My dog has most of the symptoms of Cushings. I put this all together without much help from my vet even though my dog had been to the vet at least 3 times in the last couple months. I understand that dogs with Cushings will start to urinate constantly and drink excessively, pant, lethargy, hair loss and more. She had one "mistake" on our floors and the vet put her on Amoxicillin. Would she be able to stay on an antibiotic for the rest of her good days?
I've chosen not to medicate her with the Cushings meds as my vet told me the tests and meds would be quite costly and there are risky side effects. I am unable to afford such options. I have already spent over 500.00 prior for various urine tests and as I said earlier, I researched and believe I've found the problem that was overlooked by the vet. My dogs proteins in her urine are off and the vet explained that indeed this could be Cushings. Her hair hasn't grown in over 6 months which was also mentioned over and over. My vet kept telling us "its old age" while my groomer is saying "no it's not". She had a thryroid test done also. That came back fine. I feel my dog has fallen through the cracks of a veterinary hospital that has grown to big for it own good. I'm so upset with them, I went today and got ALL her records and lab reports for my own file should I decide to never use them again.
My Cocker is 11.6 years old and I've already made my decision not to treat her with the meds . I will enjoy the good days while things are okay. My question is how do I keep her from scratching and itching? Benedryl was mentioned by another vet which I will try. Non steriod meds would be considered but Apolquel has had some nasty tumor growths and they haven't been producing the product from what I understand anyway. I'm not willing to take that risk of additional tumors. I was told that dogs with Cushings are not in pain. There internal systems are just messed up. Any suggestions on what to watch for and how to manage without making things worse. For instance, she needs to be groomed as her underbelly and legs need to be cleaned up with minimal clipping. Shampoos that would be good for her itchy condition by use of her groomer etc. I am giving her fish oil 2X a day (1200 mg each) to help her skin. This is a terrible disease and I know even though the blood tests haven't been done, this is my dogs illness. Everything just fits although I wish it could be something simple, its not. Bless all of you out there that are dealing with a pet and this disease. It's sad, frustrating, expensive and heartbreaking all at once. The photo, if it shows, is when my dogs was healthy.