Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings (Peety has passed)

[Peety's Fur-mom]

Wow, this is quite overwhelming. Last month I didn't even know what Cushings was, now I am immersed in so many details my head in spinning. My 11 almost 12 y/o18 lb Shi-Tzu was just diagnoised with Calcinosis Cutis and we are waiting to do the test for Cushings. His poor lil body is covered in calcium deposits and I feel like I am loosing this battle. He is so miserable and we have not started him on any treatments as yet. Complicated, but His first Vet, was trying to treat the outbreak of sores and started him on Predisone. Yikes!!!! We saw no improvements so he referred me to a dermatologist. She did biopsys and diagnoised him. We are now stepping down off of predisone.

I have been on-line every day trying to find an alternative to the chemicals suggested to treat Cushings. I have decided to do a natural approach and found a couple of places on-line that I am looking into. I am seeing my Vet tomorrow and plan to discuss this with him. There is even a ph # of a vet in Ga that I plan to call as he was highly encouraged by this natural approach. My lil guy is so wonderful, so sweet, so playful and so young for his age. This disease has taken so much out of him as me as well. I look at him and cry, because his once beautiful skin and coat(his skirt goes to the floor) are ravaged by this horrific disease.

I have been reading different posts, but have not seen one with the combination of Calcinosis Cutis with Cushings. Does anyone have any knowledge first hand and can offer any input.

My lil guy is depending on me to make the right decisions for his care. I need to get him on something asap so I hope to be able to make a decision in the next day or so.

Right now he has selective eating, drinks a ton of water, pees alot, wears an E-collar all the time now, because he scratches so much. I was giving him benadryl, but it didn't seem to help. I'm using neosporin on the really bad places. And I am using an aloe product on the ones not so bad. He's a good sport, he tolerates anything I need to do to him, but this just isn't right. No one should ever have to suffer like this. I Just want to see him happy again.

Anyone with any info on this combination of diseases?

[doxiesrock912]

I am not familiar with that specific disease, but Cushing's reeks havoc with our furlets' immune systems. I wish you luck and would be curious as to what information you find out about natural treatments. I've been told that none are truly effective.

Good luck and I hope the little one feels better soon!

[Peety's Fur-mom]

Thanks for responding. I wish I were only dealing with Cushings. This just complicates it. Sure, I will let you know what I find out about natural treatments.

[doxiesrock912]

Thank you, Daisy is newly diagnosed and the vet gave her twice the amount of Trilostane recommended for a dog her size. I've since stopped the meds and we have an appointment at Cornell on Friday.

Good luck!

[lulusmom]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

We've had a number of members who have dealt with calcinosis cutis and it is a bear to get under control. Calcinosis cutis is virtually pathognomonic for Canine Cushing's syndrome. In other words, if a dog has calcinosis cutis, you pretty much know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the dog has cushing's. Excess cortisol screws with just about every metabolic function, including retarded calcium absorption resulting in high levels of calcium in the blood. Only a small number of dogs will be unfortunate enough to eventually develop calcinosis cutis. The primary objective when dealing with this is to get your dog on one of two only effective treatments, Lysodren (Mitotane) or Vetoryl (Trilostane). Unfortunately, there are no natural treatments that reduces cortisol and with your boy being in agony, the sooner you can get the cortisol levels down, the better his prognosis will be.

Do you know for sure that your dog had calcinosis cutis before the first vet put him on prednisone? If not, then he could have iatrogenic cushing's and the only treatment is to get him weaned off of prednisone. Was he experiencing symptoms associated with cushing's before the prednisone? Dermatologists are usually very experienced with cushing's and are usually very well versed on the two treatments I mentioned above. I would suggest you stick with the derm vet as she is much more knowledgable and experienced with this condition. A holistic vet may prescribe something to be given with Lysodren or Vetoryl to help boost the immune system but it would be adjunct treatment only.

One of our moderators, Angela, has first hand experience with calcinosis cutis and I'm sure she will be dropping in to share her knowledge. I do want to mention that Lysodren may be the most appropriate treatment as Vetoryl is known to increase some of the other adrenal hormones which can exacerbate calcinosis cutis. Dr. David Bruyette, an expert endocrine specialist whose first choice of treatment is Vetoryl, has said that he has not had a good response in resolution of calciniosis cutis with Vetoryl.

I'm sorry for the reasons that brought you here but I'm glad you found us. We've all had the head spins and I promise it will subside as you learn more about the disease and its treatment.

Glynda

[Sabre's Mum]

Hi and welcome.

Our Hungarian Vizsla, Sabre, had calcinosis cutis and was treated with Lysodren for two years until he passed away in 2010. As Glynda has pointed out ... calcinosis cutis is pretty much a diagnosis for cushings.

I can understand your want to "treat naturally" but the only way to get the calcinosis cutis "under control" is to bring his cortisol levels down. To do this your dog requires treatment with either Lysodren or Vetoryl. My personal opinion is that Lysodren is the better treatment option for a dog with calcinosis cutis for the reasons that Glynda has pointed out. Having said this there are some members who have used Vetoryl.

Things that I can suggest are .... medicated shampoos (didn't really work for us - it just inflamed the calcinosis cutis), oatmeal shampoos (didn't have a lot of impact), betadine on areas that are not open to help dry up areas, scuffing off areas with epiotic (not sure whether this is available in US but is actually an ear cleaner), antihistamine (hit and miss and is dependent on the dog), additives - evening primrose oil, flaxseed oil and fish oil. We always tried to be proactive with antibiotics so at the first sign of infection the vet prescribed them. We also used T-Shirts or jackets to keep everything covered so he wouldn't try and get at it too much. For us it was a matter of trying to "manage" the calcinosis cutis and try and stop infection whilst his cortisol levels came down. It does get worse before it gets better and it does take some time. From recollection it took 4 to 6 months before his hair grew back and the calcinosis cutis was "just there". He always had plates of calcium deposits on his body.

You can do a search for "calcinosis cutis" from the menu along the top to find others who have dealt with it.

If you have any further queries ... please ask away.

Angela

[Peety's Fur-mom]

Hi Dawn, I am a member but have not been active for a while. Thought I would look in and see how everyone is doing and see new members and their concerns with their fur babies. So sorry your lil one has CC. It is horrible, We were first introduced to it Jan 3rd of this year. Peety is not Cushing's and we just recently did blood work again with no positive results in that area. Thank God. The CC was dormant for a few months, by that I mean no new break outs and the ones that were there turned into black hard calcium that would not budge and still haven't. About 1 month ago the CC flared it's ugly head again and worse this time. He now is covered with calcium sores, but not open and bleeding. His hair is coming out in clumps. You can see from his album the CC from the first go around. About 2 weeks ago the worse nightmare, Peety's tongue turned white and was hanging out of his mouth. I freaked. The Vet told me his tongue was dead???? and could not offer any reason other than she thought the whole CC thing was probably responsible. Dead, I immediately knew in my gut that he would die from starvation. She put him on antibiotics by syringe and I was feeding and hydrating by syringe just to keep him alive. He lost 5 lbs. I took him to another vet that did not know either what would cause that to happen to the tongue but he showed me the end of his tongue was gone, but it wasn't dead. The color had returned to a normal pink and the swelling was gone. He said there was only a small place that looked like it was healing still. For a few days he would go to his water bowl and just stand there and look at it, but he must have known his tongue was to sore to use. I cried all weekend and had to force feed him, but I was determined he was not going to starve on my watch. I did a lot of praying and we did get a miracle, he started drinking on his own and now he is eating on his own. He has regained almost 2 lbs. One theory is that the calcium that appears on the outside of his body may have manifested itself on the end of his tongue and it just fell off. But I don't really know. I know when I have had a sore tongue how it hurts to eat. So he knew that and now that it is almost healed he has learned to eat and drink again without the tip. He still will not play with his toys but I am hoping after some time he will see that he can. They bring so much joy to him. Apparently the CC is not the only problem. His blood work shows some kidney issues. So we are transitioning to a more appropriate diet for the kidneys. For his CC I am just bathing him in Hibiclens and I use Neosporin on any bad places. He is back to wearing his cone and t-shirt. But I try to leave the cone off as much as possible. His hair had almost grown back from the first go around, but I may have to cut if off again just so I can see all the places that need attention.

Hope you are able to get to a point where the CC subsides and Butters is more comfortable. It really is horrific and this round is worse in that it covers more area, but the sores are not open and bleeding. What are you using to control it? Anything your vet recommends? I actually could not rely on their knowledge, so I just do my own research. I know when Peety is uncomfortable and I will do anything I can to make him comfortable.

Blessings to you both. Pat, Peety's #1 fan

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