Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 1/20/2011

Question
Our 11-1/2 year old beagle was just diagnosed with Cushing's disease by our very competent vet.  After she gave us our options, we opted not to go with medicinal therapy but to let nature take it's course. Since we now understood her excessive thirst and hunger, we could cope and care for her accordingly.  A few days ago she was playful and loved her walks.  However, beginning yesterday morning, she is yelping when she moves her head, yelps when she moves suddenly, and is favoring her left front leg.  She 'slinks' around with her head lowered and her tail between her legs, and she is panting, walking in circles unless she's on her bed, and is not eating all her food.  She even left 1/2 of her much-loved 'greenie' today.  The walks she used to love are quick trips outside to perform her business, and then back in.  We have 4 stairs and she puts her front paws on the bottom stairs and rocks her hind quarter back and forth trying to ascend..... but usually needs our assistance.  When she reaches the top step, she lets out a horrendous yelp.  I guess our main question is:  is the pain being caused by the Cushing's? Since Cushing's causes excessive thirst and hunger, we're confused by her rejection of parts of her food. Obviously if symptoms worsen we will call our vet and see if it's 'THAT' time to make our hard decision, but for now we're wondering about the pain she might be experiencing.

Answer
Even at 11 1/2 yrs old dogs that are treated for Cushing's can do very well. There are many types of treatments with varying costs, most are not outrageously expensive.

A dog that is not treated can have a variety of issues, and pain is possibly one of them. Since it is a form of too much cortisone, then it could cause pain and swelling in the joints because of the swelling in her abdomen etc. She could be refusing her food because her jaw may hurt as well making it painful to chew. It is hard to know this of course without seeing her or feeling her.

She is slinking around due to the pain, and is most likely not eating for the same reason. Panting is a sign of extreme pain in dogs and cats both, so her pain levels are not low, but high.

She sounds like she is in pain 24 hours a day and that it is not relenting at any point.
I would contact your vet right away to see what can be done about the pain.

If she was being treated for the Cushing's this might not be an issue. It might not be related at all, and that is why I feel you should call the vet right away.

I would certainly contact the vet however, to see if you can get her some anti-inflammatory medicine for her.

Here is an article about Cushing's that might help:
http://www.peteducation.com/article_print.cfm?c=2+2114&aid=416

I hope that her pain resolves soon and that you don't have to make "that" decision soon.