Buttercup (Calcinosis cutis) - Buttercup is now in heaven

Checking in to see how things went with Buttercup today! Hope it is all positive news and they can get her on something to get that skin and coat issue taken care of.

hugs,
sharlene and molly muffin

Oh I see we were typing at the same time. It is so hard isn't it. You want to hope for all you're worth that the news is good, but if it's not, the heart break will be unbearable. I think we all have our own ways of dealing with potential bad news and whatever works for each one of to keep the nerves in check, is good in my book. :) Big HUGS. I really hope that there isn't any bad news to deal with. When do expect to hear back on the results?

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

I know what you mean, prepare for the worst, just in case. I do that as well sometimes, well probably a LOT of times;);)

We will just hang out with you while you wait.:)

Hi—

I just read through your thread. I basically have been in the midst of this for the last few weeks. My dog, Turtle, has severe calcinosis cutis (he has also never been on steroids and was diagnosed with PDH cushing's). It is insane how fast it spread. Basically in one month it spread over most of his back. It is the most horrible thing. Anyways for the first time it is starting to look better and I have read anything and everything I could. These are what we have done for treatment of the CC:

1. Twice daily DMSO (90% gel).
It is hard for me to know how much it helps the skin, although I do believe it has been helpful. However, I do know that it greatly helped Turtle's pain. It would relax him a lot about 10-15 minutes after I put it on. For that alone I believe it has been helpful. I have read that there are worries about serum calcium levels when DMSO is used on CC dogs over large areas, however, my vet is not worried about this and when his electrolytes were checked everything was normal.


2. Once daily bath with Ketochlor shampoo.
When my vet took smear samples of Turtle's skin there was a lot of yeast (for this reason I would suggest NOT using oatmeal based shampoo as I believe it agitates yeast problems). I leave the shampoo on for the recommended 10 minutes. I use a bowl of water and shampoo to lather it on outside of the bath, set the timer for 10 min, and then put him in the shower when the timer goes off.

Cushing's dogs and CC skin is very susceptible to secondary (bacterial and fungal) infections. The two active ingredients of Ketochlor are Chlorhexidine Gluconate and Ketoconazole. Oddly, Ketoconazole is taken orally to treat Cushings. However, both work to combat fungus and bacterial infections. I believe the daily shampoo has been really helpful. It also helps in debriding the wound.

3. At the very beginning, they took a sample and looked for MRSA (bacterial infection). They did not find any. However, three weeks later they took another sample to test for MRSA because his skin was smelling very bad and it tested positive for MRSA. So we had to change to an extreme oral antibiotic (he had previously been on amoxicilan and zeniquin). He is now taking Chlorephenicol.

4. When he started Trilostane (Vetrotyl) for his Cushings, his CC did stop spreading. However it definitely looked worse before better, like it is rising out of the skin or something. He is now 2 weeks in to Trilostane and his ability to heal himself is greatly improved. He is doing much better and I finally can see some light at the end of the tunnel. I would try to get your dog on Trilostane as fast as possible. There is talk about Lysodren being better for CC than Trilostane. I do not know about this, the reality is that there are very few actual studies on CC in veterinary journals that I can find, so that hypothesis is anecdotal. When my vet consulted local vet dermatologist on the question, the derm said he never treated CC with lysodren, that trilostane has been effective. Given the risk profile of the two drugs for me it was easy to choose, other people may have different opinions. Additionally, Turtle's appetite has been greatly reduced and we are not really sure why this is since this is the opposite of a Cushing's dog. I have wondered if it had to do with his skin issues and resulting pain. But basically we don't know...and my dog had always been a voracious eater.

5. I have been using some medical grade manuka honey at night on his wounds, this is not on Vet's advice but after learning about MRSA, I read studies that it can help. Again, I am not sure if it is helping or not.



Other than that I just have to say that CC is the worst. It has been excruciating to watch my dog in pain every day and realize that there is very little I could do about it (and trust me I combed for an answer— humans also get calcinosis and there is very little they can do, it is very unfortunate)

Basically you have to treat the underlying Cushings and be mindful of secondary infections to the skin. Also, you have to realize that the last thing to be healed will be the skin.

He hasn't been too itchy which is lucky. I dress him in hoodies for his walks and if/when he does start to itch, but we have been going through piles and piles of tiles in this house.

I wish you the best. Let me know if there is anything more you want to know!

Oh, if you go to my albums there are photos of my doggy's calcinosis

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/album.php?albumid=758

The results are back from the MRI yes its PDH the tumor is measuring 2.5 cm and is also pressing against her optic which is why
she ahs lost the vision in her left eye.:(
will be meeting with Radiology, internal & derma depts. tomorrow, to get a game plan put together for her treatment and start it ASAP:),she will be getting a CT and will start getting the protocol set for her to receive radiation laser treatment which is a 1 time treatment. (hopefully) Not sure if she will get the vision back:confused: and there is a possibility that she could go blind:( from the treatment only because of the location of the tumor:(.
They did not see any other abnormalities on the MRI:D. The Dr. wants to get her in by wed. or Thursday of next week which is fine by me:D. also not infections detected via urine test and blood work and preliminary skin test. ( thank god for Hibistat and Neosporin:D)..
Butters is doing well, came out of sedation slow but strong and is
drinking(of course) well:p.
Relieved that the wait is over and now we came move fast and hard with her treatments to get this under control.
I can finally exhale and truly fell a little joy and hope again. That last tunnel came up fast but it was a short tunnel and the light at the end came on like a light switch being turned on.;)
I will rest easier tonight knowing that I can get the laser treatment and stop this thing from growing anymore and to be able to shrink it down in size.:D:D:D
Exhaustion it kicking in hard. Maybe I need to get my hormone levels ck way to many adrenal rushes for me these last few weeks;)..
God bless all of you and all the cushy babies. Gonna finish this piece of cheese cake and then pass out.

Wow Dawn! I'm so glad that you have a treatment plan and will be praying that she doesn't have any additional problems and that her sight comes back unaffected.

Dawn, thanks so much for this report! I think it is awesome that they believe they can shrink the tumor with only one laser treatment -- that is a far cry from the old series of multiple treatments that used to be necessary :). And we'll all be praying that this leaves her vision intact and you can switch your focus to healing her skin as well.

Good job, both Mom and Buttercup!!!

Sending huge healing hugs,
Marianne

Dawn:
I am so happy you got answers. That is all we ask is for someone to give us answers. Now that you know what is going on, you are on top of things and have a game plan which is great. I pray this takes care of the sight problem, and I hope that nasty tumor goes away altogether. You sound more confident now and that is a good thing. Blessings
Patti

? time. how many cushy babies out there had the laser treatment on
the pituitary? What was there average life span?? Neurologist threw a number of up to 2 years at me last night, she is only a resident Dr..
If its only 2 years that fine I would be happy with any number as long as I have to time to get her skin healthy again so she can live a more comfortably peaceful life.
What side effects did your cushies have with the laser treatment and what did you do to help ease/minimize them??

Much thanks to all
Dawn & Miss Buttercup;)