So we are heading to the vet next week for my 13 year old cattle dog. He seems to be losing tone along his spine and he drinks so much water (he into diapers now). i suspect diabetic or he has cushings. What is the treatment for these conditions? I can tell he is losing his big ego and it makes me sad.
My understanding is that both of those conditions can be treated quite easily with medication that is not overly expensive. I don’t have experience with these conditions in dogs, but my mini is both insulin resistant and has cushings.
Good for you for taking such good care of your pooch. It is hard to watch them age but always remember that he has been living the life of luxury!
I had an elderly dog with Cushings then later Diabetes. The Cushings was managed with oral meds Trilostane. And did quite well on them for awhile.
Unfortunately, when the diabetes came along, it required shots twice a day. Finally came to making a decision about quality of life over quanity.
I had two cushingoid dogs, both on Trilostane. One was detected early, even though he had no symptoms (his liver enzymes were slightly off one year so we pursued it); the other was more advanced when I got her, even though I got her diagnosed soon after (I got her at 11, she lived to 13). The one which was detected early lived a lot longer. Trilostane has to be somewhat carefully dosed, so they do need monitoring. The tests were fairly expensive, but the meds were not that bad.
Edit: I also want to note that when they were on meds, they were lively and happy. They had great quality of life for their last years.
thank you!
i sure hope we can use a pill rather than shots.
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thank you so much. My little guy has gone blind and it just breaks my heart seein him fumble around. he still likes to walk in the wide open field when we get a chance.
Jingles to your guy from from a fellow cattle dog lover 
Timely topic. Thank you for posting. Our 14 year old beagle mix seems out of sorts lately. She has been drinking a ton of water and she is hungry all the time. She saw the vet on Monday (has gained 3 pounds since last year) and they mentioned Cushings but my partner did not pursue testing. She is “mostly happy” - still lives for her daily walks - but she has started whining at the bottom of the stairs a couple times per day. I work from home in an upstairs office and the whining is definitely increasing in frequency. How expensive is the testing? What are other symptoms?
Mine had the same symptoms plus his urine was thick.
I think the initial testing price was about $250? Like mentioned above we monitored with testing to adjust meds to regulate. We were a bit conservative with testing, re-testing when we noticed changes.
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I have read that their hind quarters becomes weak with diabetes. Its so heartbreaking watching this happen.
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We paid about 300 for the initial test. Unfortunately, it wasn’t conclusive so we had to do an all-day, more sensitive test, which was about $500 (so 800 in total). Follow-up tests were in the 300 range. Our vet wants to identify whether it’s pituitary or adrenal cushings; the treatment is different for each.
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