Friend's non-pug has cushings disease.

I said I would ask around to see if anyone has had any experience with this. Her dog Bella is a maltese, about 8 y.o. Of course her family are all devastated and she will do everything to help Bella. Anyone got any advice? Thanks in advance.

Tyson has Addison's Disease, which is sort of the opposite of Cushings in that his adrenal gland does not produce enough cortisol, where in Cushings it produces way too much. They can both be diagnosed with an ACTH stimulation test.
I have found the Yahoo group for AddisonsDogs very helpful and supportive.
Here is a link to a Yahoo group for canine Cushings disease
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/CanineCushings-AutoimmuneCare/

Please give your friends and Bella my best.

Cushings is one of the things that was offered as a reason for our Golden Retriever Mack's passing (another was cancer, we didn't autopsy so I'll never really know). In the days before his passing I joined that Yahoo group mentioned above and it was very helpful. It did seem like something that was manageable if caught early enough. Good thoughts for Bella and family.

Have your friend make sure that it is not caused by drugs. When we got Farnsworth, I was sure he had Cushings, but when we took him off all the drugs, he recovered and is fine now.

from http://www.helium.com/items/1160918-dog-cushings-disease-causes:
MEDICATION INDUCED CUSHING'S
In this case, the high dose or prolonged use of cortico-steroids causes the adrenal glands to act as if there was an adrenal gland tumor so therefore, the body is overwhelmed once again with an excess of corticosteroids. Cortico-steroids are often prescribed to treat medical conditions such as severe allergies. The excessive amount of cortico-steroids causes the adrenal glands to shrink but luckily with proper treatment they may resume normal size and function. If the dog is still on cortico-steroids the vet will give directions on how to properly taper off the quantity. Usually upon stopping the cortico-steroids the condition is fully reversed and the dog comes back to a full recovery usually within a few months.

from http://www.kateconnick.com/library/cushingsdisease.html:
Iatrogenic Hyperadrenocorticism: The third cause of Cushing's is one that we can create ourselves if we give a dog too much external glucocorticoid, especially for chronic conditions like allergies. We essentially do what the adrenal tumor would do by flooding the dog's body with an excess of corticosteroid. Although both the adrenals and pituitary will attempt to respond to our interference by cutting ACTH and cortisol secretion, if we continue to bombard the dog's body with too much glucocorticoid, symptoms of Cushing's disease will result. The reason dogs are given tapering doses or every-other-day doses of steroids like prednisone is to avoid this consequence. Dogs with this form of Cushing's tend to have two very small, atrophied adrenal glands. Nonetheless, if iatrogenic (veterinary-induced) hyperadrenocorticism develops, it is fully reversible. The external source of steroid is slowly withdrawn to allow the adrenals to "wake up" and resume functioning.

I can attest to the steroid induced Cushing's . Tank presented as very cushinoid (sp?) and it slowly went away as we reduced his pred dosage. It appears that his adrenals may be permanently damaged from all the pred (huge doses over a lot of years) so he will remain on pred (minimal dasage) for life.

Thanks for the advice guys. That forum sounds like a very helpful place. I'll pass all this on to Elizabeth.