Is it safe to give my old dog Vetoryl for Cushing's symptoms?

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I will strongly discourage you from giving Sophia Trilostan without knowing for sure that she has Cushing disease. She may have, for example ascites, diabetes or internal organ enlargement, which makes the belly look potted. In that case, giving Trilostan can lead to a life-threatening hypoadrenal crisis. Please, take your dog to your local vets to confirm the diagnosis and then start the treatment, if necessary.

Hello. For the most part, Vetoryl is used to control the symptoms of Cushing's by controlling the production of glucocorticoids. Overproduction of glucocorticoids is responsible for the symptoms of excessive drinking & urination but does nothing for the actual tumor growing on his pituitary gland. If Izzy's symptoms are manageable & tolerable then medication is not necessary. This would be your choice. But if his symptoms do get worse, at least consider once a day dosing. Most dogs do very well on twice daily dosing, but once a day can help in many pets. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Cushing’s syndrome (if that is indeed what she has), is rarely an emergency. Many dogs have had the disorder for months (or years) prior to diagnosis. However, diabetes can have very similar signs and that is more of a concern. If she has lost weight, or if she is not eating then I would recommend an emergency veterinarian to make sure she is not diabetic and starting to Decompensate. I also notice that she is not spayed. Pyometra is a uterine infection that usually starts with increased water intake, But they usually progress to not feeling well soon. Some of these dogs also have vaginal discharge and typically occurs 6 weeks or so after last heat cycle. If she is eating well and seem fine otherwise then waiting until Monday seems appropriate to me. If possible try to take a urine sample with you to your veterinarian appointment. Best of luck and I hope she does well. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

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.

Some common symptoms of Cushings's are panting, increased thirst/urination, but these are also common symptoms of many diseases. Bloodwork and endocrine testing can help to ferret that out. Neurologic symptoms can sometimes be present with Cushing's if there is a larger tumor in the pituitary gland but seizures can also be caused by other things as well so an MRI is typically required. CT can sometimes be used if a pituitary mass is strongly suspected. Itchy feet is typically caused by allergies which may also be associated with secondary infection. Next steps are to see your vet for an exam, bloodwork, and endocrine testing. Abdominal ultrasound and blood pressure measurement are also typical next steps. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Although it is more rare to see Cushing's disease in a younger dog it is definitely still possible. I have definitely diagnosed Cushing's in a dog at this age, however it is still pretty uncommon. There are other possible causes of increased drinking and the other signs you've described so I think a veterinary visit is the best place to start. Instead of jumping right into a Cushing's work up I'd suggest starting with some baseline blood work, a thyroid level and a urine check. This will rule out some other potential causes and make it more clear if Lola should be checked for Cushing's disease. I hope this is helpful! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and good luck to you and Lola!

Hello and I applaud you for being such a good owner to Tilly. The clinical signs of peeing a lot and drinking a lot is also called polyuria and polydipsia. One of the diseases that is not picked up on a regular blood work up done in a general veterinary practice is called Cushing’s disease. Cushing’s disease can only be diagnosed with an ACTH stim test or a LDDS test. You may want to ask your veterinarian if these tests were run on your last visit. If not, it may be worthwhile to check for this disease. Sadly, boxers are also quite Portland to getting cancer internally. Cancer anywhere inside of a dog can cause them to drink and pee a lot also. As for the coughing issue, sometimes he can cause this coughing but just to be safe I would have the veterinarian do some chest x-rays, and ECG, etc. to make sure that there is nothing wrong with your dogs thoracic cavity that would cause the coughing. If you do not want to do these tests for the cough, you may ask to have your veterinarian start a 21 to 30 day course of anabiotic‘s just in case it is infectious bronchitis or another upper respiratory disease. The cloudy I would be difficult to give you any kind of opinion on without a picture. Two of the most common conditions for cloudy eyes are cataracts and lenticular degeneration. Please have your veterinarian perform an ophthalmic examination to get some insight on what is causing the cloudiness. I realize that I have giving you a lot of information. The main point that I want to make sure I get across is that blood testing and your analysis will Not pick up all diseases and I urge you to ask your veterinarian to either run more tests or refer you to an internal medicine specialist I hope I have provided you with some helpful information.