Newly diagnosed with CC. (7 y/o English bulldog)

[Bully]

Holy crap I can't believe I found this forum!!!! I have been in tears for days reading all of your familiar stories and struggles and looking at pictures of the horror I now know is CC. My dog ralf was diagnosed 2 weeks ago by biopsy. He also has A nasty MRS infection that is making maters worse.

Ralf is a 7 year old English bulldog that we adopted last year. He came to us with a HORRIBLE case of interdigital cysts that I have just in the last 4 months got under control. He is antibiotic resistant and in our quest to keep his cysts at bay the only thing that was working was a very low dose of prednisone. We are currently weaning him off his prednisone so that we can test his adrenal to see if the cc is from his long term prednisone use or if he has cushings. Or both I guess.

He is currently on Clindamycin to attempt to rid him of the dreaded MRS staph that is present, this was the only drug that the culture was sensitive to. It is making him so sick I can barely watch it. It is very upsetting. The vet had told me they have never seen anything like it. It is truly horrible.

I look forward to learning from all of your experience and hoping t9 find some relief for my boy

I have added some pictures of the poor soul to an album

[Junior's Mom]

Welcome to the forum. We looking forward to learning more about Ralf. It sounds like he has a quite the time with issues already.
Tracey

[jxeno13]

Hi and welcome to you and Ralf to the forum! I'm sorry for reasons though that brought you here. ...I'm sure some of the senior members can help out quite a bit...and will probably be along soon.

Thank you for rescuing Ralf! Rescues are the best, aren't they?? My Eli is also a rescue. :D

Welcome, Jo Ann and Eli

[mytil]

I wanted to welcome you both to our site as well. I am so sorry your boy is having these horrible issues.

I am assuming by the biospy your vet has already discussed calcinosis cutis with you. The photos point towards this certainly.

This condition can be associated with Cushing's - either normally occurring or caused by prednisone (called iatrogenic Cushing's). We have several members here who have and are battling this.

Other than the antibiotic, has your vet prescribed anything else?

Please keep us posted.
Terry

[goldengirl88]

Welcome to the forum. What a cute bully he is, and I am so sorry he is having all these troubles. I can tell you one thing. When my dog was a puppy she had really out of control allergies that would swell her up, including her throat. They used prednisone to help her. Dr. Peterson who was her consulting Dr. agreed that the prednisone probably caused the Cushings in her. If he does have Cushings, you will not get CC under control unless you get the Cushings under control, and then it is a real battle from what I have seen on here. You could look at Dawn and Buttercups thread. She had an exhausting battle with the CC and maybe you can get some ideas for managing it on there. Blessings
Patti

[Bully]

He currently is only on the clindamycin. We went to see our vet last night because I am very concerned with how he is feeling and she said we could change his antibiotic to see if he feels better on another as there were a couple more the staph was sensitive to but she'd prefer we stay the course on this one if we can because she feels he does look better. I am really hesitant to try a different drug - poor guy has been on so many I'm afraid of what it will do to him. She also recommended we try DMSO gel sparingly on the really bad parts. We have some on order so hopefully it comes soon.
We have 3 weeks till we can test. This will be a very long month
:(

[goldengirl88]

I forgot to mention to you if you have anyone that does cold laser therapy it is supposed to work well on CC. Blessings
Patti

[Bully]

It's been a long time since I posted but I wanted to give a Ralf update. Ralf is 100% better. His cushings was iatrogenic Cushing's (caused by prednisone) and he is no longer showing any symptoms. It was a VERY long road to recovery. His Calcunosis cutis was throughout his entire body - even inside his throat - he could barely bark. 6 solid months. About 3 months into it we were sure we were going to lose him. He had given up and was no longer eating. The vet thought he was done too. Turned out he was not sensitive to the antibiotics and needed a new type. Non stop antibiotics, 2x daily baths, DMSO applications everynight before bed which required careful application, rubber gloves, isolation from the other animals... the whole 9 yards. It was a crazy amount of work but I am thrilled we stuck with it and Ralf is happy and healthy again. 90% of his hair grew back - he was a giant head to tow scab. Yay Ralf!! :):):):):)

[molly muffin]

What wonderful news!!!! It was iatrogenic cushings that got my girl in the end too, but way back then no one even mentioned the possibility of the prednisone causing the skin sensitivity and problems throughout her body.
I'm so glad that you stuck with it and Ralf is doing so well. I couldn't be happier for you both! This will also help so many others who come after you and Ralf to know what to do and that it IS possible to get past this stage ,even when it seems it is impossible. Thank you for that. so much, thank you.