Cushing's disease

[herbandhip]

Hi there, I went to the vet this week about my 3 year old boar, who's been experiencing hair loss. We've treated him for mites and a yeast infection to no avail, and the vet thinks it could be Cushing's. This also fits with his drinking patterns - he seems to get incredibly thirsty sometimes and drinks like he c a n n o t quench his thirst. We're going in for a saliva test in a couple of weeks, so there's still nothing certain.

I wanted to find out a bit more about long term Cushing's management, and could see that various threads have been started over the years, but none have stayed active for very long. I was just wondering if anyone has experience of long term Cushing's and if so, what it's like?

My vet seemed pretty optimistic about his prospects - she said if he's diagnosed and we start him on medication, he should improve pretty quickly. When I've looked online though, it seems so uncommon that I'm not sure there's enough data really to have any sense of what this might be like long term. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on it?

Thank you!

 

[Wiebke]

Hi there, I went to the vet this week about my 3 year old boar, who's been experiencing hair loss. We've treated him for mites and a yeast infection to no avail, and the vet thinks it could be Cushing's. This also fits with his drinking patterns - he seems to get incredibly thirsty sometimes and drinks like he c a n n o t quench his thirst. We're going in for a saliva test in a couple of weeks, so there's still nothing certain.

I wanted to find out a bit more about long term Cushing's management, and could see that various threads have been started over the years, but none have stayed active for very long. I was just wondering if anyone has experience of long term Cushing's and if so, what it's like?

My vet seemed pretty optimistic about his prospects - she said if he's diagnosed and we start him on medication, he should improve pretty quickly. When I've looked online though, it seems so uncommon that I'm not sure there's enough data really to have any sense of what this might be like long term. Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on it?

Thank you!

Hi and welcome

While Cushings is thankfully rare in guinea pigs (unlike in hamsters), it is sadly never good news. The threads do not run for long for the simple reason that any guinea pigs on this forum that were diagnoses with Cushings have sadly passed away fairly shortly after the diagnosis. Diagnosis has not been easy and until recently, there hasn't been any established treatment. By the time guinea pigs are diagnosed, they are unfortunately more likely in the later stages.

For Cushings in guinea pigs you are also looking for weight loss in combination with some haphazard hair loss that doesn't fit with any other hair loss patterns.
Increased thirst can indicate most commonly an infection or kidney failure (the most common issues connected with suddenly increased thirst and weight loss that are not due to environmental changes like a heat wave or spike) or diabetes (less common but by far not as rare as Cushings in guinea pigs).

Here is some more information about Chushings in guinea pigs:
NationWide Specialist Laboratories – Guinea Pig Hyperadrenocorticism (HAC – Cushing’s Disease)
Treatment of hyperadrenocorticism in a guinea pig (Cavia porcellus)

Wishing you all the best. I hope that it is something else behind the increased drinking!

 

[herbandhip]

Okey

Hi and welcome

While Cushings is thankfully rare in guinea pigs (unlike in hamsters), it is sadly never good news. The threads do not run for long for the simple reason that any guinea pigs on this forum that were diagnoses with Cushings have sadly passed away fairly shortly after the diagnosis. Diagnosis has not been easy and until recently, there hasn't been any established treatment. By the time guinea pigs are diagnosed, they are unfortunately more likely in the later stages.

For Cushings in guinea pigs you are also looking for weight loss in combination with some haphazard hair loss that doesn't fit with any other hair loss patterns.
Increased thirst can indicate most commonly an infection or kidney failure (the most common issues connected with suddenly increased thirst and weight loss that are not due to environmental changes like a heat wave or spike) or diabetes (less common but by far not as rare as Cushings in guinea pigs).

Here is some more information about Chushings in guinea pigs:
NationWide Specialist Laboratories – Guinea Pig Hyperadrenocorticism (HAC – Cushing’s Disease)
Treatment of hyperadrenocorticism in a guinea pig (Cavia porcellus)

Wishing you all the best. I hope that it is something else behind the increased drinking!

Okay - thanks for this! Fingers crossed it's something else... He's actually put on weight recently so hopefully that's a sign that there's nothing systemically wrong with him!

 

[Wiebke]

Okey

Okay - thanks for this! Fingers crossed it's something else... He's actually put on weight recently so hopefully that's a sign that there's nothing systemically wrong with him!

Fingers crossed - unfortunately, we can't tell you what is going on; only your vet.