Calcinosis Cutis

[BrittanyPaige]

My french bulldog girl, Isabelle, was just diagnosed with Calcinosis Cutis. It covers a very very large area of her neck, and by her ears. She was on long-term steroid, so now we have to wean her off of it.

Any tips to help her heal?

[Harley PoMMom]

I am sorry you and Isabelle are dealing with calcinosis cutis (CC), and unfortunately CC gets worse before it gets better :( Our resident CC expert, Renee, is treating her sweet cushgirl, Tobey, for CC a second time around. I am including a link to Renee's thread where you can read about their ongoing journey and gather information pertaining to CC. My girl pug (confirmed Cushings & confirmed calcinosis cutis) / Introduction (http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5908)

What is Isabelle taking the prednisone for?

Hugs, Lori

[Renee]

Hi there - I am so, so sorry you are dealing with the dreaded CC!

We have had a few people that have prednisone induced cushings symptoms (iatragenic) which included CC. I am going to contradict my own advice in dealing with CC, and recommend you use DMSO in conjunction with getting your girl completely off steroids.

I'm not normally a proponent of DMSO, because in a traditional cushings dog, tight control over cortisol is what you really need, everything else is just arbitrary. In the case of iatragenic, you simply need to taper safely off the steroid and these issues reverse. I believe this distinction is why the use of DMSO may be more successful for iatragenic cases. I cannot remember the thread, but we had someone in your situation on this forum, and they had success using the DMSO while also eliminating the prednisone use. The DMSO is a solvent that works to break down and help dissolve the calcium crystals. It's nasty stuff though, be warned.

The CC lesions themselves do get worse before getting better, unfortunately. Don't be surprised if they bleed, look raw, and get very angry. As they steroids leave her body, they will eventually begin to dry out. If she's not on abx, get her a course of them. The lesions are highly susceptible to secondary infection when they are uncontrolled.

[molly muffin]

I want to say hello and welcome you to the forum also.

It's key to work with your vet to lower the prednisone safely. So work up a plan for that. It can take awhile to wean them off.

Also, keep the sores clean and dry and based on some information provided by Renees IMS, the DMSO might actually be the best thing to use in your case and help it heal.

[BrittanyPaige]

Biopsy just confirmed calcinosis cutis which is likely occurring due to long-term steroid use in my french bulldog girl, Isabelle.

We are weaning her off the steroids now.

Any other tips to help get this under control? Practically the whole back of her neck is affected, as well as under her ears.

****OOPS sorry for posting twice. Still figuring out this forum and didnt realize my other question posted! Sorry!!!

[BrittanyPaige]

They thought she had stomach cancer and gave her about 3 months tops to live. Well...its been 10 months and she is doing fantastically (other than the CC) so we are thinking she may have something like Irritable Bowl Disease

[BrittanyPaige]

Ugh this has been a mess. She was on pred for about 8 months, and the CC symptoms started a few months into it. The vet had no idea what it was and cultured it, finding bacteria and over time having her on 4 different antibiotics, but it obviously wasnt going away.

Then, the vet thought it was an autoimmune thing, and put her on a very high dose of Dexamethasone for a week. This is what she is on now. I wanted to stop her after the week (i just had a gut feeling the whole time that the steroids were the cause) but we are having trouble getting her off the Dex, because she vomits and diarrheas. So we are trying to get her off very slowly now. she is down to .5mg every other day.

[labblab]

Brittany, don't worry at all about the double posting. You'll see I've merged your two threads together, so everything's all in one place now. ;)

Marianne

[BrittanyPaige]

Thank you!

[molly muffin]

Yes the key is to go off the Des slowly. Not all at once. You want her body to produce its own cortisol at a naturally rate and it takes time for that to happen.
Patience is a huge part of decreasing and dealing with the cc. All the crystals under the skin have to come up and and that takes time too. It can look worse before it looks better. We will be here for you.

[skinnybonedog]

How is Isabelle. My French Bulldog most likely has CC as well. Would like to hear how your Frenchie is doing.