Although trilostane is more expensive than mitotane, it has fewer side effects and is easier to manage. As with mitotane, your dog’s symptoms will improve with trilostane treatment.
Dogs with Cushing’s disease drink a lot of water and eat a lot. During the induction treatment with mitotane, your dog’s appetite and water intake will likely start going back to normal. Mitotane is more effectively absorbed by the body with food, so feed your dog when you give each dose.
ACTH is a hormone released by the pituitary gland that stimulates adrenal cortisol release.
To keep the symptoms under control, your vet may need to increase the mitotane dose over time. Mitotane is fairly inexpensive, compared with other Cushing’s disease treatments.
If you see these side effects, contact your vet immediately. Your vet may need to stop mitotane treatment and start your dog on prednisone.
At these visits, your vet may decide to adjust the mitotane dosage.
Surgical removal of a pituitary tumor is possible, but not commonly performed in pets, partly because it’s difficult to access the pituitary gland in pets. Adrenal tumors in dogs can metastasize. If your vet noticed metastasis on an abdominal ultrasound when diagnosing your dog, surgical treatment will not be a good treatment option.
Adrenalectomies are high-risk surgeries. Because most dogs diagnosed with Cushing’s disease are older dogs, the surgical risk may be too high for these dogs.
If your dog has radiation therapy, its symptoms likely won’t disappear with treatment. However, because the radiation shrinks the tumor, your dog’s neurologic symptoms will improve. f> Your vet may recommend treatment with trilostane or mitotane for several months after radiation therapy.
Your vet may want to perform monthly ACTH stimulation tests to determine when to stop the steroid treatment. [10] X Research source Eventually, your dog’s pituitary and adrenal glands will start working normally again.
Anipryl controls dopamine levels in the brain. When dopamine levels are high, the pituitary gland will stop sending ACTH to the adrenals. The overall effect will be decreased cortisol levels. These medications may be effective for your dog. Talk with your vet about using them to treat your dog’s Cushing’s disease.
