Ugga-7yr old french bulldog (calcinosis cutis)(Ugga crossed the bridge)

Hi Sharlene. Thank you so much for your your kind words! It has been a rough couple months but things are leveling out again, thank goodness :D Everyone is recovering very well. I didn't mean to complain so much in my last post, I think I just needed to vent a little, sorry about that. I will definitely keep a close eye on Ugga after the dosage increase. Hugs to you and Molly Muffin :)

~Jackie and Ugga

Oh good lord! That was venting. Hon, if I had 3 animals all having crisis at the same time, you'd all be hearing from me till you yelled shut up!!!! You are certainly due for a good vent and let off some of that pent up anxiety. These furballs sure do love to get us humans all worked up. Love them, the brats! :) :)

hugs,
Sharlene and the molly muffin (my biggest brat ever, thank goodness she is sleeping now)

Hi Jackie,

Your month sounds a bit like mine. It seems every time I turn around, I am loading someone in the truck to go see the vet somewhere. And have they be considerate enough to need to go only during the hours OUR vet was available? nnoooooo :rolleyes: BUT, you and I have gotten all that behind us now and we have clear sailing for a bit, right? right! :D

Let us know how the increase works and how Ugga is doing.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

Hey guys. So, I have an update on Ugga and all I have to say is, I'm glad I can type this and I don't have to try to get it out verbally. Ugga is still with us but has developed Horner's Syndrome :( We can rule out pretty much every possible cause with the exception of macrotumor :(:(:( Despite the paralysis of the left side of his face, he's eating/drinking/swallowing fine right now--thank goodness we still have time with our little man! His demeanor is fine-he's still Ugga :) On another negative note, the calcinosis cutis is back. We had increased his Vetoryl dose from 30mg once a day to 40mg/day (30mg am and 10mg pm). This was around a month ago. We did not do an ACTH stim before the increase for financial reasons and we did not do one 2 weeks later because time just got away from us and before we knew it, it had been a month. He has some infected spots on his skin so we're treating him with Cephalexin (500mg BID) and he's going for his ACTH stim next monday to see where his cortisol levels are. I'm guessing we didn't increase the Vetoryl enough but my vet won't do another increase without an ACTH stim test and I completely agree with her. The good thing is, he's still on a pretty low dose for his weight so there is a lot of room to go up safely if we have to. So, that's where we stand. I'm hoping the tumor grows slowly and Ugga is still able to enjoy life for awhile longer. Big hugs to everyone and their cushpups.

~Jackie and Ugga

Hi Jackie.

With Ugga being on the smaller side, you should be able to save a lot of money on your stim tests if you will talk to your vet about using only 5mcg per kg of cortrosyn, the stimulating agent, instead of the the entire vial. There are 250mcg in one vial so I think you would get multiple stim tests if your vet will agree to reconstitute and store it appropriately. You can either give her the URL to Dr. Mark Peterson's blog below or print out the page and give it to her. Cortrosyn is the reason why we pay so much for stim tests so it's worth your while to talk to your vet about it.

http://endocrinevet.blogspot.com/201...cortrosyn.html

Please keep us posted and let us know the results of Ugga's stim test on Monday.

Glynda

Oh geezz.. if it's not one thing. :( What is the prognosis with the Horner's Syndrome diagnosis? Do they think it is one that will go away in 6 - 8 weeks?
I do hope his ACTH comes back good. Definitely talk to your vet about saving the vile for you as mentioned by Glynda. Everyone says it helps, they keep it in the fridge at their office for you usually.
It does sound like Ugga is actually feeling alright though from what you've said, so that is good news :)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Hi Jackie,

Good to hear from you again even tho it wasn't as positive an update as you would have liked to post. It is really good to know Ugga is still fighting "the good fight" and doing ok in spite of new issues. Let us know what you learn from the ACTH and what the plan is from there.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

Hi Jackie, How is Ugg doing? I hope better and I hope that you can all have a Happy Thanksgiving.

hugs,
Sharlene

Ok, so 2 weeks later I FINALLY got Ugga back to the vet for his stim test...UGH!! I'm a groomer and holiday time is insanely busy. Between my working tons of overtime and the vets office closing early/closing in general, it was difficult to get this scheduled BUT we got it done :) His results: 2 and 4.3. Honestly, I don't really know what that means but my vet is increasing his Vetoryl to 30mg BID and I trust her so I'm going along. He has gained weight since we started him on these meds so hopefully this increase will do the trick. I remember it took a little while for his skin to get better initially, we're hoping it will resolve a little faster this time. We just want him to be comfortable-that's our main concern at this point. The Horner's Syndrome is still there and the head tilt is more pronounced than it was even 2 weeks ago. However, as I type this, he's in the closet, clawing like crazy at a bone wedged under the clothes hamper :D Despite all his health issues, this boy has barely slowed down. He has no idea he's sick. Occasionally he struggles when he tries to jump on the bed (no biggie, we pick him up) and the Horner's Syndrome is affecting his middle ear, but he's not letting it get him down. Sometimes he shakes his head, tips over, gets up, and scampers off. I know it's not funny, but sometimes I just can't help but giggle. He honestly couldn't care less, doesn't even skip a beat (well maybe 1...). I know our time with him is limited but we plan on enjoying every second. I just love this little guy to pieces <3 *hugs*

~Jackie and Ugga

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jackiev

Ok, so 2 weeks later I FINALLY got Ugga back to the vet for his stim test...UGH!! I'm a groomer and holiday time is insanely busy. Between my working tons of overtime and the vets office closing early/closing in general, it was difficult to get this scheduled BUT we got it done :) His results: 2 and 4.3. Honestly, I don't really know what that means but my vet is increasing his Vetoryl to 30mg BID and I trust her so I'm going along. He has gained weight since we started him on these meds so hopefully this increase will do the trick. I remember it took a little while for his skin to get better initially, we're hoping it will resolve a little faster this time. We just want him to be comfortable-that's our main concern at this point. The Horner's Syndrome is still there and the head tilt is more pronounced than it was even 2 weeks ago. However, as I type this, he's in the closet, clawing like crazy at a bone wedged under the clothes hamper :D Despite all his health issues, this boy has barely slowed down. He has no idea he's sick. Occasionally he struggles when he tries to jump on the bed (no biggie, we pick him up) and the Horner's Syndrome is affecting his middle ear, but he's not letting it get him down. Sometimes he shakes his head, tips over, gets up, and scampers off. I know it's not funny, but sometimes I just can't help but giggle. He honestly couldn't care less, doesn't even skip a beat (well maybe 1...). I know our time with him is limited but we plan on enjoying every second. I just love this little guy to pieces <3 *hugs*

~Jackie and Ugga

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I am assuming that the ACTH numbers you posted are the pre (2) and post (4.3), respectively. With these numbers there is no reason for a dosage increase and I am very worried if Ugga's dosage is increased then an Addison's crisis will happen.

I am going to second Lori's comments, I dont understand why the increase either. Perhaps someone else may be able to explain a reason for it but I too am concerned.

What symptoms other then gaining weight are you seeing? Skin issues?

Sorry, dont mean to alarm you, just trying to understand.

I appreciate your concern. Yes, those were the pre/post numbers. Ugga is experiencing PU/PD and the calcinosis cutis is spreading like wildfire. We have to at least try to get his skin under control (at least more so than it is now, he's really itchy and will scratch himself open if he gets the chance). Lysodren is not an option for us (I'm not taking him off his seizure meds) so if my vet feels there is room for a 20mg/day increase, I'm going to trust her and give it a try. Listen, I have to be honest here-this little guy has been through the ringer. He most-likely has a brain tumor (experiencing neurological symptoms) and can go into status (seizure that he won't come out of) at any second. Anything and everything poses a risk to him. It sucks, believe me, no one hates this more than I do. I'm not trying to cause him harm but I have to think realistically. Hubby and I have discussed euthanasia but he's still such a happy dog, we just can't right now. So we'll try this. It's this, do nothing, or put him to sleep. Sorry for the morbid discussion at 8am. Time to dry my eyes and get to work.

I understand your position. I am sorry to hear the calcinosis cutis is getting worse. I hope I did not upset you.:o:o

I am going to keep my fingers crossed that this will do the trick for Ugga. His numbers are low.. So, hopefully he will balance out a little lower & that will be the magic number for him. Can you post pix of his skin? I am just curios to know what it looks like. I think my BT might be getting a CC bump on his head. Not sure.. It is just a hard little bump under his skin.

Good luck.. I hope you have your baby feeling better soon.

Jackie, hugs to you. You're trying everything you can and poor little Ugga has been through the wringer lately. I hope this works and gives him more time to be his happy little self. Do let us know if this works for him. You know how we are on here, regular worry warts. :)

Take care,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Jackie ... I am sorry to hear that the calcinosis cutis is getting worse. I am not a Vetoryl "Mum" and I do believe that those numbers are spot on ... perhaps the vet is coming from the view that Ugga needs around the clock control (the same dose) was the reason for the increase in the evening.

One thing with the scratching ... sometimes when Sabre was getting low (post below 1) he would get extremely itchy. We put Sabre in a jacket or T-shirt in the first few months of treatment when the calcinosis cutis was really bad to stop him from scratching and making it bleed. We added EPO (Evening Primrose Oil) into his diet, something that I forgot for a while and just remember recently, as this is very helpful for skin conditions in dogs. I must try and find the article which combined it with something else and they had very good results.

Take care
Angela and Flynn

I have done a lot of searching and cannot find the article that I wanted but lots of others around the topic. I have now clicked that we actually used a combination of EPO and fish oil. The research is such that combinations of EPO and fish oil or EPO and borage oil is very beneficial for skin conditions. EPO has a "soothing" effect and apparently relieves itchiness.

Angela and Flynn

Oh Addy, I'm sorry! You did not upset me, it's the situation that is upsetting. I really do appreciate everyones concern for Ugga and I promise I'm only trying to do the best I can for him.

Thanks Amy, we're crossing our fingers here too. I actually have to wash Ugga tonight, I might be able to get some good pics of his skin when he's wet. Let me just warn you, it isn't pretty. I do have some pics of the CC in my profile but they didn't come out great so I'll try to get some current ones.

Sharlene, thank you! I really do appreciate all you worry warts :). I can't believe I spelled wringer wrong in my post lol. Anyway, we really hope this works for him too, we want him to be as comfortable as possible.

Hi Angela. Thank you so much for the info! I'm definitely going to look into the EPO. Ugga does take 1200mg fish oil/day but it doesn't seem to be helping at all. I don't know why I keep giving it to him. Maybe combined with the EPO it will be more effective. As long as it's safe to give him with all his other meds, I'm all for it! I have tried putting clothes on Ugga but it drives him insane. He rolls and rolls until I take them off. Basically, we just try to keep him distracted. When he starts scratching, we give him a ball and he runs around like crazy, completely forgetting he was ever itchy :). I wash him twice a week in ketochlor shampoo which does seem to help. I think I'm going to increase him to 3 baths a week to see if that works even better. He also has a spray (Humilac) to help soften his skin. I also try to keep his nails filed so they're not as sharp but he still manages to scratch himself open if we're not watching (usually overnight). Oh, and he's on 1000mg/day of Cephalexin for infection. Did you ever just feel completely overwhelmed with Sabre? How did you handle that? I quit smoking 3 years ago and my quit is in serious jeopardy right now, I've been cheating like crazy...ugh :(

Double check with the vet with the EPO .. it was a vet who suggested Sabre had it in his diet and that is when I researched online and found that is was best used in combo with fish oil (I now remember this after my research today ... brain fade).

With regards to the overwhelmed question ... we seriously had little faith in the calcinosis cutis ever rectifying itself. The vet said that if we could keep infections at bay ... hit with antibotics if infections arose we could have a good chance. From Sabre's experience I would say that getting his cortisol levels to the recommended treated range then having them at a reasonably constant level was best for him. Every time the went up or down I sometimes at the time ... sometimes in hindsight, could tell by the way his skin was affecting him. We were lucky in that by 4 to 6 months of treatment with Lysodren all his calcinosis cutis had healed and his hair started regrowing. Once this happened we never had open sores again ... just plates of hard calcification under the skin.

Angela and Flynn

I will definitely ask my vet about the EPO, thanks again :) I'm hoping that since Ugga's calcinosis cutis went away before it will again...hoping. It took about a month before we noticed improvement and I believe it got worse before it got better. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Crossing fingers...

Ok, I uploaded some pics of Ugga's current bout of calcinosis cutis (calcinosis cutis round 2 pics 1 and 2) to my profile (I don't know how to post them here). It's so much more severe this time, I didn't realize until I looked at the old pics. :(

Omg Jackie. I just saw Ugga's picture of the calcinosis, oh my, that poor little fellow. It just breaks my heart to see that on him. I know it must just devastate you to see it. :( I really hope this change in the medicine helps him and he can maintain a good cortisol level too.

Oh gosh, I didn't even notice anything in the "wringer" ROFL!

hugs,
Sharlene

Hi Jackie

I have just looked at the pics ... poor Ugga. Have you been able to stabilise him at any time? You are quite right ... it does get worse before it gets better. It has been now 10 months since diagnosis ... I see back in May that his calcinosis cutis cleared up ... how was it at this stage ... healed and hair growing back? What changed between then and now?

Angela and Flynn

I know, it's bad. The good thing is, it's only really bad on his chest, under his chin, and at the base of his head. He's lost most of the hair on his sides and there are some tiny bumps but they don't bother him at all. Angela, to answer your question-nothing changed medication wise until about 2 months ago, we increased 10mg/day because his skin was starting to look iffy. The only differences between then and now are that he put on 6 lbs (YIKES-that was all my fault and he's lost 1.5 lbs since that weigh in about a month ago) and the neurological symptoms. Last time, we noticed improvement after about a month of treatment. The large plates started to break up, but, he wasn't scratching himself open previously, I'm not sure what to expect this time around. We had a 6 month stretch where his skin was almost normal (still small bumps in spots but nothing that bothered him)

Sometimes ... even when things have been good, things change and dosages need to be tweaked. This is what appears to have happened to Ugga.

Take care
Angela and Flynn

oh poor little Ugga. That looks so painful. :(
Did it start out as hard little bumps under the skin & then open up. I hope for Boriss's sake his bump never opens up.

I still haven't gotten Boriss's cortisol level under control. I hope we can get to the low number with him before he gets any skin problems.

I am so sorry you are having to go thru this with your baby. Ugga is still as cute as a button. We have always wanted a french bulldog.
We currently have our Boston Borris & an Old English Bulldog Pearl. The bullie breeds are just so fun!

I hope you can find the right mix of meds to make that baby feel better & back to fun times.

hugs

Hi Amy. I couldn't agree more, bullie breeds are so much fun. If I were rich, I'd have at least 10 frenchies lol. As far as Ugga's skin, it didn't really start out like a bump, it was more of a small patch (quarter size) of skin that was slightly raised. It almost looked like ringworm initially. Then he got really red and we thought he was having a food allergy. When it all started to harden we freaked and took him for a biopsy. How are things going with Boriss? He is so cute, I just love Bostons :)

Thanks! From the way you described it I think Boriss's hard bump is just a calcium type build up. Gonna have that checked next time he goes. It is like we are all just waiting for the next upset.:(
It really stinks to feel that way. Over the last couple of months I have gotten way better at living for the day with him instead of worrying about the future.
Right now Boriss is doing good. He probably won't have to go back to the vet until January. fingers crossed..
Ugga got cushings at such a young age! It is so hard to see them deal with all this stuff. I am with you.. If I was rich I would surround myself in smooshy faced dogs!! :p

Is Ugga feeling any better today?

Hi Amy. Ugga is doing ok, thanks. He's getting really itchy but other than that he seems ok. We started him on 25mg benadryl today so hopefully that will help alleviate some discomfort. When we first started treatment (last Feb) it took about a month before we saw improvement in his skin and it got worse before it got better. I'm hoping we will start to see some improvement in the next couple weeks. Thanks for checking in! :)

Hugs to you and Borris,

~Jackie and Ugga

So glad to hear that Ugga is doing okay. Hopefully the itching will start to go away! :)

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

yes.. no more itch soon I hope!;)

Hey guys :) I just wanted to post a quick Ugga update. He's been on the increased Vetoryl (30mg BID) for almost 3 weeks now and his skin is really starting to improve...YAY!!! We had to start giving him Benadryl (25mg BID) because he was so itchy the first couple weeks. It always seems to get worse before it gets better. He's still drinking more than normal but less than before the increase. Unfortunately, the Horner's syndrome is still there. It's also affecting both eyes now :(. We've decided to try something a little different. We are taking him for his first acupuncture treatment on Christmas Eve. My vet wants to see if she can help relieve some of his symptoms (mainly the neurological ones but I think she's going to work on the adrenals as well). Crossing fingers...

~Jackie and Ugga

Jackie good to hear from you. I'm glad his skin is improving. Crossing fingers that the acupuncture will help too. A nice Xmas gift that would be.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Jackie .... what fantastic news! I am so happy for you that Ugga's calcinosis cutis has improved.

Merry Christmas
Angela and Flynn

So glad the skin is getting better. Now just to get that Horner's under taken care of. I hope the acupuncture treatments help with that.

Merry Christmas Jackie to you and Ugga!
Hope the calcinosis cutis continues to improve!
Have a safe and wonderful holiday.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin