Should my senior dog with low thyroid & Cushing's take meds?

Interesting question! Cushings can be a very difficult condition to manage and can in itself give low thyroid readings (as can any illness such as urinary tract infections common in cushings patients). This syndrome is known as euthyroid sick syndrome where although the thyroid my be capable of working it is not as active as expected - this occurs in almost 50% of cushings patients. True failure of the thyroid gland is also possible but much more rare. Extensive testing may be required in order to differentiate the two conditions but if confirmed, thyroid medication can be given alongside cushings medication

My biggest concern is that your vet is talking about hyperadrenocorticism also known as Cushing's disease. This is what I think of when you discuss those symptoms, liver enzyme elevations and adrenal issues. Cushings is where they produce too much cortisol in their system. You can do a test to rule this in or out. You can have your vet do a low dose dexamethasone test OR a ACTH stimulation test. If it comes up positive then you can treat with the disease with a daily medicine called trilostane to help the symptoms. But you cannot cure cushings. I hope this helps and will help guide you in a conversation with your vet if this is actually what your vet thinks is going on.

Hi there! You are correct that Cushing's disease would be a common cause of the symptoms you are describing in an older dog (excessive panting, weight gain, and drinking/urinating more than normal) - however, there are also other illnesses that could cause this, so diagnostic testing would be needed as a first step to find out if Cushing's disease is even the problem or not. It would be EXTREMELY unsafe to start Vetoryl or any other medication for this condition without even knowing for sure if Tily has it, since these meds would be very dangerous for a dog to take if they weren't needed, and close monitoring of cortisol levels is needed for dogs who are on medication for Cushing's disease because if the dosing isn't right they can get very sick or even die. So this would be a problem that you would need to work closely with your veterinarian to diagnose and treat safely - it's not something you can do yourself at home, just based on guessing. If taking Tily to the vet is difficult for you, I would suggest calling around to some local clinics to see if there is anyone in your area who does house call visits. A mobile veterinarian could examine Tily and take the required lab samples (usually blood and urine testing, as a starting point), and then go from there depending on what is found.

Cushing's or Hyperadrenocorticism is a fairly common endocrine disease in dogs. It can be caused by a bit of overactive tissue in the brain (in the pituitary gland, which is the master ruler of hormone secretion in the body) or a mass in an adrenal gland (sits by the kidneys, secretes hormones as directed by the pituitary gland). Basically what happens is an excess of a hormone in the body, usually a steroid called cortisol, if it is traditional Cushing's. This then causes some symptoms in the pet, blood work changes, and sometimes other changes like high blood pressure. I suspect based on the value that you report that this was a liver enzyme elevation call ALP. This very commonly occurs in pets that have Cushings, but is not specific for Cushing's and elevation can be caused by other disease processes. This value does not correlate with severity of disease as many dogs have a high value. It sounds like your vet is on the right track by recommending an ultrasound to look at the adrenal glands and also the rest of the abdominal organs to rule out other disease processes. Ultimately Cushing's Disease has to be diagnosed by some sort of endocrine testing which your vet may recommend as well. Treatment if then based on what type of Cushing's disease is present. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

The only way to know if this is related is to have the thyroid level checked again. I recommend to call your veterinarian and let them know what you are seeing. They will advise on how much medication to give and when to test. The only way to know if Glanni truly has thyroid disease is to stop all medication for at least 2 weeks. Then test a thyroid panel that includes the Total T4, the Free T4 by equilibrium dialysis and the Thyroid stimulating Hormone. This will give you a complete and accurate idea of his thyroid function. I do not advise to make any changes to the medication with out first speaking with your regular veterinarian. Also keep in mind that the behavior could be coincidental and related to something else entirely. Best of luck.

We are not in a position to prescribe medication for your pet. The results you show here are not showing enough proof for the need for thyroid medications unless she is showing very clear symptoms in which case a free t4 ft4 test should be completed. I recommend repeating in 4-6weeks to track changes. I would be more concerned about her elevated bun and creatinine which may indicate kidney disease and should be investigated with urine tests by your vet to determine the concentrating ability of the kidneys

Hello. Having a chronic condition like Addison's can stress the body & cause an artificial lowering of T4. You should insist that your veterinarian run a full thyroid panel, not just look at T4 which can be artificially lowered in many non hypothyroid situations. In addition, we generally treat Addison's disease with a mineral corticoid along with a glucocorticoid like prednisone. I would ask your vet about this as well. You need some more information on your pet. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.