We have a summary page on Cushing’s if the explanation on this page is too detailed for your needs. Take a break if needed, and come back to it when you are ready to learn more. This complexity will be explained in this page, so get comfy and get ready to get your brain stimulated. Everything can be vague and in a continual state of flux. Test results can change when repeated a short time later. Other pets have positive test results, but minimal symptoms that do not warrant treatment. Some pets have the symptoms, yet the tests for Cushing’s are negative. This is a complex hormonal disease that does not lend itself to a simple explanation or an easy diagnosis. This disease is the exact opposite of another endocrine problem in canines called Addison’s disease (hypoadrenocorticism). It is the most common endocrinopathy (hormone disease) encountered in older canines. It is named Cushing’s because that is the name of the doctor that discovered this disease. Cushing’s Disease (also known as hyperadrenocorticism- (Cushing’s is easier to pronounce, so stick with that word) results when the adrenal glands secrete an excess amount of cortisone.
