Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Some Information About Cushings Syndrome In Dogs

By Jill Rowan


Cushing's Syndromes or Cushing's Diseases are hormonal disorders that are caused by high cortisol levels in the patient's blood. The elevated levels can be caused by both cortisol producing tumors and by taking some medications. And apart from the condition being found equally among both genders, Cushings Disease in dogs is also fairly common.

The symptoms of the condition include hyperhidrosis, psychological disturbances, thinning of the skin, and rapid weight gain. The rapid weight gain of the patient typically leads to the thinning and stretching of the skin, which leads to significant capillary damage and bruising in turn.

Most of the time, a dog that comes down with Cushings is considerably more able to get Diabetes and urinary tract infections. Many of the previously mentioned symptoms are occasionally mistaken for the process of aging since the ailments are more common among old dogs.

If any of the previous mentioned symptoms are observed or suspected, the canine in question should be immediately evaluated by his or her veterinarian. The physician will perform blood work and x-rays on the pet as well as CT scan to confirm the presence of a pituitary tumor.

After the pet has been diagnosed with Cushings Disease, its care both is based on the kind of Cushings it has and the human's personal views about treatment. No matter how cherished the sick dog is, if it's quite old or in bad health, the owner might decide to make the hard decision to skip treatment and opt for early euthanasia instead.

Surgery is required in most cases to remove the adrenal tumors in the canine. Generally, a dog who undergoes the procedure has a fairly good prognosis and these growth types rarely return. An animal with Cushing's that has a pituitary tumor is often given daily hormones which usually work but do cause side effects.




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