Help with Cushings

Hello everyone lady has had two sets of tests for cushings syndrome , but i have heard that sometimes one test can be enough ,so am confused why she needed two ???? my lady yesterday had 3 blood test done over a 8 hour period , i am really confused over this and i still have no idea what cushings is and if she will be able to lead a normal life .
Any advice i would be truley thankfull .

My Fleet has been through these tests. My vet said that there is no definitive test for Cushings, only several that give indicators that the dog is suffering from the disease. If the first test was borderline, others may be needed to clarify the situation.

Although he has some of the symptoms, Fleet does not have Cushings and after exhaustive tests for various other conditions as well as Cushings we believe his symptoms are possibly behavioural.

So your vet is making sure that you dog will be treated for the correct condition and is acting appropriately - and sounds like a very good vet.

I hope your dog is feeling better soon.

Thalice's Mum

Thankyou sooo much ,i understand now why she has had to have more test done ,Yeah my vet is amazing ,well we have 2 vets dealing with lady at the moment ,they are allowing us to pay for her treatment in stages ,as our bill is quite high now ,they are amazing vets .

They test at least twice at first and check levels on empty stomach then feed them and check levels again as if raised they have cushings. My dog was diagnosed last Sept. We only noticed he was drinking alot but did not knoe he was also eating my other large dogs dinner. Since on tabs he is now eating ok and drinking normally.

As I understand it (one of my friend's dogs was recently diagnosed with Cushings), one of the blood tests looks at the levels of ACTH. This hormone has a circadian rhythm which means that the levels naturally vary over a 24 hour period. The tests, therefore, have to be repeated during that 24 hour period to see if the levels of ACTH vary with the normal rhythm, or whether they are out of kilter with that normal rhythm. That may be the reason for the repated blood tests. But if you're not sure ~ ask! Most vets should, & are happy to, explain. After all it is your dog, you are paying the bills, (or your insurance company is) so the vet should be happy to answer your questions & explain things so you can understand.

I hope Lady is ok.

hey she isnt doing too bad ,but her first cushions test came back most likly for cushings the second came back as she hasnt got it ,and now the vet wants to do a shap test i think its another test for cushings

Have you looked here

http://www.io.com/%7Elolawson/cushings/

Hmmmm i am just getting soo confuesd with it all now

http://www.kateconnick.com/library/cushingsdisease.

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/cushings.html

http://vetmedicine.about.com/library/viewers/uccushings

http://www.vetinfo4dogs.com/dcushing.html

Thanks smokeybear