|
Home
Meet Sophie
Rescue Story
Medical Check
Treatment
Progress
Sign Guestbook
Read Guestbook
|
THE ONCE OVER MEDICAL CHECKUP
March 01, 1998
As is customary with a new pet with an unknown background, we took
Sophie to our Vet and had them do a once over examination.
The vet estimated Sophie's age as 5 - 7 years old, based on her physical
appearance, teeth and eye condition. On close examination, a long
foxtail was found and extracted from the wound near one leg. A couple
more were fished out of her ears. Then came the usual innoculations,
and drawing of blood for heartworm and other tests. She was indeed
overweight - weighing in at 60 lbs!! She also seemed to pant a lot.
We speculated that this might be a by-product of her overweight condition.
However, the vet postulated that there might be another reason - the dog
may have Cushing's Disease.
Cushing's Syndrome is a hormonal disease in which the adrenal glands
become overactive and secrete too much hormone. Naturally occurring
Cushing's (that not occurring from overuse of cortisone-type medications)
is usually caused either by an overactive pituitary gland signaling the
adrenal glands to work harder than they should, or by a hormone secreting
tumor of the adrenal gland. The cause of the overactive pituitary gland
is usually unknown. Cushing's Syndrome (also called hyperadrenocorticism)
is a disease of humans and dogs and rarely of cats.
The "classic" symptoms of Cushing's syndrome are:
- excessive thirst
- excessive urination
- increased appetite
- abdominal enlargement (bloated abdomen)
- muscle weakness
- increased panting
- lethargy
- obesity
- hair loss
- skin infections
- hyperpigmentation (age spots).
Not all patients with Cushing's will show all of these symptoms. Cushing's
is often a slowly progressing disease and in many cases it will be suspected,
tested for, and diagnosed before the signs become severe.
March 04, 1998
Besides the first blood test, two additional tests were performed.
This second test was performed to positively confirm the presence of Cushing's
Syndrome. Lab results were received in about 3-4 days and the results
were positive.
March 09, 1998
At this point, we had the option to begin treatment with Lysodren.
This is a chemotherapy-type drug, that has demonstrated some negative side-effects,
as reported by pet owners on the Internet. To have the full range
of options, it was necessary to determine the specific cause of the disease
- whether related to the adrenal gland, or the pituitary gland. The
third blood test was performed to identify the pituitary gland as the cause.
The lab processing of the results took approximately a week and was positive.
Next - Treatment for Cushing's Syndrome
|
