Cushing's disease causes significant chronic welfare compromise in affected dogs through its wide-ranging effects on metabolism, skin, muscles, and behaviour. Early diagnosis and appropriate management can substantially improve quality of life.
Cushing's disease causes prolonged chronic welfare compromise that accumulates over months or years before diagnosis. Muscle weakness makes exercise difficult and painful; skin fragility means wounds heal poorly and infections are common. Urinary incontinence from polyuria causes distress in dogs that have been reliably house-trained. Chronic cortisol excess suppresses immune function, increasing susceptibility to recurrent skin and urinary infections that are themselves welfare problems. Behaviour changes — including increased appetite-driven food-seeking — can strain the human-animal bond. With treatment, many dogs show substantial quality of life improvement within weeks as cortisol levels normalise. Regular monitoring is essential as trilostane dose requirements change over time and under-treatment allows recurrence while over-treatment causes acute crisis.