Petite Pooch Dog Blog

Drink water…pee….drink water…pee…drink water…pee…drink water…pee…drink water…pee.

 Sound familiar? If it does, you may need to get your dog to a veterinarian. Sorry to sound so direct but this behavior may be indicative of a major health disorder called Cushing’s.

Most people think of excess thirst as a symptom of of diabetes and it could be…but Cushing’s can also be the culprit. A lot of people think that excess urination or “accidents” may be something that an elderly dog may exhibit because of his/her age…but that’s not necessarily so. Symptoms like increased thirst and/or excess urination can’t be ignored. These are “red flags”, a kind of “heed this warning” message that tells you to get your doggie diagnosed. These symptoms are dangerous to the health and well-being of your dog and have to be addressed by a veterinarian.

The first and most common sign of Cushing’s disease is often excessive thirst as well as excessive urination. My dog, Junior, an Australian Shephard began going in & out of the doggie door at night to urinate and then he began having accidents in the house. His appetite increased and he began stealing food from his brothers’ and sisters’ food bowls, looking into the trash can attempting to eat garbage, and continuously begged for food. I thought he should be gaining weight, but instead he began losing weight. A once 65 lb. boy…he lost weight and is now a 50 lb. “toothpick”.

 Other classical symptoms of Cushing’s disease include abdominal enlargement (pot-bellied appearance), lethargy, panting, muscle weakness, and frequent skin infections. Junior’s fur also began to change. After being “buzzed down” in his usual summer pattern, his fur wouldn’t grow back or it would grow in patches. People started thinking that he had just had a really bad haircut!

So we’ve been making frequent trips to the vet and he’s on medication. Diagnosis of this disease is usually via blood tests. The medication that he’s been on hasn’t helped so off the specialist we go. He now has to undergo an ultrasound to further diagnose his condition. Please wish us luck…he’s my sweet boy!

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 7:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, Dog Care, Elderly Dogs, Care of Older Dogs, Dog Owner Responsibility, Cushing's Disease, Dog Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.