My girl pug (confirmed Cushings & confirmed calcinosis cutis) / Tobey has passed

[Trish]

How frustrating for you and little Tobey, so sorry to hear about this flare up and hoping the new drug does it's job... Fast!
Trish xx

[Renee]

Tobey had her stim test yesterday, using a brand new bottle of cortrosyn.

Baseline 5.9, post 6.6. She took her 5mg at 630am with breakfast and test was at 10am.

So, based on these results and her CC we are adding in 5mg in the evening. I think 10mg once per day brings her down too low, but she needs something to keep her cortisol low enough in the evenings too.

Hubby wants to run a stim test on her at night, to see how far she rebounds. I mean, it would be interesting, but there is no data / research to compare it to, in order to evaluate the results, so it would be a waste.

She has four open spots now. They are all still very hard, dry, crusty, and splitting, but none of them are raw and bloody yet. Hopefully we avoid that part.

[Aunt Jana]

Hi Renee:

Bubbles CC finally broke off literally! I feel so bad for her. There are pink areas, raw pink skin exposed! I am heartbroken. I am sorry for you too. Bubbles hasn't been on any Cushing med for the while, tomorrow we are starting her on Anipryl. Today we received the spray and wipes from Dechra. They seem to help a bit.
The vet did mention the Minocyclin will prevent infection too with the skin exposed..........I do an awful lot of crying.

Good luck to you and your sweetie.

Janet

[Renee]

Janet, I know exactly what stage Bubbles is at. Believe me. Tobey went through that stage. I have it documented in her album. It looks like skin that was raw and exposed from a burn. I actually think it feels better once those hard plates peel away from the skin and it's not pulling so tight, although it must hurt regardless. CC is probably one of the most difficult symptoms of cushings to watch. I had many days when we first went through it that brought me down. I had a good cry a few days ago, but I am determined to conquer this CC for a second time.

I am praying for Bubbles too. I know how difficult this is for you.

[Aunt Jana]

Thank you for the prayers. I feel so helpless, she has it on her lower back above her tail and about a half inch from her collar going down her back, looks like ripples--her fur is rippled looking but it's really hardened--horrible!! The other areas, they never got aggressive, the black zits just kind of dried up.

I am keeping you and Tobey in my thoughts and prayers as well.

Goodnight and take care.

[DoxieMama]

Renee, so those results are a little higher than with the other cortrosyn. Previously, did Tobey need the post result to be lower than 5.1 to alleviate the CC? I sure hope the extra dose at night will help.

[scoora]

Here's hoping the extra 5mg will do the trick and get that CC under control!

[molly muffin]

I think Tobey did need the post result to be under 5.ug to get the cc under control. Renee can correct me if I am wrong but I'm sure that was what was needed. It is something that we have seen with cc time and time again on the forum.

Does sound she'll need that extra 5 mg at night. I wonder if something was off on the previous bottle dosage or something.

[kanga]

Welcome to you and Tobey, I appreciate what you've done to help other dogs you're such a kind person i'm so glad you're here now.
Like Roxee Dad said you can find some helpful information here with the help of other member that have the same problem like your dog hope you find out soon. You are always in my thoughts I pray for her hope she will be treated soon.

[Renee]

Well, the dreaded sores are getting more red, which means we probably aren't going to avoid the bloody / raw stage. I haven't examined every single sore, but I would say she's up to about 5-6 that are all the way busted open, and numerous still under the skin. Like rocks. As they come open, they will connect with the lesions that are already open and just turn into one big mess.

I upped her dose last night, so she had 5mg last night.

Yes, in the past, we needed to bring her down to below 5 in order to control the CC. I suspect this CC has been brewing for months and months. She's been on and off her meds for a few different reasons since Christmas. Most notably in February when she had HGE and almost died.

I know we don't put much store into the baseline number, but it seems that Tobey's has been trending upwards these last few tests. Not sure if that means anything or not. Probably not, but something to note.

The price of cortrosyn has gone up. I went to pay for my bottle yesterday and it was $150 more than when I purchased it in December. The vet clinic didn't make me pay, since they agreed to look into the increase. The office manager called back today to tell me that their cost had gone up, but since I was buying my own bottle (and thus, saving them the waste), they would mark it down to $391. I love that they are willing to do this for me. Darn if that stuff is not liquid gold!

So, in the mean time, we wait and see how things progress. I'm not confident in avoiding the worst of the CC at this point, but hopeful we can get it nipped in a few months, rather than the original 6-8 months it took previously.