Quote Originally Posted by Queen of Poop
I took Sasha to the white coats today as I was worried about her health. She pants all the time, drinks lots of water, pees even more than I do and has a huge appetite now. Apparently these are all symptoms of Cushing Disease. We did a blood test and the vet will call me tomorrow (Saturday) morning with the results. She's booked for a full day of tests on July 6th. Does anyone know about this Cushing Disease? I'm going to research it but wanted PT help and advice as it's just the best! I appreciate anything anyone can tell me.
The treatment will depend whether it is:

Primary Cushings : Pituitary tumor, over production of the hormone ACTH, which in turn stimulates the adrenal glands to produce more corticosteroids.

Secondary Cushings: An adrenal tumor involving one or both adrenal glands.

The most common is the Primary, and there are three approaches:

Mitotane - destroys the part of the adrenal glands, and thus they are unable to produce as much corticosteroids in response to the continuous ACTH stimulation. If too much of the adrenals are destroyed then you end up curing the Cushings and end up with Addison's disease where too little cortisol is produced. It's a delicate balancing act with this drug, and your Vet will be monitoring the cortisol levels closely.

Anipryl - in an attempt to balance the pituitary production. It's also used after Mitotane treatment has been given.

Surgical removal of the Pituitary tumor - sheldom attempted in Vet medicine.

The best scenario for Primary is that the mitotane takes out the exact amount of the adrenals to keep the levels at normal, and the Pituitary tumor grows very slowly.

For Secondary Cushings the treatments are:

Surgery - if only one of the adrenals has a tumor on/in it, then it can be removed, and you have cured the Cushings. This is the best case scenario for Secondary Cushings.

Mitotane - again to destroy part of the adrenal so that its cortisol production goes down. With the tumor(s) continuing to grow it will be an up and down battle in cortisol levels.

Here's a link that discusses the treatments and will give you more information.

In depth Cushings discussion

As you have already found out, Cushings can readily affect the kidneys, in some cases causing kidney failure. It can also affect the liver, not to mention heart function. Needless to say if one goes down the holistic road independent of standard medical treatments your puppy dog will have a couple of months at best.