My 8 year old Hound Dog has Cushings

Hello... my 8 year old redbone coon hound has cushings. Yes, we went through all the testing and $1,000 later he does have cushings. He also had the ultra sound and everything looked normal sized but his liver looked a little off. He has pituitary cushings, again everything looked normal size. I think I caught it real early, I had googled why my dog is acting like he is starving all the time and read about cushings and immediately took him to the vet the next day to start the testing. Long story short, here is a little about my dog:
1.  95 lbs
2.  coat still beautiful and shiny
3.  skin looks a little dry and some hair loss on nose
4.  dry mouth
5.  pale tongue
6.  very weak hind legs, getting to the point stairs hard to climb
7.  hungry all the time, stealing food, going thru cabinets etc
8.  doesn't drink a lot of water and doesn't go potty a lot, maybe a little more than usual
9.  likes the cooler weather
10.very anxious all the time, whined a lot
11.pants a lot
12.seem depressed and I haven't seen him wag his tail in months and months
13.had a urinary tract infection, but got that cleared up
14.no thyroid problem
15.no diabetes
16.no pot bellie

My Vet put him on Ophiopogon 200GM, started out with 1 tsp twice a day. Well, he didn't bug me all day to eat and drank less water and went potty less,but he was very lethargic. The Vet cut him down to 3/4 tsp twice a day, he has a little more energy but was hungrier, so I have upped it a little more. I am worried about his hind legs getting so weak. He use to love to go on walks, now he wont go.  I have done so much research my head is spinning. I think he is the Yin part of cushings and I am not sure if the Ophiopogon is doing everything it should. He started his med on June 2, 2010 and it is now July 3,2010. Please any help would be much appreciated.  



This discussion is related to Is Homeopathic Treatment good for Cushings?.

[Aleda M Cheng, D.V.M., C.V.A]

Lethargy and pale tongue may signify a Qi deficiency in addition to the yin deficiency. In that case your vet can try a combination treatment of 1/2 Ophiopogon and 1/2 Rehmannia 11 or 14.

The difficulty with the stairs is probably to a bit of excessive weight on his joints and the beginning of arthritis.  The herbal formula's Body Sore and Hindquarter Weakness my help and are available from your veterinarian, as well as Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Glucosamine/Chondroitin supplements and acupuncture treatments.

The Western herbal formula: Neoplasene, or the Chinese herbal formula's: Stasis Breaker, Max's Formula and Wei Qi Booster may help to shrink the pituitary tumor which is secreting the excess cortisol (responsible for the Cushing's Syndrome).  These would also be available from your veterinarian.

Lastly, sometimes a patient needs a bit of help from traditional medicine for Cushing's syndrome, such as the medication Trilostane, when all else fails.  Holistic therapies do take a bit longer than traditional medications to become effective.

[Dr. Carol Osborne, DVM]

If your dog is not responding to the Ophiopogon, consider Lysodren which in my clinical experience works very well for cushings disease.
Kidney Yang Deficiency is thought to signify final stage's of Cushing's disease. Ophiopogon Powder (A3510), Rehmannia 11 (A2194) and Rehmannia 14 (A0150) are said to be helpful for this. Rehmannia 14 may be effective to treat Cushing's disease due to Kidney Yang Deficiency in dogs.
I hope this is somewhat helpful.
Best Wishes
Dr Carol Osborne, DVM

[Fredthehound9]

Hello, thanks for the advice, but we had to put our beloved hound dog down.  The Ophiopogon worked great in the respect of it controlled his appetite both for food and water, he was like a normal dog again. But his legs were getting so weak he could barley walk and was falling and couldn't get up, since he was 95 lbs, he was hard to help get up. The Vet put him on a powder for hind quarters, but he went downhill so fast it wasn't helping. My theory is this; since he no longer produced cortisol, he no longer had steroids to help with the strength in his muscles. It was very sad that we had to make the decision, but we didn't want him to suffer anymore. The Vet said he looked good on the outside but he was not good on the inside. :(