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Milo - has cushings disease.

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sharonS said:
Sorry to hear Milo has cushings disease, I hope that the treatment works for the little guy and he lives a long and happy life. You have found a very good vet by the sounds of things and they will hopefully help Milo through this.
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Sharon we don't know if he has cushings disease we where about to start the medication when we realised the lab was not comparing his cortisol samples to a Guinea Pig - as there is NO base level for a Guinea Pig in the Uk - we even called Cambridge lab which is the best in the UK.

The only way to diagnosis cushings is by an ultra-sound - you must be able to measure the adrenal glands we where unable to do this and based on the fact the cortisol sample could have been normal as there was no comparison we did not start Milo on treatment as the treatment can be fatal if mis-diagnosed.
 
Milo had another scan for his adrenals, but this time we where successful.

An hour later and one bald Milo we got the measurements for both the Adrenals.

His results where:

10.8 x 20.5mm Left adrenal gland
8 x 16.3mm Right Adrenal

I was convinced this scan would rule the disease out but these results are very much in favour of the Cushings Diagnosis.

We are awaiting a reply from a specialist in the States as to what now.

Whatever is going on - it isn't progressing quickly and Milo remains happy in himself.
 
Posiesparkles said:
Hang on ... a bald Milo?! :...Eek, poor Milo
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The Shame!

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Oh Jo, i'm pleased that you finally managed to get an accurate scan but sorry that it looks like it is definitely cushings :( i guess at least if you have an accurate diagnosis it rules out all the 'what ifs'

Am i right in remembering that he isn't getting treatment for it at the moment? I'm glad that he's not being affected by it and is still a happy little Milo! I think i said before but my Reginald (hammy) had cushings and he lived a happy long life (3 1/2 years!) it really didn't seem to affect him, but of course he wasn't a piggy...
I kind of like his bald belly, how do you resist kissing it every time you see it :red:)) !
 
Guinea pigs <3 said:
Oh Jo, i'm pleased that you finally managed to get an accurate scan but sorry that it looks like it is definitely cushings :( i guess at least if you have an accurate diagnosis it rules out all the 'what ifs'

Am i right in remembering that he isn't getting treatment for it at the moment? I'm glad that he's not being affected by it and is still a happy little Milo! I think i said before but my Reginald (hammy) had cushings and he lived a happy long life (3 1/2 years!) it really didn't seem to affect him, but of course he wasn't a piggy...
I kind of like his bald belly, how do you resist kissing it every time you see it :red:)) !
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Your correct Milo isn't on any treatment - We're waiting to hear back from the exotic specialist about what we should do now or next. He's still happy and it certainly isn't progressing quickly.
 
flintstones said:
Your correct Milo isn't on any treatment - We're waiting to hear back from the exotic specialist about what we should do now or next. He's still happy and it certainly isn't progressing quickly.
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:) glad he's doing ok, and will be interesting to hear what they suggest
 
Wishing you all the best, having returned from the vets who has sugested that one of our pigs could have cushings.
 
noodledoodle said:
Wishing you all the best, having returned from the vets who has sugested that one of our pigs could have cushings.
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Hi There,

I'm sorry to hear about your pig re-possible Cushings. Can you tell me age, sex and symptoms that your pig is displaying?

Please be very careful when opting for treatment, I'm still doing test's on Milo. He will not be going on Cushing's medicine unless I'm absolutely 100% certain he has Cushings, it's to risky and Milo is still a happy pig! x
 
flintstones said:
Hi There,

I'm sorry to hear about your pig re-possible Cushings. Can you tell me age, sex and symptoms that your pig is displaying?

Please be very careful when opting for treatment, I'm still doing test's on Milo. He will not be going on Cushing's medicine unless I'm absolutely 100% certain he has Cushings, it's to risky and Milo is still a happy pig! x
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We have no idea of her age, she is loosing hair and weight and drinking alot.
She is ok in herself but the vet thinks cushings could be an option, he is treating her for mites even though the skin scraping came back clear.
 
noodledoodle said:
We have no idea of her age, she is loosing hair and weight and drinking alot.
She is ok in herself but the vet thinks cushings could be an option, he is treating her for mites even though the skin scraping came back clear.
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Has she been checked for Ovarian Cysts?

Do be aware if they suggest doing a cortisol urine test that there are no base levels in the Uk - so nobody know's what is normal and what's not. When we where speaking to various experts it seems only one test has been done in the Uk.

We where looking into having his cortisol levels in his silva measured but there is no baseline for this procedure, only one lab advised us they could do the test cost price £250 and there is nothing to compare the cortisol levels to.

I don't know what our next step will be but so far Milo has had:

Full Bloodworks (under GA) took from the Vena-Cava. - this showed Elevated Liver Enzymes
Ultrasound to measure the adrenals - the adrenals where bigger than average
Urine Cortisol test - Quite Literally off the scale. ( No baseline known so this could be normal)
Fungal Culture (his symptoms where typical of Ringworm) - Negative

The previous vet wasn't able to scan the adrenals - they did however although they weren't experienced in Ultrasounding Guinea Pigs, so the scan had to be done again.

There was blood present in his urine so he also had a course of Antibiotics.
 
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