My senior dog has untreated Cushing's. Will he be in pain? How long?

I am so sorry to hear this and I know how hard it can be to tell if your pet is having a good quality of life. The three big things I look for are: 1) Good appetite 2) Comfort level- are they moving around on their own, able to posture to urinate/defecate well, using the stairs, able to rise and lay down easily. If not- would medications or other therapies help? Also, with neck pain- can they eat/drink from their bowls well? 3) Are they still doing the things that make them 'them'- whether it be greeting you at the door, wanting to take walks, whatever it is that makes their personality unique. To answer your specific questions- the term 'tumor' can be scarab, but Cushings can be a disease managed without a loss of comfort, although it may take management- Eg checkups to make sure they don't have urinary infections or skin infections. I would certainly be concerned about any neck pain and want to ask your vet if any therapies would help improve their comfort. I hope this helps!

There are studies that show it does not affect their life span ! It is a disease of symptoms and can be frustrating to live with. It will cause an increase in drinking and urination which can lead to accidents, it causes thin skin and a pot belly appearance with weight gain a muscle loss. In severe cases it can lead to a skin infection and calcifying of the skin

Cushing's disease is rare in cats, and prognosis is guarded when it is diagnosed in a cat. It can rarely be cured, and it's hard to say exactly how long a cat would live without treatment as each animal is different, but I would not recommend allowing a cat to live without treatment. That would cause suffering to the animal, which is never acceptable. I would say that they would be in pain, as they will suffer muscle wastage, thin skin that can easily tear, possible UTIs from the excessive drinking and urination, and concurrent suffering with diabetes (the excessive cortisol interferes the effects of insulin). If Winfred is at end stage Cushings and you do not want to continue treatment, then I would recommend putting her to sleep to prevent any pain and suffering.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Bruno. I base quality of life decisions on several factors. Is the patient eating and drinking on his own? How is his mobility? Can he navigate stairs safely, move freely around the house and get outside to go potty? This tends to be a significant problem in large breed dogs. Any time a pet has a chronic illness, there will be good and bad days. Are the good days still outnumbering the bad days? Finally, does he still seem happy? I would recommend carefully thinking about these questions and seeing what his blood work shows. Cushing's can be managed most cases. The seizures are worrisome though. They are unpredictable. He might never have another one, but they could go on to become a frequent occurrence. His blood work will determine if he is healthy enough for anti-seizure medications. I hope this information helps.

I'm sorry Buckaroo has Cushing's disease! Cushing's is commonly caused by a pituitary tumor, although a small percentage of dogs develop Cushing's due to a tumor on the adrenal glands that may or may not be cancerous. Should he has a pituitary tumor and it's left untreated, then the tumor can grow large enough to press on the brain leading to neurological symptoms such as difficulty seeing and walking, or other conditions such as diabetes and seizures. I would speak with your vet to see if there is a way you can set up payment plans so you can afford to treat Buckaroo. If you truly cannot afford the treatment, I wouldn't put him down just yet. Enjoy as much time as you can with him, and if he develops any of the symptoms I mentioned above or his other current symptoms begin to get worse and his quality of life decreases, then yes I would put him to sleep. I'm sorry you are in this position and I hope my advice helps.

I am so sorry to Charlie is not doing well. It is always difficult to see our beloved pets getting older. If you feel Charlie is in pain it would be worth discussing with your regular veterinarian to see if you can increase his tramadol, or if there are other medications you can add in for additional pain relief. You also need to consider that Charlie may be coming to the end. It sounds like his quality of life is becoming diminished, if he is no longer interested in walks and other things that typically have made him happy previously. Check out this link for an article that can help you better understand this part of Charlie's life.http://vet.osu.edu/assets/pdf/hospital/companionAnimals/HonoringtheBond/HowDoIKnowWhen.pdf Charlie's Cushings diseases and elevated liver enzymes unfortunately complicate the picture, and mean that some of the medications we might normally use for a dog who is in pain are not suitable for him. I hope I have been able to provide you with some ideas to chat with your vet about-do not be afraid to emphasize that you feel he is in pain-you know Charlie best and sometimes the trip to the vet clinic can cause an adrenaline rush that masks some of the symptoms you are concerned about.

Cushings is an extremely complicated condition to both diagnose and treat but with such a high reading on an acth stimulation test is is extremely likely in this case. There are additional confirmatory tests such as a urine cortisol:creatinine ratio and dex suppression tests which can be used to further investigate. If she has no symptoms at all then it may be an option to withold treatment and monitor very closely, keeping a symptom diary to track any changes. In some dogs, the abnormal excess cortisol can actually provide antiinflammatory effects improving quality of life and treatment can actually allow other symptoms to emerge. You should be aware that untreated cushings may indeed shorten life expectancy