12 year old standard poodle

Question
Dear Kim,

Our standard poodle Maz, seems to have gone "downhill" very quickly in the past couple of weeks.  We took her to the vet this morning who took blood work and we are to return with a urine sample tomorrow.

Maz was shying away from us when we went to pet the left side of her face.  When the vet checked her eye, she said there was low pressure in the eye and that it was not responding to light, therefore, she cannot see out of her left eye.  Our vet referred us to an opthamologist, which we have an appointment with tomorrow.  What is your assessment - we are so worried that she is frightened, in pain, disoriented...

To make matters worse, she woke up this morning in a pool of her own urine, and she has been "leaking" all day.  She is also incredibly thirsty.  Do we let her drink as much as she wants?  What to do - blood work should come back tomorrow and as I mentioned we are taking a urine sample in tomorrow morning.  We are so scared - and especially so because of her age...

What are your thoughts?

Thank you,
Kara

Answer
Hello Kara,
Your dog may have Cushing's Disease.  It attacks older dogs and some of the symptoms are urine leakage, thirst, and heavy panting.
Read more about it at http://www.2ndchance.info/cushings.htm and http://www.vetinfo.com/dcushing.html

The good news is that there are treatments available to help these dogs with cushings.  

Let me know how it goes and if you have any other questions please feel free to ask.  

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim