had an ear infection and three teeth infected. I took dog to my vet. He charged 45 visit, 200 to clean teeth and 10 dollars to pull each infected tooth. Their vet wanted 1800 dollars for cleaning and 100 to pull each tooth. The dog was so sick they were going to put it down because they cannot afford those prices. Thank god they know how much I love pets and gave me the dog. Well today this little girl is running,. jumping, chasing the ball and walking 2plus miles. I hate these expensive vet with all their high tech stuff that need to be paid for. Give me a retired old fashion vet any day. People travel from other towns to go to him. My pet insurance pays the 45 office charge, but not the full 65 office visit the high price one charges.

My Grandson now has his dog back and healthy and grandma, me, watches it twice a week. Her tail goes like h&&&l when she sees me.

nougat · ‎03-12-2018

@qvcaddition

thanks for your story. that is so great you stepped in and helped this grateful dog!

I go to a 1 vet office, not a high tech group. my vet is still expensive though. He reminds me of an old fashioned counrty vet. not like the high tech ones.

the urine test is just a cushings marker test. the real cushings test is a 3 blood draw 4 hours apart each time and very expensive. thats the real test for cushings.

the specialist is for the Diabetes Insipidus possibility. its a very complicated and rare disease that even my vet doesnt deal with. so thats why a referral to a specialist is needed. and yes vets can be so expensive I often wonder how people even have pets!!

thank God you have the nice vet you do, wish more were like this!

and what a great story!