Aries, 10 y/o boxer - Newly diagnosed with possible CC

[psigourney56@gmail.com]

Our boxer Aries has been diagnosed with Cushing's Disease and it is horrible. We have found a internal med doctor which we had never heard of until now. He is 10 years old (our Boxer) . He is not on meds yet because our Vet just doesn't seem to know what they are doing. They say because he weights 100 pds they have never had a dog that big so they are not sure on meds. Well needless to day we now do not trust them and we have a Dr almost as close to us as our old Vet.

I haven't called them yet will do on Tuesday but this is a holiday weekend in the US. I thought we had to have a referral from old VET. I am hoping they can use his bloodwork to save some money. We didn't have the money until in Sept to take him which is breaking my heart. My husband works for the school board here and they are off in the summer plus our daughter lives up North and had to have emergency surgery for a tumor. Thank God is not cancer. Now to get the money for Aries . He has a horrible red rash that the old Vet is giving him antibiotics, medicated shampoo and he is on Benadryl.

Others that I have met on Facebook say he looks like it is Calcinosis Cutis. Really bad.
Just looking for support because if you are not a animal person they just don't get it even family.

[labblab]

Hello and welcome! You'll see that I have made a copy of your original post from our "How did you find us?" thread, and shifted it to start a thread of your very own here on our main Questions/Discussion forum. This way, more of our members are likely to see it and it will be easier for them to answer you directly.

It is clear how much you love Aries, and he is a lucky boy to have you caring for him. I am glad you will be able to see the internal medicine specialist this week, and I am hoping that will give you more info and peace of mind moving forward. I am so sorry about Aries' rash. It does seem as though we have a disproportionate number of boxers here who have suffered from Calcinosis cutis, so I'm afraid that it is indeed a possibility. But hopefully you'll be able to find out more during your appointment this week.

In the meantime, can you tell us more about any other Cushing's symptoms that may be troubling Aries, and also the testing that led to the diagnosis? Thanks so much, and once again, welcome!

Marianne

[molly muffin]

I just want to welcome you to the forum also.
Yes cc can be quite horrible and get worse looking before it gets better. It all depends on cortisol levels with the cc. Most have to get the cortisol down to under 5ug post to control the cc eventually. It takes awhile.

If using trilostane/vetroyl the correct dosage to start is no more than 1mg/1lb once a day or divided in half to twice a day. Like 50mg am and 50mg pm.

The key is not to start too high of a dosage and we have seen some larger dogs need smaller doses too.