Please can you help me as i am in a dilemma. My dog is suffering from cushing. She is a 12 Year old jack Russell who also has tumors. I have read up on the disease an am now totally confused if i accept the treatment i am just prolonging her life but for how long (nobody can tell me).
If she has the medication the tablets can make her sick with diarrhea, I don't want to see her go through this she deserves better. Or do i leave her to live her life and be happy, spoiled and loved and let her body decide when she has had enough. Can you suggest any reading material or websites that will help me make the right decision for a muched loved member of our family?????

thank you very much

Alison

Hi, Alison,
Cushing's Syndrome, or Cushing's Disease, responds only moderately well to treament. When complicated by other factors such as you describe you really should consider your pet's quality of life, and ask for whose benefit are you prolonging that life - yours or hers? If hers, is she REALLY getting any benefit?
The price of enjoying the love and companionship of pets is that their life expectancy is so much shorter that ours, and we must go through the grief and trauma of losing them several times in our own life. I think that it is important not to let the grief at parting outweigh the pleasure and love given to us by our pets.
If you are in any doubt, ask your vet to advise you. To have a pet put to sleep is a hard choice to make, but a good veterinary surgon will be able to help you reach the correct decision. The Bluecross animal welfare charity also has a Pet Bereavement Service which offers counselling at this time.

should a qualified vet always be able to recognise Cushings syndrome? Are a large pot belly, hair loss and thin skin classic symptoms. If the owner is , and says the dog is excessively drinking and weeing all over the house are these also symptoms?. If the dog has a non-healing bite wound on its back which is being treated with anti-biotics, is there any chance at all of the wound healing if Cushings has been ignored. Is poor wound healing another classic symptom of Cushings. Is cushings a realitively common disorder? which a vet should be able to recognise as soon as the animal was presented. Confirmed by blood tests. What should the owner do? If their dog is not being treated properly? You where very kind in your last reply recognising the pain of grief when a much loved pets time has come. No owner surely would want to prolong their pets suffering, by not seeking proper vet care.

I think from what you are saying , you know deep down what is the right thing to do. Is it fair to put a dog through tests and treatment if you know that it depends on quality of life. I work with animals and I am afraid I have seen too many owners hang on to their pets because of their own emotions. Un like humans we have the power to relieve sufferingand after having sat with many owners while their dog is P.T.S I have always said by looking at your dogs eyes and knowing their peronality will help you make the right dicision about their health.

I agree with Peblo Adito. Animals, too, are entitled to a quality of life. When we prolong a pet's life unduly, we should ask ourselves why we are doing it - is it for the benefit of the animal, or is it self-indulgence?