Our German Shepherd/ Chow/ Rottweiler mix breed dog is 14 years old and was diagnosed with Cushing's at a very young age. She has dealt with it ok all these years, but now it's catching up to her. A few years ago we had to take her off Proin,(PPA) which she was taking for incontinence, because the Proin was making her nauseous. The vet didn't really have any other suggestions. WE tried the herbal stuff but it does nothing.
She goes through a dog diaper in a matter of a few hours, so she's often wet with pee, and the environmental repercussions of using disposables make me gag. She is beginning to have serious deterioration in her hind quarters, We have had to move her to the garage at night, and she has to stay outside most of the day because of the incontinence. Lately, she's made it her life's mission to get inside, come Hell or high water, even on nice days. When in the garage she refuses most of the time to sleep on her good bed, even though we try to make sure she has dry bedding for the night. Instead, she sleeps on the hard floor. She suffers from restlessness at night and howls almost all night long most nights. She drinks non stop. She's driving us crazy. We love her, but we can't stand much more of this, and neither can she. She stands around staring at us with big sad eyes most of the time, but she DOES have some good days where she likes to take walks, and she still eats well and tries to be the good guard dog she's always been. We had pretty much made up our minds that we are going to have to put her down when the weather turns cold, which it will soon. But then someone suggested that we try DES for the incontinence. I'm not sure how that will work, in light of the Cushing's being tied into hormones. Or I believe it is, from what I've read. WE have been giving her 5 Flower at night, which helps some. I also think she might be getting into some senility type issues. She's almost stone deaf, but everything else works ok...
Has anyone had luck with DES? I will call the vet tomorrow but depending on what he says, time is running out, and I'm just curious to see if others have experienced this and if anything worked well. I think if we could get the incontinence and probable UTI stopped, she might have a few more years. I'm pretty sure the vet will recommend that we put her down. Or, anyone else who can compare notes with Cushing's disease in dogs, I'd be interested to hear from.
She goes through a dog diaper in a matter of a few hours, so she's often wet with pee, and the environmental repercussions of using disposables make me gag. She is beginning to have serious deterioration in her hind quarters, We have had to move her to the garage at night, and she has to stay outside most of the day because of the incontinence. Lately, she's made it her life's mission to get inside, come Hell or high water, even on nice days. When in the garage she refuses most of the time to sleep on her good bed, even though we try to make sure she has dry bedding for the night. Instead, she sleeps on the hard floor. She suffers from restlessness at night and howls almost all night long most nights. She drinks non stop. She's driving us crazy. We love her, but we can't stand much more of this, and neither can she. She stands around staring at us with big sad eyes most of the time, but she DOES have some good days where she likes to take walks, and she still eats well and tries to be the good guard dog she's always been. We had pretty much made up our minds that we are going to have to put her down when the weather turns cold, which it will soon. But then someone suggested that we try DES for the incontinence. I'm not sure how that will work, in light of the Cushing's being tied into hormones. Or I believe it is, from what I've read. WE have been giving her 5 Flower at night, which helps some. I also think she might be getting into some senility type issues. She's almost stone deaf, but everything else works ok...
Has anyone had luck with DES? I will call the vet tomorrow but depending on what he says, time is running out, and I'm just curious to see if others have experienced this and if anything worked well. I think if we could get the incontinence and probable UTI stopped, she might have a few more years. I'm pretty sure the vet will recommend that we put her down. Or, anyone else who can compare notes with Cushing's disease in dogs, I'd be interested to hear from.