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Bogie is adorable! I hope he gets some relief.
I suspect my boxer has calcinosis cutis, although I have not had a biopsy done and the IMS we saw locally won't respond to my question about whether she thinks it looks like calcinosis. Dawn, is the Trizchlor used instead of a medicated bath?
Just popping in to see how ya all are doing.
Dawn and Butters
Hi Dawn and everyone,
Bogie is hanging in there. He hasn't started full blown scratching, but does scrape himself along the bed or couch. He alarmed us yesterday by drawing blood from a place on his neck he scratched with back paw. I've received the Triz spray and an ointment for the really nasty cracking places. <<sigh>> it's just soooooo emotionally draining to watch it continue to spread. One day at a time. I will keep you all posted on changes good and bad.
Nancy
The sores are very susceptible to cracking open and bleeding in the beginning. Tobey never scratched hers, but they still managed to crack open.
Hi Dawn,
Just saw your question.
Dr. Caitlin Contreary at UCD is a dermatologist.
I will phone her tomorrow to check in. Bogie is terribly uncomfortable, shakes often and tonight won't even drop his head to the floor when he lays down. We think it's because the crusty patches on his neck are pulling open...think of a cracked lip. Ouch! Today he yelped when I touched one a little too roughly. I just broke down and cried my eyes out. This is so, so hard to cope with.
Good-ish news is we are pretty sure he is shaking because he chills easily - not due to pain - but I am keeping a very close eye on him.
I gave him an antihistamine after his bath while drying him today and he slept for a while. He went for a walk...but as usual...pooped out quickly. I want to get through this...but it's really hard wondering if he is pain and seeing him so miserable. There is a line down his spine of new lesions....gawd....will it ever end!
Nancy
Nancy,
awwww:( Poor Bogie. I hope that he gets relief soon. I would cry too.
Maaann I really hate the CC, Butters is on tramidol for pain/discomfort. You know your baby best, and if bogie is uncomfortable tell his vets about the yelping and lesions on neck keeping him from relaxing and have one of them get him a rx for it. Any type of physical stress can and will increase that nasty nasty hormone. So comfort is of the utmost importance for our cush pups.
Are you working with an IMS at Davis also? How is Bogies hormone level? I know just what you are going through, I still weep at times, I am reminded every minute of every day when ever I look at her that this is our reality and its not just a bad dream. As time goes on you to will adjust as Bogie has been adjusting to his new body and its limitations. Your doing a great job and hang in there, he needs mommie to be strong and speak loudly for him.
Dawn and Butters
Thank you for the understanding and empathy. I will definitely be asking for an appropriate pain med tomorrow. His vet is a board certified internist, that is local. Davis would be too far for regular visits. His most recent level was 4.0.
How long has Butters been having to deal with CC ? Has it gotten better? What does "better" even look like? How long was it before things started to improve?
My Tobey has CC too, and for quite a while it was just horrific to look at. And so painful. Her's has stayed localized to her back / spine area. I can just imagine how heartbreaking it is for poor Bogie to not even be able to rest his head. I used tramadol too, when Tobey's were very painful, and I think this helped a lot.
With Bogie's cortisol at 4, I think you in the perfect range to get the CC under control. It does get worse before getting better. Everyone told me that too, and it was a small comfort, but I have found it to be true, and I am finally on the other side of it. We have a few steps backward every now and then, but for the most part, Tobey's CC has shown quite a bit of improvement. In my opinion, the healing starts when the lesions finally start to dry out and not crack open / bleed so much. A little bit of hair may start to grow in as well. We don't have any pink skin the way Butter's does, but the lesions are not nearly as hard and thick like they were. They are quite flaky and dry.
Tobey's first CC lesion showed up in November. Treatment started in December, and a noticeable improvement in her CC happened about 3 weeks ago. Looking back, I actually think that's pretty good! Of course, now that her CC is on the mend, most of her hair is falling out. But, like Dawn said, it's just the cycle, so I am waiting it out.
Renee, thank you! I just needed to hear that someone has seen improvement from the stage we are in now....smelly, raw, oozing patches all over the back of his neck and in spots down his spine and beside it. My husband and I suffer so much to watch him suffer ...if it goes on for months we will have to consider putting him down. It will be 28 days since he started cushings treatment tomorrow. We need to see some improvement with the CC now and soon or we just won't be able to handle watching him suffer like this.
If there are any others out there reading this who can report seeing recovery from CC and the time frames I would be most grateful. thanks to everyone for being there!
Nancy