My ravenous corgi....
I know many of you will read the title of this and say "yep that sounds about right". But I have to ask, lately Franklin has been acting like he is STARVING all the time. He's always loved his food, but generally its more of an I'll eat when you offer it and not worry about it after that. But lately he has been SO food obsessed. This started before I got the kitten by the way. So a few examples of what I am talking about: it started a few weeks ago when I caught him climbing into the litterbox while I was standing right there so he could eat the cat poop. I have had him for almost 4 years now and he has NEVER EVER gotten into the litterbox. When I clean the litterbox I used to put it in a grocery bag and tie it up and put it in a small trash can and use the same bag for few days before throwing it out. Well Franklin started pulling the grocery bag out of the trash and tearing it open (so I don't do this anymore). Then last week he took a bag of chocolate and a bag of gummy bears off the coffee table and ate everything. I had to take him to the ER vet to make him vomit. For as long as I can remember I've kept little after dinner snacks like gummy bears on the coffee table to snack on and he has never ever touched it. Then about 4 days later he pulled the bag of kitten food off a shelf and chewed the bag open and helped himself. This behavior is so unlike him. So much so that I don't even know what is placed in his reach. There are a lot of things I don't even think about because he has never acted like this before. I obviously leave dog food and treats or things like beef jerky out of his reach but now its little things like a cat poop bag or a box of candy that I'm having to be conscious of. Today I'm going to have to go through and Frank-proof my house. Something I've never ever ever had to do, not even when he was young. So my question is, has anybody gone through anything like this? My vets say do bloodwork to rule out Cushings or Diabetes, but after the ER visit I honestly don't want to stress him with more vet stuff. If it continues, of course I'll bring him in for bloodwork. I'm just wondering if anybody has had an adult, well-behaved corgi have such a dramatic change in personality and if so what was the result/reason?
Like I said this all started before I got the kitten, and Franklin ADORES the kitten and is (or should be) used to me having foster kittens or dogs around so I really don't think it has anything to do with the new addition. And he has had no change in food or treats and no change in exercise routine except that he gets more now because I take a Chuck-It with us on our morning walks now.
Thanks!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Ludi on
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If it's sudden, could it be a dietary deficiency? I know you don't want to stress him but maybe a blood panel could tell you something that could be of use to you? It's just so odd that the onset of this behaviour came hard and fast. I can't help you with this since once Ace discovered that I was giving him tasty food and kibble, he's been obsessed with the stuff ever since. :-P
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Permalink Reply by Cathie on
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You mentioned the additional exercise in your last sentence...could this be a factor? (Burning more calories makes him hungrier?) Just a thought.
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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on
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How is his weight? If he has lost any I would increase his feed. My Sparty was like that his entire 13 years...always trying to eat something but never overweight. I swear he would have eaten until he blew up! My friend's cocker did have Cushings and became like that so he probably needs some bloodwork if he continues.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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His weight has remained steady. Since being on the diet he lost 2.5 pounds but has remained at an even 30-30.5 for a while now. he lost the original weight in the first month or so of the diet. I did a full blood panel in September but will probably do another because its better safe than sorry. Weird thing is at one time (about 2 years ago) they thought he had Addison's disease (opposite of Cushings) and he was tested for that and his cortisol was low but then they did additional testing and found him to be normal. In Cushings cortisol is high so it would be quite weird if he has indeed developed Cushings.
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I guess its possible, he is on year round flea prevention though. Since he started getting in the litter box I was wondering about that because one of my cats had tapeworm but the vets at my work said that its not transmittable by a dog eating infected feces that is that fresh. Tapeworm is transmitted by eating a live flea or the worm encysted in muscle tissue. I guess it wouldn't hurt to de-worm him just in case.
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Permalink Reply by Julia on
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When my beagle developed Cushing's, it wasn't his appetite that tipped us off, cuz he was, you know, a beagle. It was his weight gain and the "Cushinoid" or apple shape that made the vets suspect it. I believe Addison's and Cushing's are both based in an abnormality of the same gland (don't quote me,) so I don't think it would be all that weird to have related results.
Did you start his diet in Sept. when you had the blood panels done? If so, that would be a good reason to repeat it now, even though he's lost his weight at a reasonable rate. (Good for you!)
Otherwise, I think the most likely causes are: a)you have forgotten to feed him for several weeks, or b) he's pregnant. :)
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You are correct, both Addison's and Cushing's are disorders of the adrenal gland.
In humans, the most common cause of Cushing's syndrome is the administration of steroid drugs to treat things like asthma or rheumatoid arthritis. Apparently the same is true for dogs.
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lol! We didn't have the pregnancy discussion yet :-P I will probably end up doing the blood panel, and yes I did do the last panel right after I started his diet. I was more strict about it after his exam and the dr. told me he's getting chunky. Before that I had just cut down his food a bit but substituted in peas instead. In Sept I cut his food back a little more to achieve weight loss.
And yes, Addisons and Cushings are both due to the adrenal gland, Addison's is too little cortisol being created and Cushings is too much.
Frank's "shape" hasn't changed at all, I'm watching for excessive hair loss, excessive drinking, and/or a potbellied appearance but I haven't seen any of that yet.
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