15 year old Coton with cushings with new symptoms

[Sadie1606]

Hi,
Sadie was diagnosed one year ago with Cushings. She has been successfully taking trilostane with great results. It has returned her pretty much to her old playful loving self. For 15 years she has been the best pet a family could ask for....we owe her our best comfort and care.
For the last two months she has increasingly been chewing on her legs. It appears she is very itchy but we cannot figure out what environmentally could be causing this. The poor thing lifts her back leg to scratch her stomach and falls over. Any petting causes her back leg to do that kicking motion. She even wakes from a sound sleep kicking her back leg.
We are worried perhaps it is symptomatic of a chemical change in her system. Does anyone have an experience with this. Our vet had her start on allergy meds but no change after 2.5 weeks.
Thank you!

[Sadie1606]

I forgot to mention that she has adrenal cushings....masses on both adrenal glands.

[Harley PoMMom]

Hi and welcome to you and Sadie!

Great job Mom!! It is always wonderful to hear when a pet parent has been successfully treating their cushdog for a period of time, this gives our members newfound hope.

I am sorry that Sadie is experiencing the effects of allergies, what medication has the vet prescribed? A couple medication that I have seen members use are benadryl and atopica. I do see that there is a new drug, oclacitinib, being used, I found this article about oclacitinib: http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/apoquel-qa-will-oclacitinib-revolutionize-treatment-allergic-dermatitis

If environmental factors have been ruled out some allergies can be food driven, and this may occur all of a sudden.

Hugs, Lori

[Sadie1606]

Thanks for responding Lori. We have tried Claritin and another time we tried Zyrtec. The Claritin we were giving her with AllerG-3, an omega fatty acid supplement. Absolutely no relief. I'm going to talk to the vet about the meds you suggested...thank you!
Wondering if her cortisol levels are too suppressed to give her natural relief.
I tried changing her food but that has made no difference.
When she was diagnosed last March the vet gave us about a year timeline. Her response to the trilostane has surprised them.
I'm worried the itching is the result of changes in kidney or liver function.

[labblab]

Hello from me, too! How recently has Sadie's cortisol level been monitored via blood testing, as well as her basic blood chemistries? I agree with you that I'd be interested in knowing the current status of her labwork.

Marianne

[Sadie1606]

Hi,
I think I will schedule those tests this week. I would hate to be giving her allergy meds if that wasn't even what was causing her to chew so much. Thank you!

[molly muffin]

If it is allergies, then so far everyone that has used the new drug Lori mentioned that I am aware of, is reporting success. So well worth it if it is allergies but it can sometimes be hard to get hold of.

The labs should be able to tell you if more is going on than allergies though.