Alivia was recently diagnosed with Cushing's - Alivia has passed

First of all everyone, absolutely no need to apologize for highjacking my thread!!! I welcome and appreciate the discussion. So feel free to continue here any time. Without a doubt this is a confusing disease with so many variables. I think where I am is trying to weigh any possible treatment risks against her symptoms and quality of life.

Overall, Ali had been doing really well. She recently had pyoderma, but we cleared that up with a round of antibiotics. She has had an ongoing problem with a severely itchy butt that's gotten so bad she has the fur licked off and the skin really swollen. The dermatologist and IMS thought it was allergies and she's been grain free and on tons of meds, shampoos, etc. - nothing helped. Been searching for answers and I think I may have come up with what it is on my own - Malassezia dermatitis, a type of fungal infection. I started treating for that yesterday (bathing her in Selsun Blue with salicylic acid) and there's been some improvement. Hopefully, the improvement continues.

Now, back to the other...potentially treating with low dose prednisone. Alivia's regular vet read the study and he's emailed me three times today. He discussed it with a specialist friend of his, the doctor that did Ali's sonogram back when she had pancreatitis and who knows Dr. Allen. (Dr. Allen spoke highly of him) They are not convinced it will work, but also are not convinced it won't. They both think it would be less risky to try (for Alivia) than either Lysodren or Trilostane. Ali's vet thinks it would not be dangerous but that the response may be hard to evaluate. I think she'd have to have testing done prior and during like with other treatments. We are still talking back and forth and haven't yet decided.

Hi Mary Beth,

It would seem to me that you would want to continue having the UTK panel run if you try the pred route since the claim is that the pred will work on the intermediates and they are the only ones I know of that do this testing. Plus, if you don't continue monitoring and sharing the results, how will we know if it's working? ;)

It's like some members who chose to try an herbal approach to Cushing's but never kept up the testing to see if the treatments were controlling the cortisol or just the signs - all we had to go on was their posts - anecdotal not scientific support. Every one of those folks quit posting and disappeared so we have no idea what the eventual results were...and I for one would have LOVED to see what was actually happening with the treatments as each one was using different herbs and formulas. I kept in touch with a couple of them via email for a while and started learning a bit about herbs from them but then they stopped mailing and responding. So please do keep up the testing, for many reasons, the least of which is our curiosity...you will need to know what, if any, effect the pred is having on her intermediates, cortisol, liver, etc.

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

Yes, the UTK panel is one I would definitely want run prior to beginning any treatment. It's been awhile since she's had this done. She will be due for a full blood panel soon, too. But, right now the priority for me is to get the itchy butt issue under control and then see where things stand. That seems to be causing her the most discomfort at the moment and I don't want that to skew any test results, either. Moving slow on this, but I do think it will be this route as opposed to either Trilostane or Lysodren.

Hope the itchy butt improves soon. That just sounds so uncomfortable to even type. ack!

Sharlene

Definition of:

ho-me-op-a-thy (n)
A system for treating disease based on the administration of minute doses of a drug that in massive amounts produces symptoms in healthy individuals similar to those of the disease itself.

High doses of Prednisone will produce symptoms of Cushing's in healthy dogs. So, by definition, the administration of low dose prednisone could be considered homeopathic for treatment of Cushing's and not really that far fetched.

Happy Thanksgiving Mary Beth, Alivia and Maxwell!!!!!!!!!!!


I hope this post finds you all well and looking forward to eating lots of turkey!!!!

Let me know how you are doing, sweetie.

(((((((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))))

I'll second the Happy Thanksgiving!

hugs,
Sharlene and Molly Muffin

Thank you, Addy and Sharlene. I hope you both had a nice Thanksgiving, too. I had to take both Alivia and Maxwell to the vets on Wednesday. Alivia had her rear and and feet licked raw. Nothing seemed to be helping her. The vet did a slide and was surprised there was no yeast and not nearly as much bacteria as he expected to see. She is on a spray and oral med that seem to be helping some - hope it continues. I think this is only the 2nd time in Maxwell's 12 years that he has gone to the vets for anything other than an annual check up and booster shots. He was shaking his head and scratching at his ear. The vet said it didn't look "too bad" but that it was obviously tender as Max normally doesn't mind having his ears checked and he flinched and yelped. :( So, he is on ear drops and seems much better. It's a really good thing he has always been so healthy because he HATES getting medication - he gets REALLY mad about it! Who knew?!

Maxwell and Koko are alike. Koko never goes to the vet except for check ups but he had an issue earlier this month as well. I hope Maxwell's ears are better. Poor guy. Koko is such a baby about his eye drops. How is Maxwell with his ear drops? Maybe its a guy thing;):D

I am hoping that oral medication kicks in for Ali. It is so hard to see them lick and chew. I remember what I went through with Zoe this time last year. Can we blame it on global warming?:):)

How are you feeling? I hope everything is okay with you health wise. I was really sick for awhile but am back on track, thank goodness.

When I got my new printer and it said I could print on card stock, I immediately thought of you and the lovely labels you made for your dog treats. I still think you could sell them on line. Packaging is everything:D:D:D:D

Love ya

Mary Beth:
Sorry to hear Alivia is having problems. Tipper does constant licking also, it is so hard to watch her do this. Thank God she still has no real skin issues from it. She does have her allergies though, and she scratches her face by her lip until it bleeds. Your poor baby, her feet must be sore. Do you give her Vitamin E? I give it to Tipper every day, but only 100 units as advised by the Vet. Maybe that would help her some.
Did you see the really, really, bad game with the Steelers? It was one of the worst I have seen!!
Hope you are well, and get Alivia on the mend. Wishing all of us to get thru the holidays without any incidents with the babies. That is what I want for Christmas, a normal healthy Tipper, and for all the babies on here struggling with this awful disease to be well.