Ive posted a few times about Rosie and after reading books and looking on the internet im beginning to wonder whether she has cushings? These are her symptoms :- At the start , weeing in the house ( a lot ) - which she would never do normally and drinking more than usual. Then hair loss (in large patches on side ), flaking sore skin , loss of nails , raw wounds which to me look as if they have split open. And now more recently - especially tonight - crying when she is just moving around!!

I was just wondering whether anyone has been through this and if you think this sounds like it. Any ideas would be really welcomed as im starting to clutch at straws now!

thanks , Kate

If you are concerned that your dog has Cushings Disease then I suggest you mention it to your vet who can carry out the appropriate tests.

Hiya Kate.
I had an oldie who had cushings. She was on steroids for about 6 years which i'm sure, lead to her getting it. She had quite a few similar symptoms to those you're describing and she used to wee in the house. I didn't put that down to the cushings though, i put that down to senility. She used to sit and cry for no reason, and that was just part of the confusion.
How old is your girl?
I agree with Tohme though, you really do need to go and discuss this with your vet.
Fingers crossed for the both of you.

Most of that could also point to diabetes. this is easy for a vet to check for in seconds from a urine sample.
Certainly you need to be discussing your fears with your vet.

Regards, John

Thanks to all for replying , Snoopy - Rosie is only 7 yrs old and apart from this has never been ill in her life. I have been in and out of the vet for the past three months or so ( at one time we were there twice a week!!) He took a blood test when she lost her hair for the second time. First time she lost it on right side of body , second time on left side. This showed that her thyroid was underactive , but not by a lot ( 14 instead of 17 ) The vet never tried or suggested finding out what was causing this , he just sort of treated each thing as a separate problem with antibiotics. Hence i am in the process of getting a second opinion!!

Sugar
Did your vet not perscribe Soloxine for the low thyroid problem at all ? There is a super Yahoo group for Immune mediated problems, they are a really friendly bunch and they have helped me heaps with my Hypo T and Immune problem girl. Here's the web details you'll have to cut & paste it as I can't do links...LOL 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CIMDAsupport/?yguid=152086736

HI TRIED TO GET YAHOO SUPPORT BUT COULD,NT WHAT EXACTLEY DO I HAVE TO TYPE IN TO SEARCH?

Welshie

You don't need to type into Yahoo, all you need to do, is cut and paste the web address that I posted into your search engine, and it will bring up the Cimda Support group website.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CIMDAsupport/?yguid=152086736

Hope this helps

We had a dog with Cushings but she also had a tumour on her adrenal glands that caused her to get very fat. She lost all the hair on her belly and her skin started to flake, she started weeing in the house and would drink all the time. She also started passing blood.

Important: Because she had cancer, which at the start we didn't she had got, when she had a blood test the cancer masked the appearance of Cushings on the results.

Let us know how it all goes.

sarah xxxx

Sarah ,

If the cancer masked the blood test result , how did you find out she had Cushings in the end? Is the blood test the only way of testing for it? We are at the vets this morning , should I ask for another blood test just for testing for Cushings? We've also made an appointment with a homeopathic vet for Friday - would they be able to diagnose what Rosie's problem is - haven't been to one before!!

Thanks to everyone for their help - will let you know how it goes today

Kate xx

When I had one of my girls tested for Cushings all they did was draw the blood and send it off to the labs took about 5 days for the results, I had the Addisons test done at the same time, again tested from the amount of blood that was sent to the labs.

Link for cimda http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CIMDAsupport/

Christine, Spain.

Well went to vet this morn and he doesn't think it could be Cushings as her symptoms dont really "fit" with the disease , thinks it may be a food allergy! Baring in mind shes on the same food she's had for about six years  - can food allergies suddenly spring up like this? Has been given soloxine for low thyroid and steroids to help calm skin.
Back to square one....AGAIN!

Yes you can become allergic to things that you have been exposed to for a long time; one of the reasons that it is recommended never to feed only one source of protein for dogs; so that they do not develop a sensitivity to it!

I suggest that you look on a search engine and put in Cushings Disease in dogs, and you will get lots of results. We found out our dog had Cushings, by the vet testing for cancer (which he found she had) and then from her symptoms, weeing, drinking alot, he said he thought that she also had Cushings. I hope that is clear!!!

sarah xxxx