Ask a Vet: Cushing’s Disease in Dogs
June 17th, 2008 by Dr. Donna SpectorQ: My dog is a 10 year old English Bulldog. He was diagnosed with Cushing’s Disease. Currently he is taking Lysodren and we are changing his diet. Can you recommend anything we should do to help him get better?
A: Cushing’s Disease is a complex hormonal disorder that affects many body systems. Often these dogs are obese and this complicates their condition. Have your veterinarian tell you how many calories your dog requires each day in order to lose excess weight. Then choose a natural dog food with high quality proteins that will help promote a lean body. Exercise is also important for dogs with Cushing’s Disease, and as they are often overweight or intolerant to warm temperatures, swimming is an excellent form of exercise to promote weight loss and good health.
Dogs with Cushing’s Disease frequently have problems regulating their blood sugar (what we call insulin resistance). It is best to feed them a natural dog food that has limited grains (carbohydrates) in order to keep blood sugar levels lower. Exercise also helps keep their blood sugar levels in check.
If your dog with Cushing’s Disease has high blood pressure (hypertension), you should minimize the amount of salt (sodium) he eats by feeding a high quality natural dog food as well as avoiding high sodium treats (packaged treats, lunch meat, cheese and dairy products, etc).
With proper medication and appropriate diet changes, your dog with Cushing’s Disease can live a healthier and happier life.
Do you need vet advice? Post a comment with your veterinary questions and we will send them to Dr. Donna Spector to be answered in a future column.
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July 22nd, 2008 at 4:32 pm
In the book The Whole Pet Diet, it is suggested that the use of cottage cheese should be limited. Can you explain why? And are there an symptoms of too much cottage cheese.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I recently bought your book The Whole Pet Diet. I’m going to have both of my dogs on the diet, but I wanted to make sure that the diet is ok for my pregnant female? Are there any other special things I should do while she is pregnant, and feeding?
Thanks,
Sherry
January 13th, 2009 at 8:36 am
[...] blood and urine values at her next check-up. If she is ultimately diagnosed with Cushings Disease, click here to read more about proper nutrition for a dog with [...]
January 17th, 2009 at 7:54 am
my 13 year old cattle dog mix has been suffering for 5 months now with diarehia – i put her on supplements including a priobotic after numerous tests, really nothing is wrong with her. she is also now on a enzyme supplement and seems to be better
the diarehia is gone but now she struts around the yard trying to go with nothing happening. her stools are now firmer but she has the urge to go frequently after eating.
can you suggest anything?
January 17th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I have a dog that has had bladder surgery due to oxalated bladder stones. According to our vet, it is biological (his body is not formulating what is necessary to break down the oxalate stones). I have fed both my dogs with holistic food since puppies and now have to switch to a prescription diet that has been tested to keep the stones from reforming. This prescription diet is just by-products and it’s eating at my conscience to feed it to my boys! However, many of the holistic foods have ingredients that are high oxalate in content (brown rice, sweet potato, spinach – to name just a few) so feeding these foods is detrimental to the health of the one dog. Is there an holistic food that is available for dogs with oxalate stone issues? The food cannot have Vitamin C, restricted Vitamin D and more Magnesium. Or am I forever subjected to feeding the Royal Canin by-product food?
Thank you for your time.
March 10th, 2010 at 10:58 pm
My 9 yrs old poodle recently starting drink a lot of water and eating more and has had a couple of accidents in the hosue and he has not done that since he was a puppy and he has doggie door, My vet is out of town until March 15th could wait until then or should I take to the emergency clinic, Could he have diabetes or cushing disease?
March 12th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Dear Cheryl,
I would advise that you get your dog examined promptly as the signs he is exhibiting are consistent with diabetes or other conditions that require immediate medical attention.
Good luck with him.
Dr. Donna Spector