Hi, my buddy was just diagnosed with Cushings. Bruiser is a 9 1/2 year old bulldog and he's my best friend. He's been in my life it seems forever and been through every up and down I've been through. I can't imagine not having him snoring at my feet.

We initially took him in to the vet when my very awesome dog started going to the bathroom in the house and a quarter sized sore appeared on his shoulder blades. On top of Cushings it turns out he also has a very severe case of calcinosis cutis that now goes from his ears to the middle of his back which came on insanely fast and it breaks my heart because he shivers from pain unless on pain medicine. The dermatologist put him on a DMSO immediately after his biopsy which confiirmed the cutis (from the way it looks it was originally thought to be a burn it was so bad). He's on antibiotics now to fight off infections and we had an ultrasound Friday which confirmed that there were no tumors on his adrenal glands, so tomorrow he is going for a LDDS test to determine treatment for cushings.

What treatment works best for Cushings? The dermatologist keeps telling me that the treatments are "scary." From everything I read on the posts on this forum everyone seems to have success when treating. Any tips on why you chose the treatment you put your dog on is helpful and what that treatment is called.

Also, has anyone had the calcinosis cutis go away? Will the cushings treatment help the cutis? My poor man is bleeding everywhere and in pain. When I ask the vets...3 of them so far...none of them will give me a real answer. They say we need to see what we can do. I don't really know what that means and makes me think the answer is no. Is the DMSO the best bet to get it under control? I ask this because again my awesome bulldog has one favorite past time-swimming-and he can't go in the bay with the sores on his back. He has really no interest in doing anything, but when he sees that water he tries to go for it! I would love to have him back in the water.

I hate seeing him in pain. That's the hardest part of this whole thing. Will it go away? I don't want to make him stay in pain if I can't fix him. Thanks for any information or ideas on how to make this guy feel better.