Calcinosis Cutis and Cushings (Peety has passed)

Oh my - I can relate, but it just seems like a painful road ahead! Looked at the album, and poor Peety! Sounds like you are on the road to recovery though...Must admit, I like the elephant skin reference - so true!

You have convinced me that I need to stop staring - big hugs to Peety as well and glad I have someone to reach out to regarding this awful problem. I will try to upload pics of my sweet baby girl. I have just been too horrified to share them for fear they are too graphic and not for the weak stomach!

xoxox,
Kerry

Hi Kerry
I don't think there is such a thing as too graphic for us. We are most of us it seems always on poop patrol and let me tell you we get Very graphic! LOL I haven't yet encountered anything we won't talk about in detail or take a picture of and share so as to get the other members input on. Feel free to join in. It's down right liberating. hahaha
Peety I think is doing really well thanks to his very smart mom and you,ll have Millie turned around eventually too. I am really glad that you found each other. We are all different and yet we are the same. We're really just one big family. hugs
sharlene and molly muffin

I worried at first that they were to graphic, but to see it for what it is you have to put them out there. When I first started researching CC I found some pictures I kinda looked at with one eye closed. I was horrified, and the big thing was I knew my lil guy may end up looking that bad. I didn't want to look, I was so scared. Some days I would just hold him and cry. I would cry thinking about him during the day at work. I couldn't wait to get home to see him. I cried for weeks. But when it's your lil fur baby you don't see the grossness of it, not when you look in their eyes and see that sweetness. And you know they are depending on you to find something to make it all better. It's not fair to have to see them like this, but I know one thing for sure I will do anything to make him better. And if I can help someone else going through this I will happily do so.

Hugs to both of you.

Your are so right - no matter how bad she looks, she still has the same beauty in my eyes. I just pray she is not completely uncomfortable. For many years she has always been so slow to come down stairs in the morning, so I started singing "There she is....Miss America..." and I swear she would trot down...We of course still do that!

I hope Peety is doing well today!

xoxox,
Kerry

How cute...I love that :D:D:D I tell Peety all the time he is my handsome boy. I've gotten so I don't see the CC as much, just his sweet personality. I know that we have progressed a lot. He is not uncomfortable or distressed at all. But many weeks and months he was. He was on antibiotics for several weeks. I was glad because that was during the time his sores were open. Now it is just there and doing nothing but being ugly.

Happy 4th, hope "Miss America" is getting tons of attention today....
Big hugs...

Pat and Peety

Happy 4th back to you, and yes, "ugly" is relative! Miss America is spoiled rotten...and I am ok with that right now :)

xoxox,
Kerry

Hi! Just thought I'd check in and see how you and Peety are doing :)

hope all is going well! We're having crazy humidity here, so lots of indoor time.

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

I will be posting this on four members' threads, all of whom are dealing with calcinosis cutis. Kerry, Millie's Mama; Crystal, Annabelle's Mama; Shelly, Lucy's Mama and Pat, Peety's Mama.

I've seen too many dogs on Trilostane who have either had little to no effect on Calcinosis Cutis or a worsening effect while on the drug. Based on the frequency with which we've seen calcinosis cutis on this forum, there seems to be a correlation with the increased popularity of Trilostane for treatment of cushing's. I've had a gut feeling for a very long time that Trilostane is responsible for worsening calcinosis cutis due to it's effects on the sex hormones. Dr. Oliver, was the leading expert on adrenal steroids and he firmly believed that 11-deoxycortisol levels build-up in dogs being treated with Trilostane as did other intermediate steroid such as androstenedione, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, estradiol and progesterone. I've never been able to find anything in layman's terms that explains the affect, if any, these steroids have on calcium metabolism. While searching for that connection, I stumbled upon something even better. It was an abstract of a study entitled, "Canine hyperadrenocorticism: effects of trilostane on parathyroid hormone, calcium and phosphate concentrations". The last sentence of that abstract was eye opening.

Quote:

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[B]Despite no significant difference between calcium concentrations in the pretreatment HAC and control groups, calcium concentrations increased significantly with treatment....and....These results show that adrenal secondary hyperparathyroidism resolves with treatment and suggest that increased calcium and phosphate levels have a role in its pathogenesis./B]

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It looks to me that cortisol isn't the only adrenal steroid that can cause elevations in blood calcium levels. Dr. David Bruyette, a renown endocrine expert, readily admits that he has had bad luck in resolving cc with trilostane. That's pretty telling coming from a high profile specialist who is a contributor to Dechra's continuing education program for veterinarians. This is not a new study. As a matter of fact, I believe it may have been published before Vetoryl was approved by the FDA.

You can find the complete abstract here: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...283.x/abstract

I'm just sharing my thoughts with those of you who may want to start asking more questions of your vets....or you may even consider calling Dechra, the manufacture of Vetoryl (Trilostane). I'd be very interested to hear what they have to say about this study.

Glynda

For folks who want to share general thoughts and comments about this study that Glynda has found, I've created a new thread in which our comments can be consolidated all in one place:

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5509

Marianne

Hi everyone, We are doing really good.:):) Peety is much improved. He still has a couple of black spots, but other than that his hair is coming back nicely and he has no more bald spots. So I really do think that his skin issues were the result of the prednisone. He feels great, and I can't ask for more than that.

I continue to follow other threads and I am saddened at the loss of any lil fur babies and the continuing struggle that some are having. It's not fair to have to see our lil ones suffer. I feel so blessed that at this moment in time we are not facing any crisis. And I will continue to pray for all of you that have that fight on their hands. Peety and I send big hugs to all of you.:):)