Cushing's and Gigantism?

I have a  7-year-old Maltese named Hip-Hip and he is 20 lbs.  I know that he is purebred because my mother owns his parents and I saw him being born.  :)  He was diagnosed with Pituitary Cushing's Disease when he was only 6 years old.  As far as I know, that is pretty young to be diagnosed with Cushing's.  Also, all of the Maltese puppies that were bred from the two parents ended up being very small (10 lbs was the biggest one aside from Hip-Hip).  Could he have been born with that tumor on his pituitary gland?  I feel as though the tumor could be linked to his abnormally large size.  Although he is slightly overweight, his bone structure is very large for a Maltese. Any thoughts?

[chihuahuagrandma]

My dog recently diagnosed w/Cushing symptoms and shes only 7 yrs...I am not real good yet regarding the disease...I have been on forum asking same questions...there is though a person on this forum, that does know, hopefully they will respond to you...
Good Luck...

[April2]

I have a Maltese mix. We're not sure what he's mixed with (he was a pound puppy) but we think maybe poodle? He has the look of a maltese with the silky hair, etc. but he's always had a weight problem since we adopted him. We adopted him 7 years ago when he was 5 years old. He's now 12 and weighs 16 pounds. He's supposed to weight about 12 pounds. He was 14 pounds when we adopted him and has always fluctuated between 14 and 16 pounds no matter how many different diet dog foods we've tried. We used to be able to walk him but this last year he's really gone down hill and can't make it around the block. I wind up having to carry him. We suspected 2 years ago that he had the Cushings Disease but he was doing so well we thought the vet might have been mistaken. A few months ago we had the more extensive testing done on him and his liver enzymes were sky high. He has now been officially diagnosed with Cushings and they think he probably only has about a year left. He's really gone down hill these last few months. He started peeing in the house (something he NEVER did before) and he's drinking lots of water. He has the big belly and its hard all around.
I don't know if it can affect their bone structure although I heard their head can become almost skeletonal looking. I do know that they tend to get the big belly and they will always act hungry.

Something to remember is that dogs with Cushings will be more susceptable to all kinds of infections like UTI's, kidney, ear, eye, etc. You will need to watch him closely.
Have you decided yet on treatment? We decided to not choose treatment because our dog is already old, 12 years, and the vet said the meds would make him very sick. We're just going to keep him comfortable and happy as long as possible.
So sorry to hear about your dog. I hope you can get all the answers you're searching for.
Take care,
April

[Lindy79]

When Hip-Hip was diagnosed with Cushings about a year and a half ago, we decided to put him on Trilostane (brand name is Vetoryl).  It is only available through the mail and is shipped from Masters Marketing in the UK.  After playing around with the dosage and re-testing him (ACTH Stim Test) his bloodwork came back looking great.  He now takes 60mg every morning before breakfast.  His belly has softened up, he doesn't drink as much water, and his hair looks nice. The vet is very impressed thus far with the results.  The symptoms that are still prevalent are: laying on cold surfaces, not very active, and he always acts hungry. He doesn't have any negative side affects from the meds at all.
After learning that Gigantism and Cushings are both caused by a tumor on the pituitary gland which causes overproduction of certain hormones, I thought I'd try to learn more about it and see if there is a possibility that he was born with this tumor (as opposed to getting it later on).

Thanks for your input April!  I hope your pup feels better!!

[BabaluandOtis2]

Hi All,

I had a diabetic baby (he's passed on now), but I had found a great canine diabetic/cushing's site when he was diagnosed. I can't remember what forum it was , I'll check to see if I still have it listed in my favorites, and if it's even still around, and I'll post that.
Anyway,  there is a great book that I found out about from that site on all these diseases, Diabetes/Cushing's/Pancreatitis/Thyroid as they are all related and when you have one chances are greater to have another.
It's called " Dogs, Diet, and Disease" by Caroline D. Levin, fantastic book, it helped me a TON with my baby and understanding. I just looked and Amazon has it along with some other sites. It's $30 but well worth it.
Has a ton of info on diet and care for these type of diseases, and really explains them in plain english, not medical mumbo jumbo.

I was just thumbing thru it and it said that cushing's is usually found in obese dogs, 6yrs of age and up, BUT it can be found in younger dogs also. Also suggests that diet MIGHT have something to do w/ it (people food too) along with genetics.  And it suggests other diets to use for these type pups.

If I find that other site I'll let you know
Take care
Teresa ; )