We took our 12 year old female beagle/boxer mix dog to the vet on Monday. She was having some issues with her skin and her paws. We had her tested for hypothyroidism but the blood test revealed that our dog has Cushing's Disease. She may have a tumor on pituitary gland on her adrenal gland that is causing high cortisol levels in her body. This causes the dog to gain a lot of weight.

We dropped a lot of money on her for that visit to the vet. We have decided to start treatment for the Cushing's Disease on November 8, 2016. My dog will need additional bloodwork and some monthly medication to get this under control. It is going to be very expensive and we are going to give this treatment some time to see if it works. My dog will be 13 next June and if she does not improve we have elected to have her put to sleep. My heart is breaking because I just can't imagine my life without this girl.

She has been loyal and sweet. She is such a great dog. We just adopted a 7 month old kitten that loves to try and play with my dog and the dog is just so tolerant. Not a mean bone in this dog's body. I lost my 12 year old male tabby cat last Thanksgiving so I don't think my heart and mind can take another loss right now.