Luther has Cushing’s Disease
So Luther was diagnosed with Cushing’s disease and has been put on a very powerful medication named Lysodren.
It is a chemotherapy drug designed to slow down the ability of the pituitary gland to produce ACTH, a hormone that stimulates the adrenal gland’s production of cortisones which when allowed to flow free in the dog’s body results in all the symptoms Luther has been exhibiting.
He began the medication last Thursday and is currently in the midst of an 8 day induction phase in which he receives a large amount of the drug to “kickstart” the process of killing off tissue of the pituitary to slow things down.
So far, not much has changed with him, and he is on the 6th day of the medication.
The only way he would be taken off the induction phase before 8 days, is if he started losing his apetite, a sign that the drug is working.
I had hoped to see something positive out of him by day 6, but he does have a rather severe form of the disease so maybe it just takes a bit longer.
Well darn it all. Hope things start to come around. I’ve heard vaguely about the disease in people, didn’t know it could hit canines. Damn aging, damn mortality!
Yeah the disease is a bitch, I can tell you that first hand.
Thanks for the kind words