Canine Cushings Disease Causing Addisons Disease in Dog

by lyn
(tobyhanna pa)

My pitbull age 14 was diagnosed with canine cushings disease 6 months ago,and was doing great on his medicine until 2 weeks ago when he started vomiting and suffering from massive diarrhea,


I rushed him to a vet. They said it's now canine Addisons disease. They treated him for 3 days with all kinds of meds and iv fluids then sent him home on steroids.

All was great up until 3 days ago when he could barley walk. I took him back to the vets again yesterday. They gave him a dex injectio. He looks better already. Now he will continue on steroids for the next 10 days.

Also, I was told 2 weeks ago he has cancer in his liver, but the vets are sure it's his Addisons doing this to him.

He went from 85lbs to 70lbs in a month. We love our dog and will do anything for him to live a happy healthy life. I've been doing research on the injection called (docp) administered every 25 days.

have you ever known anyone to use this on their dogs and does it work. Also if he has to much of it can it cause him to go back to Canine Cushings disease again,any info would be greatly appreciated...

Thank You

Comment from our vet regarding Canine Addisions and Cushing Disease Treatment

Wow, you are in a very complicated situation with your dog. Let me see if I can give you a little information to help.

First of all, DOCP is an excellent product. I have used it many times on my patients with Canine Addison’s, but it treats only some of the problems associated with this disease. You will probably also need to give him corticosteroids, at least during times of stress if not every day. And no, using DOCP will not cause your dog to develop Canine Cushing’s disease again.

It is possible that your dog developed Addison’s as a result of his treatment for Cushing’s disease. When this happens, the Addison’s may be temporary, meaning that the Cushing’s disease will come back, or it may be permanent, meaning that you don’t have to deal with Cushing’s disease anymore but that you will have to treat your dog for Addison’s for the rest of his life.

Like I said, this can get pretty complicated. If your vet is not able to handle the situation, ask if he or she can refer you to an veterinary internal medicine specialist who has extra training and experience with these types of problems.

Good luck,

Jennifer Coates, DVM

Comments for Canine Cushings Disease Causing Addisons Disease in Dog

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Jan 26, 2011
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starstarstarstarstar 		Addisons disease in my dog
by: M Daniels

My dog has addisons and he is a mixed lab...I love him so much and he was diagnosed about 2.5 years ago. Taking 8 pills a day to keep him going...if any one out there knows anything that would be of interest to me..please let me know.. thank you.
Calif
Apr 13, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		FROM CUSHINGS TO ADDISONS NOW! GOOD GRIEF!
by: Anonymous

Same happened to our Boston Terrier. He is 10.5 years old, has lost an eye to glaucoma, cannot hear or see out of the other eye, and then last year they told us he had cushings disease! Unbelievable! He's been on Vetoryl for about 6 months, getting his blood checked about every 2 months. Last check they said his levels were fine and to continue the dosage (2 pills per day). His hais grown back completely, he is 26 lbs (heavier by 2 lbs which is good) and holding his own. We brought him back in for a skin infection and they tested his urine. They found very high amounts of protein in his urine, so they wanted to do the blood work again to test his levels and another urinalysis. The vet thinks he now has Addison's diesease. My husband brought him in today for the tests and we should know the results within 3 days. This is ridiculous! It seems like no one rally knows what is going on or what is the best course of action for our pet and I am just so upset over the whole thing!
Aug 26, 2012
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starstarstarstarstar 		Cushings vs Addisons
by: Jennifer

This Spring my B.T underwent an uncomplicated surgery to remove a growth(benign per the vet) from his rectum. Few weeks later he was drinking and urinating frequently and diagnosed with a UTI, and treated with amoxicillin, for two weeks. On day #3 of abx tx, I noticed he was shaking and had muscle twitching in all his extremities. Brought him back to Vets and dx with cushings. Started Vetrol 60 mg, and waited for improvement which there was a little., but dog was very lethargic and appetite decreased. Went back for recheck and dose was decreased,and my poor dog stopped eating all together. So I took it upon myself to wean him off this med.As he lost at least 10 lbs and looks like a rack of bones with muscle loss and weakness. He is now at least eating small amounts of cooked chicken but that is it and small amounts of h2o
Dec 06, 2016
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starstarstarstarstar 		Addison
by: Anonymous

Our baby Lab mix has had Addison now for 3 years she has moments she feels good and other times she does not. Vomiting , diarrhea. But 90% of the time she does great. She is only on the Percorten shot not the steroids. She is one of the dogs that does not need to be . And yes I had it checked with a specialist highly recommended. Please log on Addison Disease on FB you will receive all the support you need and so many questions can be answered. Good luck with all your fur babies . Don't give up. it gets better.
May 19, 2018
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starstarstarstarstar 		cushings to addisons
by: Anonymous

The same thing happened to my 12 year old lab. He went from cushings to addisons disease. He got the injections every 25 days and took a low level of pred every day for the next 5 years. He lived to be 17!!!

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