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Hormonal Disorders of Dogs

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also see Insuloma 

also see Hypoglycemia

Increased appetite in Springer

Question: Dear Dr. Richards,

Several months ago, you replied to my concern about our Springer's aggression. Your advice was very helpful, we have successfully avoided the conditions that provoked the biting.

Phoebe is eleven now and other than osteoarthritis (treated with Cosaquin and Rimadyl) she is in good shape, she is trim and pretty spunky for her age. Recently, she has developed quite an appetite and is very tenacious in her quest for food and treats. Her weight and behavior is otherwise the same as it has been. She is drinking more water, but not excessively so. I've no noticed any increase in urination.

She has a never empty bowl of senior/low fat lamb and rice kibble and in the evenings she gets a 5 oz can of senior lamb and rice. Her dinner is always enhanced with a small amount of human food and throughout the day she gets about 5-8 small dog biscuits. Since she has never been an eager eater, we always gave her whatever she wanted, most times dog food would be left over or biscuits left uneaten. But now, she eats everything and as long as we are in the kitchen she begs.

Could this sudden change in appetite a symptom of a disease, like diabetes or Cushings? And if so, what should we be doing about her diet or treatment? Could this be a consequence of a year of taking Rimadyl? Please let me know your thoughts on this.

Yours truly, Diane

Answer: Diane-

Appetite changes like this are often associated with the development of hormonal disorders and diabetes and hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing's disease) are two very good possibilities. I am assuming that Phoebe is not on any medications --- prednisone, phenobarbital and several other medications cause an increase in appetite. Once in a while we see an increase in appetite with kidney disease and with liver disease but this is usually very short term and then there is a decrease in appetite over time.  There are some odd causes of increased hunger, such as hyperthyroidism due to thyroid gland tumors or brain tumors. Some dogs also have increases in appetite with other cancers and often have weight loss despite an increase in appetite.

The first things to look for are diabetes and Cushing's disease. Hyperadrenocorticism is probably the most common cause of increased appetite in dogs over 9 years of age so it is worth running the specialized tests, such as the low dose dexamethasone suppression test, to rule out this problem.

Mike Richards, DVM 1/22/2001    

Increased water intake

Q: Dr. Mike....Our 10 yr. old toy Poodle has started drinking three time the water she use to, and unable to hold it during times of our absence, therefore messing in the house. Our vet contributed it to indoor heat during the winter and her age. But that doesn't solve the problem. Help!! Thanks,

A: There are times when you just have to talk to your vet about taking a problem seriously. When an older female poodle starts to drink much more water it is very likely that she has diabetes or hyperadrenocorticism (Cushing's disease). Kidney failure is also possible. It is worthwhile to do the labwork necessary to rule out these problems.

Sometimes, I look back at my records or I think over the end of a day and realize that I shortchanged someone by not really listening to them or by getting distracted when I should have been thinking. Sometimes, a client won't hear what I am saying for similar reasons, probably.

Perhaps your vet did test for these problems and was left with the option of making a "best guess" as to the other possible causes for the symptoms seen. If not, you really do need to let him know you want this looked into further.

Mike Richards DVM    

Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in a dog:

Q: Our dog has hypoglycemia that becomes acute about once a month. We have been to a neurologist, nutritionist, and several vets. The latest theory of one is that it could be insulinoma. My question is would insulinoma produce excessively low blood sugar (25, for example) as seldom as once a month with normal (90-116) periods between? The pup was just one year old. We got him from a breeder as a rescue pup because the breeder thought it was epilepsy. I'd appreciate any informtion you could give.

A: I am not a specialist at anything, just a general practitioner with a lot of books. Just a warning, since sometimes people think I actually remember all this stuff or that I might be a specialist in some field.

It would be very helpful to know what breed of dog you have and how big he is. Toy breeds are prone to hypoglycemia at young ages because of liver glucose storage/utilization problems. Hunting dogs seem to get a transient hypoglycemia when worked that I have not seen an explanation for. Insulinoma is a possible cause of hypoglycemia because an insulin producing tumor would make it hard to keep blood glucose levels up. This is probably the most common cause of hypoglycemia but my understanding is that it is much more common in older dogs. Liver disease is reported to cause hypoglycemia at times. I have seen severe hypoglycemia in a dog with bacterial septicemia --- but it was very very ill, as you might expect. That leaves the one mystery disease that always seems to be possible whenever a dog just isn't doing "right". Hypoadrenocorticism (Addison's disease) can sometimes cause hypoglycemia. It is usually mild but it can get severe. It is usually accompanied by other signs, like inappetance, vomiting, weakness or slow heart rate, but sometimes hypoglycemia is the only noticeable sign. Whenever I feel stumped by a situation in which this disease is remotely possible, I test for it as long as the dog's owners don't mind paying for the testing.

The only problem with this list is that your vet and the specialists are very likely to have considered everything on it. I don't think it is typical of insulinomas to cause really transient blood sugar drops. It can seem that way as the levels vary during the day but most of the time it will show up with several blood samples or consistently with fasting under close supervision. This may be a situation in which whatever is wrong is very untypical, though. That can make it very hard to get to the correct diagnosis.

Good luck with this.

Mike Richards DVM  

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