Jenny has passed (Jenny's complicated case)

[Petra]

Hello! First of all I would like to introduce you my dog Jenny, she is a Golden Retriever and is 2 and a half year old.
Our nightmare all started on 20th August when Jenny started to limp out of no where on her front part. Two days later she started limping also on the back part, and she started having high fever and salivating uncontrolably. It took the veteranian 3 long weeks, several blood tests for tick diseases and East Europe disease, to admit that they don't know what kind of sickness she is having. Afterwards we've been to a nearby clinic. Several X-ray, Ultrasounds, Endoscopy and blood tests, yet they didn't knew what was causing Jenny all this pain because all organs seemed to be normal, only the blood tests showed that there is a sever infection somewhere in her bodie. In these four weeks Jenny lost massive weight, she lost about 3 kg.
We went mid September to a Clinic that belongs to a University (they are well known to deal with complicated cases and rare diseases). In one and a half day we had the diagnosis for Polyatritis, an autoimmune disease that attacks several joints, causing Jenny the pain she had. Also she seemed to be anemic (but that is not the cause of her suffering, as they said). They prescribed us a therapy with Prednisolon (cortisone), Atopica (Cyclosporin), and gave us Tramadol (pain killers) and Omeprazol (for stomach protection). As soon the therapy started Jenny started to show signs of getting better, she wasn't salivating anymore, and the fever was also gone. She was still having dificulties with movements and some days her condition would drop and she would limp, but then the next two-three days she would get better. After two weeks we went again to the University clinic, her eyes were red and she seemed to have dificulty beathing on her nose. After a joint punctation and some blood tests they discovered that she's also having mycoplasma and that is the reasoin why after such an extreme therapy she still isn't showing signs of getting better. For the mycoplasma they gave us Ronaxan (antibiotics) and she should have 3 tablets of it every day for the next few weeks. Sadly a few days later that we started with the Ronaxan, I noticed hard spots in the region of her neck, inflamated skin, and also in the region of her belly. We went back to the clinic and the dermatologist told us that she's having a reaction due all the cortisone she got unil now. Now Jenny also developed Calcinosis Cutis! I would like to mention that in these two months, since she first started limping, she also lost about 6 kg.
In conclusion, Jenny is having right now Polyatritis, Mycoplasma and Cacinosis Cutis.
Does anybody here had such a case? or has any tips to stop the calcinosis cutis from spreading furter?
Right now she's getting antiobiotics for the CC and also we are disinfecting the wound and give her a bath with a special shampoo for skin diseases while we try to reduce the amount of cortisone.

[DoxieMama]

Welcome to you and Jenny, though I'm so sorry for the troubles she is having. I am at work and only have a moment. I think that reducing the cortisone is a good approach, but am not familiar with those conditions myself so don't know for sure. Please give her a belly rub from me... poor girl! I hope others may be able to provide more suggestions that could help.

Shana

[SasAndYunah]

Hi Petra, welcome from me as well to you and Jenny.

What a story and how awfull you must feel by all of this. However, I realised something was "missing"... at least as far as I know it. And a quick search brought me the answer of what I felt was missing. And maybe you know all this already, but in fact, Jenny is suffering from Mycoplasmosis/Mycoplasma and the poly arthritis and the skin infection (calcinosis cutis) are the results of the mycoplasmosis. So you're dealing with one disease and several results caused by it...instead of 3 different diseases.

I am not sure if they have told you anything about hygiene and trying to avoid re-infection by, for example, washing everything that's Jenny's at high temperaturs? Mycoplasmosis is a bacterial infection and thus the dog can re-infect itself.

There might be un underlaying cause for a dog to develop mycoplasmosis like a not well functioning immune system...

I searched for a link in English (I am Dutch and living in The Netherlands) that may exlplain some more. But then again, perhaps you already knew this.

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/infectious-parasitic/c_dg_mycoplasmosis

Wishing you all our best,

Saskia and Quincy :)

[judymaggie]

Hi, Petra -- welcome to you and Jenny! When you said "complicated" in your thread title, you weren't kidding ... :( I have copied below a response to another member that had calcinosis cutis ("CC") as a result of taking prednisone (referred to as iatrogenic Cushing's):


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.
__________________
Reneé
Mom to Tobey, Ichiro & Skeeter. Foster mom for Polar Pug Rescue

I am also going to provide you with the link to Renee's thread so you can read her experiences with CC but keep in mind that her pup has CC as a result of high cortisol so there are differences-- Renee is considered our "in-house" expert on CC:

http://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5908

[Budsters Mom]

Are you sure it is CC? Did they do a skin scraping? I am wondering since Jenny is so young. :confused:

[molly muffin]

The prednisone will cause the cc. Only reducing the prednisone will allow the cc to be controlled unfortunately.
If you do try to reduce it, then it needs to be done under a vets guidance gradually.

Sas has it right though. The underlying cause of everything is likely the mycoplasmosis, bacterial infection, that also causes the joint inflamation which is being treated with steroids causing the cc.
So, the main root of all of this is to treat the bacterial infection and get rid of it.

[Petra]

Wow! Thank you all for your support and tips! They mean a lot to both Jenny and me.

@DoxieMama
Hi Shana!
We will reduce the cortisone as the vet recommended, hopefully she won't react negatively to it, because in the first two weeks of her treatment she was getting 2 Predinisolon 50 mg tablets/day (and that's extremely lot). Afterward it has been reduced to 1 Prednisolong 50mg/day (this way she was getting 1/2 twice a day). Since last week we are at 1/2 Predinisolon in the morning and 1/4 in the evening. So far so good, except sometimes she is vomitating and I'm freaking out because her appetite is close to none. Tomorrow the cortisone shall be reduced to 1/2 in the morning, the evening part being completely taken out (at the vet's advice).

@SasAndYunah
Hi Saskia and Quincy! Thanks so much for the research! The Mycoplasma has been found almost three weeks ago, because the blood tests showed that Jenny is not showing any signs of improvement, in fact the number of leucocytes in her blood was growing extremely. So they did a joint punctuation and found the Mycoplasma. They gave us an antibiotic "Ronaxan" for the Mycoplasma treatment, however they didn't mentioned how easily she could re-infect herself :( Since the CC appeared on her skin I'm washing all her stuff at 90 degrees, and change her blankets every day. I wish I would have known all about Mycoplasma from the very beginning, it could have saved Jenny from a lot of suffering.

@Judymaggie
Hi Judie! Thanks so much for the link! by DSMO do you mean Dimethylsulfoxid? It sounds like it really could help us out in Jenny's situation. I will definitely talk about it with the vet tomorrow and give it a try (even though the idea of "getting worse before it gets better" gives me the chills. Jenny's vets told me that she also developed the CC because of the high dosages of cortisol (that she's been getting for the last 8 weeks).

@Budster's Mom
Sadly it has been diagnosed as CC :( and the more I read about it the more I am sure of it. I was also surprised by all these sicknesses she's been diagnosed lately. I never would have imagined that such a young dog could get so sick out of the blue. Jenny was a very active dog, running and playing all day, and now she's just sleeping in the corners of the apartment, showing no interest for anything. Also people when we walk on the street are asking me how old is she, expecting some great age (from the way she is looking) and they all stare at me horrified when I say that she's two and a half. Sadly after all what she's been through, Jenny doesn't looks anymore like a two and a half year old dog but a rather 12 year old dog.

@molly muffin
Hello Sharlene and Molly muffin!
Thanks for the advice! We are doing everything only with vet's approval, and the amount of cortisone is gradually reduced. In the beginning of her treatment Jenny was getting 50mg Prednisolon twice a day, and after two weeks that has been reduced to 25mg Prednisolon twice a day, now she is getting in the morning 25 mg and 12,5 mg in the evening. From tomorrow the amount of cortisone Jenny gets should be just 25 mg in the morning. I'm hoping that she won't have any negative reaction to the missing cortisone and that once we reduce the cortisone to a minimum (because the vet told me that she'll have to take all her life cortisone because of the autoimmune disease she's having) the CC will stop spreading any further, also in the meantime we continue to give the antibiotics (Ronaxan) for the Mycoplasma she's having.

[Whiskey's Mom]

Hi! I don't have any advice just my good wishes for Jenny. Poor sweet girl, what a horrible ordeal for both of you. I have a Golden Retriever also. My heart broke when I read Jenny's story. Hope she's feeling better soon!
Annie and Whiskey

[rainiebo]

Hi to you and Jenny. I am so sorry to hear about your girl's suffering. My dogs had complicated issues and it was scary and frustrating. I just wanted to offer encouragement to hang in there -

[Petra]

@Whiskey's Mom
Hi Annie and Whiskey! Thank you for your good wishes and fingers crossed she'll get better soon. Right now the vets are not so optimistic about her case, but I'm fighting as long as I can for her to get through this.

@Rainiebo
Hello Raina! Thank you for the encouragement! However, I'm sorry to hear that your dog also had complicated issues. I hope he's alright now.

[Petra]

Just got back from the vet's office, things don't look so rosy right now. Jenny will have to change the antibiotics for the CC (until now she was getting Baytril), she'll have to get Chloro-Sleecol 125 mg and she'll have to swallow almost 20 pills of this every day. Also she got an injection of Convenia (we'll have to repeat this one every 12 days). I'm really scared by the amount of medicine she's getting at the moment (she's getting medicine to treat the Mycoplasma, the Polyatritis and now for CC) and I'm afraid that instead of things getting better it will get worse, because I cannot fathom how could her body absorb such a huge amount of medicine. Also she's having 25,5 kgs right now...

[Joan2517]

The poor little girl...I hope that something helps her to feel better.

Joan

[SasAndYunah]

Hi Petra,

I understand you feel worried about Jenny having to take all those medications... What kind of specialist are you seeing with Jenny...an internal medicine specialist, an endocrine specialist, a dermatologist...or someone else?

I ask because I have a severely allergic/atopic dog and have learned a lot about hygyne, skin protection, bacterials skin infections, keeping the (natural) bacteria under control, etc since she is very succeptible to it. The cause may not be the same but the results are somewhat the same and so I wonder if part of the appraoch also could be the same. And for every atopic dog it is different but I have found, that apart from a whole range of other meassures, one thing that helps her a lot is weekly baths with a medicated shampoo that kills bacteria and funghi. With her compromised immunesystem, the normal amount of bacteria and funghi that live on dogs skins, is enough for her to give her infections. (in dogs with a properly working immune system, they do not pose any problem)

So I was thinking, maybe you could ask your specialist if such a medicated shampoo would help Jenny as well. Maybe not right now because right now they need to attack the mycoplasma with everything they got. But the right medicated shampoo can cause a reduction in anti biotic use...down the road. A shampoo won't help for the mycoplasma but it might help with skininfections like now with the calcinosis cutis.

Just a thought...

Saskia :)

[Petra]

@Joan2517
Hi Joan, thank you for the good wishes!

@SasAndYunah
Hi Saskia! Thank you for the advices! Right now we are seeing an internal medicine specialist, a dermatologist and a neurologist (these are from the University Clinic and we go there regularly), also our vet tries to support us, but by yesterdays checkup she told me that I should start thinking things over, because in these two months Jenny's condition just worsened and she's suffering (because without the amount of painkillers she's getting at the moment, my Jenny would be in lot of pain).
She's getting at the moment everyday a bath with a medicated shampoo called: "TrizChlor 4 Shampoo" and I'm disinfecting her wounds three times a day with Betaisodona. Sadly the CC did spread further, now she's having hard spots also under the neck, her back legs and by her armpits. Tonight we should start giving her Chloro-Sleecol, also for the CC. She's still getting Ronaxan for the Mycoplasma, but I'm afraid that because she's also getting "Atopica" (to weaken her immune system), the antibiotics won't work as they should.

[Petra]

Just a quick update to Jenny's condition.
I got home from work to get the fright of my life, because she didn't touched all day her bowl of food and water. I tried to feed her with cooked food, with raw meat, with biscuits (pretty much everything I know she likes) but she turned her face away each time I tried to give her something to eat. Then suddenly I noticed a blue hue to her left eye (Jenny has brown eyes) that moment I knew something's really off. I thought she was going blind! At the vet's office they told me that it might be protein that makes that blue liquid kind of thing to be in her eye. They gave us now Corti Biciron N (eye drops) which she should get 4 times a day, if her eye won't show any signs of improvement we shall go tomorrow to the clinic.
Did any of you had such a situation? Also do have any tips and trick on how to make her appetite grow?

[rainiebo]

When Bobo won't eat - I make shredded chicken and rice. I roll it up into little balls and hand feed. The little ball is warm, not hot. I hope you girl's eye gets better quickly.
Raina

[molly muffin]

I don't have any experience with protein in the eye, but what about calcium deposits (due to the cc)
Are you seeing a doggie ophamologist? They can often offer help to figure the eye issue out. We saw one due to my dogs high BP causing retinal bleeds.

[Petra]

@rainiebo
Hello Raina! I tried your recipe, sadly Jenny still refuses everything. I'm already out of options so I'm force feeding her (even if it breaks my heart to do so), and brought her liquid food "Nutribound" (from Virbac). We've been yesterday at the vet's office for checkups, they told us that the eye got better and that we should keep giving her the eye drops until Friday.

@molly muffin
Hy Sharlene and Molly muffin! Thanks for the advice! Apparently the eye drops she's getting are working and her eye is getting better, but if there's any change for the worse we'll definitely go to an ophthalmologist.
I'm afraid that if that bluish liquid would be calcium she would be in pain, and would heve problems with her sight. Still, I might not be Sherlock Holmes but I think that it has something to do with the "Convenia" injection she had a day before.

[Whiskey's Mom]

Have you tried eggs? Whiskey loves them hard boiled and scrambled. Don't know if you can get peanut butter there but I stick his pills to a treat with it and he loves that too. Hope this helps!

[Petra]

I tried eggs, veggies and even salmon, honestly I'm desperate for her to feed, but she still turns her head away from everything I offer her. I give her pills in liver sausage for dogs, that you can buy here in Germany. However I think her appetite is also gone because she gets around 33 pills a day :( Right now I make small meat balls out of beef and force feed her and give her the liquid food with a syringe. I hope that soon her appetite returns, and that I won't have to force feed her much longer.

[molly muffin]

Awww poor Jenny She must really not feel good. I hope that her appetite returns soon too.

[Whiskey's Mom]

I'm really sorry. That's so many pills in her poor tummy. I can imagine how sick she feels, poor girl. You're taking such good care of her so hopefully things will get better. I'm sure you've checked but can the pills be compounded so she doesn't have take so many?

[Harley PoMMom]

I am sorry that you and your precious girl have been going through so much and I hope and pray that things will turn around soon.

I'm including a post from me to another member whose dog had lost his appetite:
It's so worrisome when your furbaby becomes a finicky eater and it gets frustrating finding something that they will eat on a regular basis. My boys (cat and dog) eat Fromm dry food. If your looking for toppers usually for a dog the stinkier the better :eek::D some that I have used are tripe, grated parmesan cheese, yogurt, warm meat broth, boiled potatoes. Also carbs are a good filler such as pasta, oatmeal, barley, and quinoa.

I searched for food toppers and found this: http://www.flavoredspray.com/about.html

Oh, forgot something, I have used baby food in the past for some of my picky eaters but make sure it doesn't contain any onion or onion powder. And one more tidbit :o Dogaware has a really informative article on their website that pertains to a dog with a loss of appetite, here is the link: http://dogaware.com/articles/wdjinappetence.html

One of the supplements they recommend is slippery elm bark (SEB) which I and others have tried with success. One caution note with SEB is that it slows down the absorption of other drugs or herbs so it is recommended that it be given 2 hours before or after other herbs or medications. I'm providing a link with information regarding SEB: http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/slippery-elm/

Hope this helps.

Hugs, Lori

[Petra]

Jenny has passed last week :(
I still can't believe that she's not with me anymore. Her last "phase" happened so fast that the doctors couldn't do anything to save her. She still refused to eat, and even if I force feed her and gave her liquid food, she still lost drastically on weight and came to the point where she couldn't stand up. The calcinosis cutis was healing on the outside (the skin started looking healthy), but to our horror has spread to her internal organs. On 11th November she had shown fresh blood when she done her business, and then all the following days up to 15 November, when she has passed.
I refused that they do an extra autopsy on her, because all I could feel at that point was a huge anger and dissapointment towards her doctors. They kept us hoping to the last day that things would get better, pumping her full with meds - so that her left eye went completly blue; and I just didn't wanted to give them the joy of experimenting further on her.
I feel defeated and very very lost. Jenny was a fighter and she fought for 3 months bravely against her diseasses, but sadly the medicine, the doctors, the prayers and our force of will weren't enough to win this battle.
I would like to thank you all for all the support and encouragements that you were giving us the past month, it helped us a lot in those days when we didn't knew what to do and felt like losing hope.

[dsbailey]

I'm truly sorry for your loss. I'm not good at this and I don't know how you feel. I'm just glad she is not suffering the way she was, please try and find some comfort in that.

[Joan2517]

I'm so sorry for your loss of Jenny.

[labblab]

I am so sad for you, too. Thank you so much for coming back to tell us about your sweet girl. This way, we can all join you in honoring her life and also her brave battle. And also your brave battle, because we know how hard you tried to do anything that might help. Please know that we will welcome you back at any time -- to talk, to remember, to share your thoughts or feelings whether they be good or painful.

Sending many hugs to you across the miles, always in loving memory of your dearest Jenny.
Marianne

[rainiebo]

Heartfelt sympathy and hope that as you grieve in your own way, you will know that we are keeping you in our thoughts and prayers.

[DoxieMama]

I am so sorry for your loss. Run free, sweet, brave Jenny.

[molly muffin]

My sincerest condolences on the loss of your precious Jenny. What a brave spirit she was.

[Petra]

Thank you all for your kind words. I don't know how others managed to go through the loss of their beloved companions, but for me each day is getting worse and worse. Getting up in the morning is just depressing because the apartment is empty and all I hear is my own breathing, no paws and nails making click on the floor, no sweet sound that used to wake me up, just plain silence. At work things are just the normal way they should, and I try to occupy myself the best I can, to stop my mind from wandering off. However the moment I start going home I feel like choking because I know there will be no one waiting for me, no happy greeting at the door, no wagging tail and shiny black eyes, only Jenny's picture in the entrance hall smiling at me. I haven't ate dinner since she's gone, I just can't sit by the table without missing those big eyes staring at me and begging to get something delicious from the table. My friends and family are trying to be with me most of the evenings, but after they go home, I'm again by myself in the dark apartment. I just can't help but cry every night missing her, missing everything about her. In the past two and a half years we've been the longest separated for three days (and that only happened once), and now it's been over a week that she's not with me.
People suggested that I should go on walks, but it did more bad than good. I just ended up crying and coming home after twenty minutes. It's just painful watching others walking their dogs, knowing that I'll never have the chance to go on a walk with Jenny again.
Others told me that the best medicine would be to get a new dog, but I don't want a new dog, all I ever wanted was Jenny. And I know that no other dog, or anything else could replace her, or at least fill a small part of the space that's left in me.
Today I was by a shelter, but only to donate the sacks and cans of food that Jenny has left. I avoided to go inside and see the other dogs, I don't feel ready yet for a new dog and if I would have entered I know that I would have gotten emotional.
I also counted all the medicine that's left, and would like to donate them to whoever needs them. So I made the following list:
- Atopica 100 mg - 10 pieces
- Atopica 50 mg - 12 pieces
- Baytril 150 mg -13 pieces
- Chloro-Sleecol Tabs 125 mg - 31 pieces
- Omeprazol 20 mg - 15 pieces
- Omeprazol 10 mg - 14 pieces
- Prednisolon 50 mg - 8 pieces
- Ronaxan 100mg - 18 pieces
- Tramadol 50mg - 1APharma - 12 pieces
I know that most of you live in the US, and I live in Germany... however if you know anybody in Europe needing any of the medicine from the list, please let me know.

[molly muffin]

I don't know off the top of my head.

I just want to send you a hug. I understand exactly what you mean by the silence and how awful it is. I hyperventilated the first day I walked in my front door and stayed outside most of the 2nd day.

When our kids moved in during their home renovation it became much easier to walk in that door. I don't even want to think about how it will be when the house is quiet again. That quiet just is the worst!

I too don't want another dog right now but can see maybe in the future that I will. The silence when it come again might change my mind. It took me a year to get molly after my tasha passed on. There is no right or wrong in that regard, there is only what is best for you.

I find staying active is the best thing for me. It isn't a cure, but it does help.

[labblab]

My heart goes out to you at this horribly sad time. People who have never been lucky enough to share that magical bond with a companion animal simply have no idea as to the depth of the grief we feel when they are no longer by our sides. I wish I had words to comfort you, but I know that words can do little to soothe your pain right now. The one thing we can do, though, is to promise you that this will always be a safe place for you to come and talk. Whenever you have stories to share or feelings to let out, you can come here. You can come here to honor Jenny, you can come here to cry and grieve. Some days you may even be able to share a brief smile as you tell us about the joy she brought into your life. You will always be part of our family now, and we care about how you are doing each day.

Sending huge hugs to you from across the ocean, and hoping you will return to us whenever you care to write more.

Marianne

[Joan2517]

The silence is a real killer. Even with 3 other dogs here, when Lena died it was so quiet...I think because I was listening for her (I still am after 9 months). I still get anxious when I am out of the house. At work, I'm okay, even though I cry a lot at my desk, but I feel most secure at home.

Sibbie has been an enormous help to me. When I go out, if I can take her with me, it's a lot better. I know we took Lena everywhere with us when she was young, and when she got older we did a lot of traveling together. I think that is why I feel better when I have Sibbie with me. When I'm home, my other guys keep me busy and gather round to comfort me.

But Lena is always in my thoughts...I do a lot of crying, and I miss her constantly. I still go through all the different scenarios in my head and wonder if anything would have been different, if she would still be here with me if I had done this or that...it's very hard. There is no end time to grief. It takes as long as it has to, and everyone is different.

Sending you peaceful, comforting thoughts...

[SasAndYunah]

Hi Petra,

I have no words, just thougts holding you close in your grief... I am truly so very sorry. The silence is deafening...I know how hard that is.

Sending you all the courage and strenght you need...

Saskia and Quincy.

Oh, about the medications, I live in The Netherlands and I know there are a lot of rescue organisations that desperately need medication, in Germany as well. Maybe that's a thought?

[Whiskey's Mom]

So deeply sorry for the loss of your sweet Jenny. My heart is broken for you.