| One of the more common yet over diagnosed hormonal diseases of middle age to older dogs (and to a much lesser extent cats) is Cushing’s disease, which is an overproduction of adrenal gland hormones. This can be due to either a small tumor in the pituitary gland, brain, or an adrenal tumor. Although Cushing’s disease is more common in breeds like Beagles, Boston Terriers, Poodles, and Dachshunds, this disease can occur in any breed and is more commonly diagnosed in females. |  |
Symptoms most commonly include increased thirst, urination, and appetite, along with the development of the common pot belly appearance along with muscle wasting over back muscles. In addition, there is sometimes the development of symmetrical hair loss down the back, as well as thin skin prone to secondary infections. Many affected patients are prone to secondary urinary infections due to the immune suppressive effects of this disease, as well as rarely diabetes.
Many pets will develop excessive panting and in some cases the development of hypertension, blood clots, and/or secondary heart changes from elevated hormonal levels. Diagnosis is best made through the history of relevant clinical symptoms mentioned here, as well as blood, urine testing and ultrasound. One of the most common errors made by today’s veterinarian is the over diagnosis of this disease in dogs. Many vets will rely only on results of blood tests, while not taking into account if the pet has symptoms of this disease; the most common being excessive thirst/urination and appetite.
Because of this, many pets are mistakenly treated with potentially toxic drugs on the adrenal glands that actually don’t have this disease. Even in pets where I’m able to document this condition, it’s only in patients with severe clinical symptoms that I will treat because of the risk of toxicity of the drugs. Although there are newer pet meds like Trilostane, which is believed to be safer, there is still the possibility for serious side effects in sensitive animals.
Other drugs like Lysodren and Ketoconazole are alternative options in treating this disease. Any secondary urinary infection and/or high blood pressure should also be treated appropriately. However, before you start your pet on one of the drugs used to treat Cushing’s disease, I would make sure that a complete thorough diagnostic workup is performed and that your pet also has clinical symptoms compatible with Cushing’s before starting treatment.
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2 Comments
hi can u tell me if my jack russel pop belly will go down as she has cushion disease thank u
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Dr. Michael Dym, VMD veterinarian Reply:
January 5th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
The pote belly will usually resolve slowly with treatment of the underlying Cushings Disease.
[Reply]
hi can u tell me if my dog pop belly will go down as she has cushion d
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