Cushings disease

[savannah]

A friend of mine has a dobie who is showing the red flags for cushings, and the blood work came up with more red flags of kidney failure. So she is undergoing the steps to diagnose if it is cushings, but in the meantime she sent her breeder an email to see if any of their previous pups developed cushings, and just for some support.
Well the breeder turned it around and blamed the problems on the food that she is feeding the dog (the same food that the breeder recommended to them when they got the dog). I was wondering, is cushings related to nutrition? I have never heard that before, but thought that maybe someone on here might know better.
I feel really bad for the family, the dog isn't even old.

[Beaglemom]

I've never heard of cushing's being caused by diet. There can be several causes of cushings. Here's a link that I found with some information about the causes, symptoms and treatment for cushings.
http://www.kateconnick.com/library/cushingsdisease.html
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?articleid=416
I think this breeder is being extremely irresponsible and very uncaring. I know how your friend is feeling as my dog may be cushinoid as well. It is a condition that is controllable and a dog can live a long comfortable life living with cushings.

[justncase]

With Cushing's disease in dogs, the adrenal glands can produce excessive amounts of cortisol, a hormone with potent anti-inflammatory and immuno-suppressive effects and this large amount of
cortisol in the body suppresses the immune system so the dog then becomes at risk for bacterial infections.Sometimes it is the adrenal glands that cause the levels of cortisol to rise if there is a tumor(benign or malignant) either there or in the pituitary glands. If a dog was treated for an allergic condition or an immune disorder it can also contract Cushing’s disease because of the prolonged use of corticosteroid drugs. If this happens the veterinarian will reduce the current steroid treatment in to lower cortisone levels. One side-effect of Cushing's disease is excessive thirst.The thing , too, about Cushing's disease is that it suppresses the immune system so ways to boost the immune system are found to offset this.