Trying to help a friend (possible calcinosis cutis)

Marianne:

You're right & you probably have the time frame about right too. I didn't write down any of this, just posted as I heard it from Janice. I know she was on a low dose twice a day & this new vet upped the dose to 40 mg once a day..........not sure what the first dose was.

As of a day or so ago, when Janice called me w/new results, she said Vicki was back to her old self which she hasn't seen for some time now so she's thrilled. I will tell her about the signs of low cortisol just in case.

When she comes over here, I sit her down in front of my computer & let her go thru all these informative posts. If she wants anything printed, I print it for her.

I would want somebody to help me if my dog were sick & I didn't have a computer. God, I'd be so lost w/o this thing! Plus that, Janice is always coming over here w/the really good dog food for Hannah to thank me for the time I spend doing research for her. I told her not to do that but it falls on deaf ears.........she's really a neat person & absolutely loves that little dog.

You know that old saying..........do unto others..........

That is wonderful that you and Janice share such a special friendship!

You may already have seen this, but the link below may be one of the most important things you could print off for Janice. It is the Product Insert for Vetoryl (brandname trilostane), and even though a lot of it sounds pretty technical, it contains a whole lot of useful information regarding dosing, monitoring, side effects, etc.

http://www.dechra-us.com/files/dechr...ts/Vetoryl.pdf

I think Janice will find it really helpful!
Marianne

Thanks for the link.......printed it out for her. I also found a really good article called "Cortisol for Dogs" & it goes all thru what it is, what it does & how you can tell if it's low or high. Also, very easy to read (no huge medical terms)........printed that out too.

She must have a huge binder by now w/all the stuff I have printed for her. However, both of us know a little more about Cushings than we did a few months ago!

Will keep you up to date on her condition.

Janice & Vicki say thank you too!!:D

Hi Everyone:

I'm Janice, humommie to Vicki.......& I want to thank you for your time & your help responding to all my concerns for my Vicki.

You'll never know how much I appreciate all the tips & info I've gotten from all of you.

I hope your pets are doing well.

Lots of love,

Janice & Vicki........:D

Thanks for that info, Marie. Just so happened that Janice was here yesterday when I found your post. There's a Costco close to us so that's good to know.

She's going to see a specialist & see what she recommends for Vicki. I think the info she got from her vet about Lysodren has made her a little uncomfortable.

Will post more info when I have it........:cool:

Hi Janice (humommie to Vicki) and welcome.

I guess that 4Vicki has loaded you with lots of info to keep you busy reading for a while! Keep up the good work with your treatment of Vicki.

Angela and Flynn

Hi There,

I was reading about the tree tea oil and not finding any shampoo's with it in it. Trader Joe's has a shampoo I have been using on my Aussie puppy who is almost 11 months old and she doesn't seem to have any reactions to it so far. I have to use this because she seems to be allergic to grains and oatmeal is a grain. I read this somewhere on the internet to use this kind of shampoo and TJ's has it the cheapest. I did see some at Petco, but I think it was a designer brand pet shampoo and 3x as expensive.

Hope this helps.

I'll show your posts to Janice when she stops by again. She really feels so indebted to all of you........me too!

Marie: I'm fairly close to a TJs........could you tell me what shampoo you are using so I can check it out? Janice is looking for something that she can use on Vicki. She used one oatmeal shampoo but it had other stuff in it & it didn't agree w/her. She didn't tell me exactly what happened but that's what she said.

My Hannah has very sensitive skin & the best shampoo I've found for her is Nova Pearls for sensitive skin. Don't think that would be good for skin problems but it sure works great for sensitive skin.

I guess it's all trial & error.:confused:

I've copied your post from your thread entitled "Is Lysodren a Thing of the Past" to here, your original thread, so that everybody knows that Janice is taking Vicki to a specialist. See post #45 above. That's great news and I'll be looking forward to hearing all about her appointment.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lulusmom

I've copied your post from your thread entitled "Is Lysodren a Thing of the Past" to here, your original thread, so that everybody knows that Janice is taking Vicki to a specialist. See post #45 above. That's great news and I'll be looking forward to hearing all about her appointment.

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Thanks for doing that.........I didn't even notice it.......duh!

As soon as I get more info from Janice, will post.

Thanks again to all for your great tips & handy dandy info.:)

Janice saw a specialist (IMS) yesterday.

Not a whole lot of info except he thought everything looked good (she had all her test results). He didn't mean the skin because I guess her skin is a real mess & it has spread a little. He did advise her against using DMSO & wanted her to stay on Vetoryl. J had contacted the manufacturer to get some info & was told that the liquid is not as stable as the pills & therefore not as effective on cal cutis. She asked him & he said he would do some research on that & get back to her. He did a blood test to check liver enzymes (I believe that's what she said) & that's pretty much it.

She's using Vetericyn topically & he said that was fine. He didn't give her any recommendations for shampoo. (I read somewhere that Etiderm was good for cal cutis but she told me it has fragrance so she won't use it........not sure why.)

So that's the scoop as of today.........plus I didn't want you to think I had gone away.........nope, I'm "lurking".........:eek:

Happy Wednesday.......

Hi :) I've been following this thread because my little guy has calcinosis cutis and is also on vetoryl. I'm not an expert on any of this, Ugga was only diagnosed 2 weeks ago but I did want to tell you I bathed him twice and both times it was disastrous. The first time, I used a lavender based shampoo (supposed to be good for skin conditions) and the second, I used a fragrance-free oatmeal shampoo. I've decided not to wash him again until his skin has healed, it just caused him way too much discomfort. My vet said it could take a month or two before we really start to see improvement in Ugga's skin. Anyway, I just thought I'd pass that on. It's so nice of you to help your friend out by coming here :) Have a great night!
~Jackie

Thanks for the update on Vicki. And please, please lurk all you want! ;):)

Jackie: Glad you're following this thread........hope some of this helps you w/your little one. It must be heartbreaking to see your little fur baby all broken out & probably uncomfortable. I think Janice told me that when she tried to bathe Vicki, it made things worse so now I think she's afraid to use anything on her. None of the vets have any great recommendations either.

If she has success w/something, I will post it so maybe I can help another little fur baby.

Many yrs ago, Hannah (my Lab) had a yeast infection on her belly & I know what I went thru to get rid of that. Had never even heard of it in dogs until she broke out big time. Live and learn.......:rolleyes:

Harley PoMMom: I'll be the resident lurker.......tee hee :D

lol resident lurker......its sorta nice how were all checking in and reading over things on each other.........nice knowing your not alone.......someone is nearly always there. see us peeking around the little icons.......or over the top, lol. thank you for the smile.

Stormee: Glad I made you smile........I do hang around here from time to time to see what's going on. Breaks my heart that all these humommies & daddies have to go thru all this, not to mention what the little fur babies go through.

That's why I try to make people laugh..........a little humor is good for the soul........

Will post again when I hear back from Janice as to how Vicki is doing & whether or not there's any news (believe the IMS ran some tests). I would guess the news must be good because she hasn't called me!

I'll continue to be the resident lurker.........:eek:

Hugs to all from me & Hannah.........xoxoxoxoxoxo.

Not a whole lot to tell but I want to keep you posted as to what's going on w/Vicki.

Janice said the specialist called & said everything looked good (the tests he ran) but she told me that her skin looked really bad & she suspected an infection. So off she goes to a dermatologist that she had been to before & really liked. Yup, she had an infection so now she's back on a/b.

This vet does not agree w/the specialist & said she has had some good results w/DMSO so she gave her a small amount & told her to try it. She said it varies from dog to dog but some have had a lot of success w/it in treating cal cutis. Janice said Vicki's skin is beyond disgusting & it still appears to be spreading. I can tell she's really at her wit's end. I think I would be too.

I'll find out how the DMSO worked out when she calls again.

And you thought the resident lurker was gone..........:p

Hi Vicki

Thanks for the update. I believe that DSMO is a little controversial as a treatment of calcinosis cutis .... my guess is more what it is made of ... than the actual use on the calcinosis cutis. But, from what I read a few years ago, there were good results with it.

Angela and Flynn

Try an australian product called Lucas paw paw ointment. In a small red tube.

I accidentally put my hand down on a red hot stove top and my fingers stuck to it, left some fingerprints on the stove actually, needed pain relief before going to hospital for morphine, cold iced water, did nothing for pain, paw paw took pain away within five minutes, didnt need to go to hospital, amazing.

Use it on my dogs skin and it is very good and soothing.
If you cant find some I would be happy to buy a tube and post it over. Hope this helps, Charlottes mum.Kimx

Hi Angela: Seems like DMSO is controversial even among vets! One vet tells Janice not to use it & the next one tells her to use it. So she decided it's worth a try because what she's using isn't doing diddly squat. When she called, she had just seen the dermatologist for the infection & tried the DMSO once. So we'll see.........:confused:

Kim: Thank you so much for your kind offer. All I can say is "ouch"! Actually, there would be a few other words but I can't say them here.:D Putting your hand on a red hot stove? Damn..........

Because I am posting for a friend of mine, I would have to run it by her. She is really nervous about putting anything on Vicki's skin because the cal cutis is so bad. Now it's infected so I'm sure she won't be willing to try anything new, at least for a while.........

Hi there,
I can appreciate vicki would now be reluctant to try anything new so perhaps something to bank for future reference would be neem oil. I've used it on dogs and horses, it's very effective on skin conditions and its also a good insect repellant. It does have a curious smell, a nutty garlicky pong like a bad cook had experimented with a dip recipe, but the pong soon subsides. For a period of time I was using it regularly on one of the horses sweetitch lesions and as well as sorting that out it also helped my own contact dermatitis considerably.
Best of luck, hope Vicki starts seeing some good progress soon xxx

I wanted to bump this up rather than starting a whole new thread. I just talked to Janice & she asked me to thank all of you for your help during a very stressful time for her. I haven't talked to her in ages so I had no updates for you until today.

Vicki is doing great. She's still on the same meds but she said she just stopped the DMSO (or whatever that stuff is). Her hair is growing back & she has no new outbreaks, hasn't for quite a while. Said she has some hard areas on her skin (maybe where the bad outbreaks were, don't know for sure) but she looks better. She's also acting like her old self so it looks like she's stable, at least for now.

My thanks to all of you for being so kind & so helpful. I hope all of you & all your sweet furkids are doing well.:D

What a fabulous update on Vicki .... Janice must be so happy. It is great that the calcinosis cutis has basically halted. Sabre also had hard areas as well ... in fact most of his calcinosis cutis never erupted to heal with new skin .... they just remained there.

Thanks so much for popping back and giving us this wonderful news.

Angela and Flynn

I thought I'd tack another post onto this thread so you can check back on Vicki's history if you need to.........this time it isn't very good news.

Janice called me..........sometime during the night Vicki was attempting to stand up & couldn't seem to get her legs under her. She was craning her neck to look up at the ceiling & would sometimes flop down on her back. She went to emergency & they ran some tests (thought she might have a blood clot in her lung, negative) but they couldn't find a reason to cause her to have seizures or a stroke perhaps? She said something about them finding protein in her urine.

Janice took her home after spending hrs at emergency & today she's walking albeit very shaky, she's panting like crazy & her tongue is sticking out (like she can't pull it back in). She is just acting really bizarre. She is seeing a specialist in the morn but I've been all over the internet to see if I can find what this might be to try to calm Janice down tonight. I know all of you can relate. She loves that dog & it's just killing her to watch this.

I decided if anyone would know what's going on it would be you. You were such a blessing to Janice before. So far I have found nothing so I'm turning to all of you once again......

Nothing has changed in her meds & she did stop the DMSO a while ago. It seems somewhere on here I remember seeing something about Cushings & seizures.

Janice is a wreck & now she has me all upset.........anyone know what this might be & if there is anything she can do tonight for that poor dog?

Thanking you in advance (again).........

This doesn't really sound like a low cortisol episode, but did the ER clinic check Vicki's cortisol level? It's usually the first thing to look at when a Cushbaby becomes ill. If they didn't do an ACTH, my guess would be that the specialist will probably want to do one tomorrow.

Debbie

I honestly don't know.........she did mention the blood clot & the protein. I do know that they wanted her to leave Vicki so they could do more tests but she didn't want to leave her. She wanted to see her regular vet but he called & told her that she needs to see a specialist. So that's where she's going in the morn.

I was just wondering if there was any info I could share to make her feel a little better until she sees the vet in the morn. I don't know a thing about Cushings so I really can't help her.

Just when it looked like she was doing great........:(

I couldn't really tell from your description if its cortisol or not either.. normally cush dogs whose cortisol is too low cannot get up (like you mentioned) but they have zero energy - literally like they are dead or dying - no energy to even raise their head.

Since your friend isn't going in until the morning - does she have prednisone on hand? It is given in emergency situations to dogs on trilostane. She should have it as well as emergency instructions. It would not hurt to try giving it to see if it provides relief. She would know within an hour or two if it worked at raising the cortisol.

Kim

I definitely understand where Kim is coming from, but one problem with giving prednisone tonight is that it would mess up an ACTH test in the morning if that's what the specialist wants to have done. So unless there is a definite reason to give prednisone tonight, I don't believe I would do so. I would think (hope) the ER vets already would have made a decision about giving prednisone if they thought it would be helpful.

I'm so sorry Vicki is having such trouble. And I'm afraid I don't have any ideas as to what is going on, so the visit to the specialist will be really important.

Marianne

Marianne, I thought about that too... I guess I'd have to see the dog to determine if I thought it was the cortisol or not and whether or not I was concerned it was an emergency.

Sorry we can't be more help to your friend. Kim

My thanks to all of you. Don't want to suggest pred if it's going to screw up any of her testing tom'w. She's seeing the spec at 9:30. I remember she did mention that they gave Vicki a shot before she left emergency to make her more comfortable so that could have been pred. I'm not sure Janice knew what they gave her but I'm sure it's on her receipt.

I thought maybe there was something about the way she's acting that means something.........because it means nothing to me. My searches around the internet didn't give me anything either.

I just called & talked to Janice's husband..........he said Janice was at the vet & I freaked: he said it wasn't anything, that she left one of Vicki's meds there when they were there earlier & she had to go get it. I asked if Vicki was better & he said no.

As soon as I know any more about what's going on, will let you know. Not sure if she'll know anything tom'w if there's testing that needs to be done but I'll be back when I know something.

Again, my thanks to all of you. You are that beacon of light out there on a dark, dreary night!

I'm making a wild guess, here. I bet the injection may have been dexamethasone which is a steroid replacement, but it will not interfere with an ACTH like pred will.

Debbie

Just throwing this out there but I wonder if Vestibular disease could be the culprit???

I am sorry to hear the latest on Vicki ... as you said ... she was doing so well. I can't add anything more to what others have said. Let's hope that the specialist can give Janice some answers.

Take care
Angela and Flynn

Just a quick update: neurologist found nothing, absolutely nothing.

Suspect a couple of things: that Vicki may have hurt her back & she was panting due to pain........also why she was doing strange stretches & craning of the neck. Other thought is a tumor on the pituitary that may be growing & causing problems. Janice didn't want to get an MRI so this is just a guess.

That's all I know. She's on valium & some pain med & appears to be much better today.

Thanks again to all of you..........sorry I bothered you because it doesn't appear this is related to Cushings............duh!:rolleyes:

Please do not ever feel you are "bothering" us, we are so happy to help in any way we can.

Thanks so much for keeping us updated as we so appreciate it.

Love and hugs,
Lori

My friend, Brenda, has a little Maltese who had an episode almost identical to Vicki's. It looked like the start of a seizure and then he started craning his neck to one side and it stuck that way. I took quite a while for him to be able to right his head. The vet felt as if he may have had a seizure and when he tensed up he pulled something in his neck or pinched a nerve. He cried for two days but the meds finally kicked in and brought him some relief. He was panting like crazy too but the vet expected that was because he was in so much pain I've been there, done that and I'm sure Moe was a lot braver than I. If Vicki is coming around on the valium, I suspect she may have pulled a muscle and pinched a nerve as well. Moe doesn't have cushing's so a macrotumor is a non issue. If Janice would like to commiserate with Brenda, I can arrange it. Brenda lost her precious cushdog over a year ago to cancer so she is no stranger to cushing's either. Just let me know.

Glynda

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lulusmom

My friend, Brenda, has a little Maltese who had an episode almost identical to Vicki's. It looked like the start of a seizure and then he started craning his neck to one side and it stuck that way. I took quite a while for him to be able to right his head. The vet felt as if he may have had a seizure and when he tensed up he pulled something in his neck or pinched a nerve. He cried for two days but the meds finally kicked in and brought him some relief. He was panting like crazy too but the vet expected that was because he was in so much pain.

Glynda

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Thanks for posting that..........it sure does sound the same. The way it was described to me, I thought it was a stroke. Then Lori mentioned vestibular disease..........when I read a few articles on that, that sure sounds a lot like it too. My first thought was a stroke because (normally) when a dog has a seizure, he comes out of it in a few minutes. Even the neurologist didn't have a clue.

The valium & pain meds are helping because, as of last night, Vicki was doing a lot better. TG. I thought this was it.

Janice is a really shy, quiet person so I don't think she'd be one to want to talk this over w/somebody she doesn't know. Thanks for the offer though.

All of you have been wonderful to me & a huge help to Janice. You are a very special group of people.......

I have a pit that was recently diagnosed, and he got a staph infection from the open wounds. Trizchlor 4 seems to be helping alot. I give him a bath in it about every other day, as well as spray the open sores 3 times a day. Going to start using DMSO tonight as my vet thinks it will help. Wish us luck!