Dachsiedowns Cremeoscots

This is our story about Mary - our little girl with Cushings Disease.  It is meant to be an informative, but by no means a scientific document about our experience. 

The veterinarians we would like to thank are Dr Kelly Kilgour - who diagnosed Mary's condition and spent hours researching possibilities.  Kelly went well beyond the call of duty in researching Mary's condition and diagnosis.  For this we will always be grateful.

Dr Fleur James at Murdoch University for her Guidance on Mary's medication

The Dermatology Clinic at Murdoch University, who helped in getting Mary's skin on track

Dr Neil Gibson of Rivergum Referral Surgery for Mary's hernia repair

Dr Graeme Fitzgerald of Ranford Veterinary Hospital who has taken over Mary's regular treatment

All the Staff at the above Hospitals, who have tried to make Mary's day visits as comfortable as possible.

(baby Mary)

The last born in a litter of 3 puppies, early hours of the morning we welcomed into the world this little cream girl.  She was born a normal size, but as time progressed, she was much smaller than her sister and not as active.

Mary or Miss Mare as she is known, had a really tough battle her first year.  We took her at 8 months to our local vet to have some baby teeth extracted that hadn't come out.  She had alot of baby teeth retained - more than usual.

Before they began surgery the hospital phoned to say Mary had a small hernia that really should be repaired while she was under the anesthetic, which we of course agreed to being done.

When we collected her I was expecting some bad news - because of her small stature and undeveloped teeth.

This was in December 2005. 

In February 2006 we began what seemed to be an endless series of tests.  The first blood results ruled out major infections, thyroid type problems, liver dysfunction and the usual.  Her skin was very thin, and she had a minor skin infection.  No hair had grown back from her December Surgery either.

The next series were more hormonal type and we even took Mary's sister at one stage so we could have  comparative blood tests done.  An ultrasound revealed normal shaped adrenal glands but they were the size of a rottweiler'.  Mary at this point weighed in at 3.9kg

Everything was pointing towards Cushings Disease - hyperadrenocorticism, in laymans terms the body is making too much cortisone.  Mary's age was against all the textbooks, while this disease is heard of in dachshunds, Pituitary dependent Cushing’s disease in young dogs is very rare.  Almost all dogs with this diagnosis are older with only 4 or 5 reported cases in dogs less than 2 years of age.  (the cases reported were by American endocrinologists).

Our usual vet referred us to the Medicine Referral Department at Murdoch University Veterinary Hospital.  Several tests were repeated and there was no doubt - it was cushings disease.  Given Mary was only just one year old - it was May now, it was decided to use a drug from the UK called Trilostane, which reduces the cortisone produced by the body, rather than destroying the cells that produce it.  The company who formulated this product were most helpful and set us some information on the trials they had done.

Before we could see any relief in sight, her skin infection was now out of control.  Her little paws were all red, hairless and so swollen she could hardly walk.  Any pressure and they oozed horribly. 

At this point I began to question whether trying to treat Mary was the best thing we could have decided for her.

The dermatology department also diagnosed Mary with Demodectic Mange, so she started a daily dose of Ivermectin, to be increased up to 2.7ml per day over 10 days to bring her to that level.  She had daily lotion to be applied and twice weekly baths.

Her skin was so thin, the baths peeled her skin away.  The lotion seemed to sooth her skin, and she enjoyed watching TV while I applied the lotion.  She didn't like the Ivermectin, but she had to have it to help with the mange mites.

Mary's treatment for cushings began in May 2006.  She weighed in at 3.9kg and her Trilostane dose was 15mg a day with food.

She was on monthly 'day visit' to the University in between the Medicine area for blood tests, the dermatology vet for skin scrapes until September 2006.

Some months Mary was doing really well, others weren't so good.

Her vet was going to be away for some time during the next few months, so we decided to return her care back to our Ranford Veterinary Hospital for monitoring.

During this time, her ACTH stimulation tests had been mixed.  By November 2006 her Trilostane was up to 45mg a day.  In December we had the second promising ACTH test so we reduced her Trilostane back to 30mg a day (under the vets guidance), and it was the worst setback month Mary had.  Her skin went off the rails again, her coat went thin, she gained alot of weight and her hernia, that had been repaired again had re appeared.

The Ivermectin which had kept her demodectic mange under control and she had two negative scrapings in consecutive months, was now 'ineffective' and we opted to go for weekly Dectomax injections instead.

Increasing her dose from December onwards to 45mg a day of Trilostane was a step in the right direction, but it took more months to correct the damage done over that one month.

March 2007 and Her hernia was repaired but this time Dr Neil Gibson, used a synthetic mesh implant in her abdomen.  One of the side affects of her condition is lack of muscle tone, and without muscle to keep things where they should be, she is prone to hernias.

April 2007 - Mary has her second birthday.  She also has her first season ever.  While we would never consider breeding from Mary, that she has become 'normal' in girl dog terms we were pleased.   Mary's weighs in at 3.2kg now. 

She has gone from 3.9kg, down to 3kg and back up to 3.2kg.  We feel happier with her weight now.  Another affect of cushings, is an increased appetite which has been less evident over the last few months.  Mary is much smaller than your normal miniature dachshund.  Below is a comparative shot with Coco - who we consider a normal size.

June 2007 - Mary has had a poor ACTH test result and we also increased her trilostane dose up to 60mg a day.  Her hernia has appeared on the side of the mesh implant - so we went back to see Dr Gibson.  He wants to re examine Mary in July unless there is significant change and then she is to go back earlier.  Mary weighs in at 3.3kg.

July 2007 - we made a 'day trip' to see Dr Gibson, and he is happy that the hernia hasn't increased around the implant.  If it does increase, she will need a larger abdominal implant to keep things in place and he's worried about her lack of muscle to keep the sutures in!!! 

Back to the Ranford Veterinary Hospital and another ACTH test.  Dr Fitzgerald is pleased that the results are getting closer to normal, and we'll keep her on 60mg a day at the moment and retest in 6 weeks.

Through this, Mary still enjoys her teaspoon on icecream, pizza crusts, broccoli and spaghetti spirals after her main meal.  While not the ideal 'treats' for a dog, Mary's time may be limited and we believe she should have the little extra's she enjoys.  She enjoys her drives in the car even if it means spending a day at the vet, and is happy to 'bark' at all the other dogs in greeting.

We are unsure of Mary's future - but we feel more comfortable with the decision we made to go through all the tests and subsequent treatment, when her little tail wags and wags.  She is a happy little dog now.