Bizeebee Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 GT'ers who've had or seen a grey with Cushing's - do they actually get the potbelly? If so, do you have a picture you would share? We're currently in the process of figuring out what is up with our Bismarck, all we know at the moment is that he has a significant adrenal mass, and a lot of symptoms of Cushing's. The rest of the important test results are pending - hopefully we'll know by the end of the day today. He certainly doesn't seem to have the potbelly, which does seem to be pretty common in Cushing's dogs. But, with a greyhound, I don't know what that would even look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 I have not seen or heard that that is a common symptom in greyhounds. Quote Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 The adrenal mass could be mimicking Cushings disease. I have seen greyhounds with adrenal masses end up being pheochromocytomas. Nasty cancer-can and often invade the vena cava. Has your dog had an abdominal ultrasound?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizeebee Posted March 15, 2019 Author Share Posted March 15, 2019 The adrenal mass could be mimicking Cushings disease. I have seen greyhounds with adrenal masses end up being pheochromocytomas. Nasty cancer-can and often invade the vena cava. Has your dog had an abdominal ultrasound?? Yep, extensive ultrasounding is how we found the mass in the first place. We were referred to the university vet school after our normal vet exhausted the "well, it's not a UTI or stones" route on drinking/urination issues. We actually just talked to the vet about more test results (nothing on paper in hand yet) but it sounds like he was negative for urine metanephrines, so the hope is we aren't looking at a pheo. And since they established he can concentrate his urine they are skeptical of Cushing's. They actually found that he has some malabsorption issues - cobalamin and folate - so they're recommending dealing with that straight away. Fingers crossed that's all it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 What are his symptoms? I imagine increased drinking and urinating? Any thinning of the hair? Has your vet ruled out diabetes insipidus? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizeebee Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 What are his symptoms? I imagine increased drinking and urinating? Any thinning of the hair? Has your vet ruled out diabetes insipidus? Originally the main concern was obsessive drinking (and thus urinating) along with a few of the other maybe-greyhound but maybe-Cushings type things [very easy to bruise, minor hair loss, constant hunger - he'd be overweight if we allowed it]. We're technically still waiting on the urine Cushing's test, but we expect it will be negative. Does the ability to concentrate his urine kind of rule out diabetes insipidus? He also only does the drinking/peeing when we're home and awake - leading us/vet to believe it's more behavioral/anxiety related. Considering his malabsorption, constant 'starving' attitude, and likely upper GI upset, an anxiety explanation isn't that hard to believe. We also learned when talking to the vet more in depth that it's not a mass on the adrenal, it's actually that one of the glands is just significantly larger than the other, but proportionally so. With that, and the negative metanephrine test, the vet isn't as concerned about the adrenal at the moment. Unless the Cushing's test surprises us, or he starts to seem unwell, the plan is just check it again in a couple of months to see if it's changing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 (edited) One other thing you can check-palpate that thyroid region carefully. Thyroid carcinoma will cause excessive drinking. Edited March 17, 2019 by tbhounds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.