My dog is in Congestive Heart Failure

[lowthreeohz]

That sucks man, best wishes for your pup. Mine is my best friend, odd as it may sound.

[dville_gt]

That sucks man, best wishes for your pup. Mine is my best friend, odd as it may sound.

x100

[txstangnut]

man, these guys are all over the map. now they think she's got cushings disease...maybe

just add another $250 for some more test...

My golden had that and had to put her down. I would get a second opinion. I started taking my dogs to the Decatur Vet Clinic on College street right acros from James Wood. They are the cheapest around and are very good. I took all 5 of mine in for office visit and heart worm meds and it was like 100 bucks. Your pup is in my thoughts.

[dville_gt]

For those interested, this is what I got back from the radiologist. Now they want to do the two test for Cushings. From reading this I'm starting to wonder if it might not be a back injury or something. I just wish I could help her.

[Jenn]

Dr. Cole is a fantastic DVM, we used him exclusively at the hospital I worked at previously for imaging consultations. I'm sorry you're not getting concrete answers... unfortunately, that's the nature of the beast with diagnostic medicine. Luckily, if your pup is in fact Cushingoid, it is a relatively manageable for a while with medication and frequent labwork monitoring.

[dville_gt]

Does it sound like it could simply be a pain? would you recommend another 250 in test to determine if it is in fact Cushings?

Thanks again everyone for the kind words and advise, it is not falling on deaf ears I assure you.

[Shorty]

My friends' Boston Terrier was diagnosed with Cushings. Once they got him on the proper meds he was a new dog.

[zemog]

Prayers sent buddy! $750 well spent.

agreed !! we have spent many K's over the years on various animals, never had a second thought on one of them.

hope all goes well
Z

[Jenn]

Does it sound like it could simply be a pain? would you recommend another 250 in test to determine if it is in fact Cushings?

Thanks again everyone for the kind words and advise, it is not falling on deaf ears I assure you.

What tests are they wanting to run? ACTH Stim test? Urine cortisol/creatinine ratio? Has your dog developed any thinning of hair or hairloss? weight gain in the abdomen, like a 'pot-bellied' appearance? any elevated liver values on general bloodwork? I'm not a DVM so I cannot give you any medical advice, however I can say this - My mother's dog was recently diagnosed with Cushings. Her onset of symptoms was non-stop panting, excessive urination, and thinning of the hair on her back. We did an ACTH stim test to get her diagnosis. She's a completely different dog now that she's medicated.

[dville_gt]

Looks like it is Cushings. Ran a low-dexamethasone suppression test and from my readings of it she clearly has pituitary dependent hyperadrenocorticism. I believe Sample 1 is a baseline, then they inject dexamethasone, then take a sample 4 hours later (sample 2), then take a sample at 8 hours (sample 3).

[dville_gt]

and now that I re-read it, it also looks like she fulfills the next criteria as well

cortisol level at 4 hour was less than half the baseline (5.7/2=2.85, 2.85>1.1)

[Up0n0ne]

We lost one of our dogs to Cushings. She started having an uncontrollable bladder and would drink till the bowl was empty.
She waited til we got home and then made her way to her crate (it was always open) she collapsed a couple times gasping for air, then after she was in her crate she started gasping for air but heavier then before, she died while I was holding her head in my hand at around 11pm. Absolutely heart wrenching to see this.
Honostly knowing what I know now, I would've considered putting her to sleep, only reason is because it seemed like a very horrible way for a dog to die.

[Jenn]

Glad you got some answers! Hopefully now, with oral medication and labwork for monitoring, she'll be well managed with the disease. Be careful to watch for signs of urinary infections, they are quite common for dogs with Cushings.

[dville_gt]

My baby girl died today. Very heartbroken and will miss her and remember her forever.

[BMCSean]

My condolences on your loss.