My dog has anemia and Cushing's disease. Could they be related?

No, they do not necessarily go together. They can, of course, but that is not a typical finding during routine screening blood tests when Cushing's is suspected. The common abnormality in dogs diagnosed with Cushing's is an extremely high liver enzyme (ALP). Then additional specific testing needs to be done to actually diagnose Cushing's disease.

Hello. Anemia is generally the result one of three things, 1. excessive bleeding from trauma or internally from a tumor or ulcer, 2. from the inability of bone marrow to produce more red blood cells, or 3. from an increased destruction of red blood cells usually due to an autoimmune disease. Your pet is probably being worked up to discover if any of these things may be the cause. Blood work, x-rays & an ultrasound examination of the chest & abdominal cavities may be necessary to diagnose the anemia. I hope all is well soon & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Anemia should be ideally retested. At this stage, with the clinical informations you provided, is mild to moderate and could have been caused only by inflammation. I would recommend to retest the anemia when both the abscess is completely resolved and the course of treatment over. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Cushing's or Hyperadrenocorticism is a fairly common endocrine disease in dogs. It can be caused by a bit of overactive tissue in the brain (in the pituitary gland, which is the master ruler of hormone secretion in the body) or a mass in an adrenal gland (sits by the kidneys, secretes hormones as directed by the pituitary gland). Basically what happens is an excess of a hormone in the body, usually a steroid called cortisol, if it is traditional Cushing's. This then causes some symptoms in the pet, blood work changes, and sometimes other changes like high blood pressure. I suspect based on the value that you report that this was a liver enzyme elevation call ALP. This very commonly occurs in pets that have Cushings, but is not specific for Cushing's and elevation can be caused by other disease processes. This value does not correlate with severity of disease as many dogs have a high value. It sounds like your vet is on the right track by recommending an ultrasound to look at the adrenal glands and also the rest of the abdominal organs to rule out other disease processes. Ultimately Cushing's Disease has to be diagnosed by some sort of endocrine testing which your vet may recommend as well. Treatment if then based on what type of Cushing's disease is present. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This may be the time for your veterinarian to check in with an internal medicine specialist as this is a bit more complex than typical. Possibilities include an immune-mediated hemolytic anemia in which case other immunosuppressive drugs can be used with prednisone or possibly an infectious disease. They would be able to recommend further but reaching out to a specialist would be an option for further tests/recommendations. Hoping for a speedy recovery!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Ginger! It may be best to discuss this via consult, I have many questions: how old is GInger? Can you post images of the blood work to show how anemic she is? Can you post the X-ray images? Severe anemia can cause "passing out" episodes due to lack of oxygen delivery to the tissues. Severe anemia causes weakness and collapse. Both of these things can be why she vocalizes and stretches out (passes out or collapses from the anemia). The big question is why is she anemic. Causes of low red blood cells is either from decreased production of red blood cells from the bone marrow (from cancer or fibrosis, toxin, drugs, hormones or immune destruction), blood loss (gastric ulcers, bleeding in to the abdomen) or destruction of the red blood cells from immune destruction (from vaccines, drugs, cancer or the immune system went crazy one day. I would recommend an abdominal ultrasound and further testing for immune mediated hemolytic anemia. Make sure she doesn't have an infected uterus. Hormones from not being spayed can cause bone marrow issues. If the ultrasound is normal, her estrogen levels are normal and she doesn't have immune mediated hemolytic anemia I would recommend a bone marrow aspirate. I hope this helps and I wish Ginger the best!

It looks like your dog has a chronic disease and serious anemia. Without knowing whether your dog was also checked for tick diseases, such as Babesia, Ehrlichia or also for autoimmune anemia, and certain viral diseases, and without a hands-on exam there is no way to tell whether she will be okay. Ehrlichia and Babesia infections can be treated as well as autoimmune anemia. Since your puppy is very young it may have a terrible flea infestation which is causing the anemia. Your veterinarian should be able to advise you properly.