Anyone's dog have Cushings?

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If they do, what symptoms do they have?

I'm wondering about my dog but I have no idea if treatment is possible because apparently the common medication damages the liver and my dog's liver is already damaged due to medication for her epilepsy.

Obviously I'm going to the vet. Just wondering what the signs are.

My grannies dog had this and it went undiagnosed for ages.

symptoms were extreme thirst which lead to accidents indoors
sore paws, she was always licking at them and making them break out which then needed cream
lots of weight put on regardless of watching what she ate
towards the end she was very out of breath and could hardly go for a walk

she was on medication for a short while but in the end nothing helped and my granny made the decision to PTS

My sister’s dog had very similar symptoms, particularly the drinking and accidents. She was eventually pts after a couple of months or so. So sorry this is happening to your dog. However, it could be something else, so a vet visit asap would be good.

What medication is your dog on at the moment?

Thanks all. My dog is excessively thirsty and peeing, sometimes pees indoors, overweight (but has been a while), shaky on back legs but might be her arthritis.

Phenobarbital. Been on it many years and is the only medication thst stops her seizures.

Our elderly terrier got a pot belly and lost a lot of hair. Not ever officially diagnosed (as we didn’t want to put her through the quite challenging test) but I’m sure that’s what she had.

If insured, or money no object, and it’s the right kind of Cushing. You can have adrenal glands removed. Gives them another problem, addisons , but that’s easier and cheaper to treat. Some specialists recommend it as long term actually cheaper than treating Cushing, and obv no dodgy liver medication.just a thought

My old terrier had cushings, she had incredible thirst, thinning hair, became
very rotund and then started pee’ing everywhere. The medication worked within the first few hours of her taking it, it made realise how ‘old’ she had got when she was only 6. She went on to live until 12 and it cost me fortune. But she was worth it.

Good to know but sadly my dog is almost 16 and couldn't cope with major surgery now.

I have a dog with addisons, I'd say this isn't a great option even if your dog was young so I wouldn't feel bad that this is off the table OP. Addisons means you need to give the dog artifical steroids via a monthly injection and daily tablets. If you don't, they become seriously ill very quickly. If they're ill or stressed you have to up the steroids to get them through that. It takes a while to get the steroids at the right level and to get the hang of when to up the dose and by how much. Your dog needs regular blood tests, particularly when getting the dose to the right level. There's also something called addisonian crisis which is an emergency. Also, because your dog is getting artifical steroids they can also get symptoms akin to cushings. My dog is ravenously hungry, thirsty, and pants a lot even though the steroids are at the right level for him. His immune system is also depressed because of the steroids.

I hope the vet can do something to help your dog OP.

Not cushings, but my elderly dog is on long term (2 years now) steroids and if it wasn’t that he was very laid back, not food bothered, and a very light drinker before it would be extremely hard. As it is, he will bark and bark for food and it has trashed his tendons and digestive system. But it gave him two years that he absolutely wouldn’t have had- but I can see that with a lab for instance it would be much, much harder to tolerate

It does sound very difficult caring for a dog with Addisons and I would definitely think twice about this option even if my dog was younger. As it is, major surgery is out of the question anyway as if she didn't die during the operation itself the aftermath could kill her.

Bless him, that sounds so hard.