The Cushing’s Disease In Animals: Causes, Diagnosis And Treatment
I’ll be telling you about Cushing’s disease, a condition that affects three species of animals. To understand Cushing’s disease you’ll need to know about where it comes from. These include the endrocrine system and the pituitary gland. The endrocrine system is a group of glands that produce and secrete hormones. The hormones include, respiration, reproduction, metabolism, sensory, movement, sexual growth and development. Signals get sent from these glands telling the system what to do but when the correct amount of the hormones aren’t produced negative effects with disease, stress, conditions and genetics can occur.
The pituitary gland is small placed just about the nose on the stem of the brain. It’s often referred to as the master gland because of its responsibility in producing hormones. This of course includes the endrocrine system. This condition involves different symptoms for some but they all share issues in the pituitary gland. An endocrine involves the system of glands that secrete and make the hormones in the body.
Cortisol is one of them and at normal levels cortisol helps with stress and the immune system. Too much cortisol however can do a fair bit of damage. Cushing’s disease or hyperadrenocorticism in dogs typically happens in middle aged and older animals. This disease is the most common endocrine condition in canines. A dog’s body also over produces cortisol sometimes if given too much steroid medications. The different types of Cushing’s disease also involve two others Pituitary and Adrenal gland tumors. Pituitary is the most common at about 85 to 90 percent of cases. The pituitary is located at the base of the brain and the resulting tumor can be either benign or malignant. The tumor may cause the pituitary gland to over produce ACTH a hormone that causes cortisol. The tumor can be large or microscopic in size. Many dogs with this form of Cushing’s disease can live good lives should they receive regular medication and overseeing. In about fifteen percent of cases however the tumor could grow affecting the brain creating neurological issues and lower quality of life. Removal surgery may help in the case of a being tumor but prognosis isn’t likely to stay good in the case of a malignant one.
Cushing’s disease or CD for short is often mistaken for just old dog symptoms and many owners may not realize what it really is till it’s too late. The symptoms include excessive thirst, frequent need for urination, loss of muscle, possible thinning of skin, lesions and fur loss on the flanks, neck and perineum. The expected life span for a dog with CD is around two years with just about ten percent of pets living beyond a four year time line. This however doesn’t mean death because CD is usually found in older animals where most pass of natural aging.
Diagnosing a feline with CD also relies on history, physical, imaging and of course adrenal testing. Unlike dogs cats are not just older when they get this disease they can also be as young as four years old. CD in cats tends to affect more of one gender that being about seventy five percent more likely in females. Cats with this disease can have chronic or reoccurring UTIs but it’s hard to know if your truly seeing CD because it shares symptoms with other conditions. Additional clinical signs in CD cats include thin, shiny skin and dermal issues. You never want to scruff a cat with the skin symptoms as you may take off the animals fur. CD cats unlike dogs are more resistant to corticosteroids and have less chance of leukogram stress along with greater resistance to urine problems making it hard to diagnose based off that. The patient can still have UTIs however so it’s best to keep routine observation of the cats urine cultures. It’s not recommended for a cat to get the same dexamethasone test that a dog would because if they don’t suppress on the low side it’s not likely to happen on the high side. Looking in the abdominal with ultra sound is difficult due to the fact a cats adrenal gland is very small at only 3 mm thick in the usual cat. You may be able to measure the felines ACTH and should it come back too low or high this can mean pituitary dependent condition.
In horses a condition called Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction or PPID and also Cushing’s disease. It’s not uncommon in horses between ages 18 and 23 years. Because it can be associated alongside insulin resistance CD may be mixed up with a different condition called Equine metabolic resistance syndrome. Signs of CD in equine involve, Hypertrichosis/long abnormal curly hair, delayed shedding, pot belly, wasting of muscle, loss of authentic performance, excess fat, increased urination, unusual sweating, infertility, lack of sight and finally neurological complications.
There’s some natural medicines that may help such as antioxidants, chaste berry that can help with endrocine functions, amino acids that help support lean muscle and healthy fats such as omega 3’s. Blood work and a complete examination of ACTH level, TRH Stimulation Test, and among others. Pracend a medication FDA approved Cushing’s disease support for horses helps with the pergolide being part of the main active ingredients. A healthy diet for the disease may help as well. An older horse with CD is considered a special needs case and since this disease can lower the animals immune system causing the horse to be more likely to get infections. In this case the horse should routinely be seen by their equine veterinarian. Certain attention such as, deworming, hoof care, preventative maintenance and dental health. You can also test ACTH in the horses plasma though it’s considered less accurate due to the fact a horses levels can change throughout the day. You could evaluate it in the morning and come back just a couple hours later to have it be completely different. This happens because it’s released as a pulsing signal to other glands. Seasonal changes in how the body processes things may also interfere.
In conclusion Cushing’s disease is involved with the endocrine system and pituitary gland getting too much cortisol effecting, equine, canine and feline species. Many symptoms are shared across the board but can vary. Cushing’s disease or CD is often not determent to the animals life with malignance, regular vet visits and medication. Should the animal come down with the disease due to steroid medications and you slowly wean them off there’s a possibility the owner may see the animal get past the condition.
