Cushing’s Disease: Hero’s Story BY LYNN MOLNAR any of you perhaps remember, Hero the Golden, the sweet and sensitive golden retriever that once graced Maryland Dog Magazine’s cover as well as the canine ambassador for the local pet charity, Thankful Paws. Hero recently died from Cushing’s disease. This disease eventually caused a tumor to grow in his adrenal gland, which stopped the flow of blood in his body. Even though he was diagnosed with Cushing’s back in 2015, he lived on medications and had frequent tests with his veterinarian, Dr. Chaudhry at Animal Medical Center in Bel Air. All was normal until about thirty days before he died. He suddenly stopped responding to the medication that had worked so well for so many years, yet all his blood work came back within the normal ranges for a dog his age. Due to his adverse reaction and weight loss, Dr. Chaudhry and I thought that perhaps we could decrease his amount of medicine, like we had done before. The first two weeks went well, he rallied, he was happy and well, good M SUMMER 2019 I 20