Lilo, 9 y/o Boston terrier - Severe calcinosis cutis

[lilosmom1508]

My sweet female boston terrier Lilo is going to be 9 in January. She started getting a skin rash in July. We brought her to the vet who said it was probably an allergic reaction to flea meds. I didn't believe this the whole time. We did a senior test on her that showed highly elevated liver enzymes and high blood glucose but the doctor said since she wasn't yellow or lethargic we shouldn't worry too much. Her skin rash was getting worse and spreading. We brought her back to the vet for more meds and information. She said it's probably diabetes so we tested her urine. There was no diabetes. I asked her to test her thyroid. I have an endocrine disease and know the different signs so I started researching things. When hypothyroid was a no I asked many times to test for Cushing's and the vet would hem and haw.

I went to my former vet and he too hemmed and hawed but finally gave in and tested her. He then told me the lab lost the blood for the test so she had to be tested again. When we did the LDDS test again her results were

Sample 1: 10.6
Sample 2: 2.4
Sample 3: 5.3

She was definitely Cushing's with a ton of Calcinosis Cutis all over her body. It took 4 plus months of SO much pushing to get this answer and all it needed was 3 blood draws and 8 hours.
She has developed two eye glaucomas, one that has now burst and she is as I type undergoing risky surgery to remove that eye.

I finally realized how incompetent both Animal Hospitals I went to have been and brought her to a whole new vet who amazingly did his thesis on Cushing's and has his own Thyroid disease. He immediately looked at Lilo and said she is text book Cushing's and it was so obvious that the bulge I was feeling in her belly was her giant liver.

I am so angry and scared that my poor girl is enduring so much unnecessarily. More vets really need to be educated on all the signs of this disease. Thank you for letting me ramble about my girl on such a nerve wracking day.

[lilosmom1508]

My Boston Lilo successfully had her right eye removed today but when she was under the vet checked her for other issues. He saw the white lesions under her tongue that I had mentioned and did a biopsy on them. He told me they may be a tumor or an ulcer. My girl has bad calcinosis cutis. Has anyone ever had their dog's CC occur in their mouth? Is this a possibility? She's been fought through so much already. I'm terrified that we will have her survive eye rupture and surgery only to find that she has Tongue Cancer. Any advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[labblab]

You'll see that I have gone ahead and combined both your new threads together. I'm sorry we had not yet had the chance to respond to you, and especially sorry about these new worries!

I'm afraid I must make this brief right now. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about calcinosis cutis to know whether or not it ever manifests in the form you are describing -- as a mouth lesion. The best thing is to perform a biopsy, which your vet had done. Had he given you a timeframe as to when he'll have those biopsy results back?

Marianne

[dsbailey]

Lilosmom and Lilo,

Just googling around and found this below. It seems to affect young dogs but is similar in appearance. Maybe that can point you in a direction until others more experienced in CC get here.


Calcinosis Circumscripta:
You might notice small lumps on your dog's footpads, over his joints or in his mouth. They might appear individually or in clusters. These deposits aren't necessarily just unsightly; they can ulcerate, causing bleeding and possible infection. Your veterinarian diagnoses the disorder via biopsy of the growth. In some cases, the deposits collect near a dog's spinal cord. You can't feel these growths, but affected dogs might experience neurological problems. Internal calcinosis circumscripta is diagnosed via X-ray or computed tomography.

http://dogcare.dailypuppy.com/calcinosis-circumscripta-dogs-7727.html

I'm glad you found a vet you can believe in to get your pup treated properly.

Darrell and Lolita

[lilosmom1508]

Darrell and Lolita,
Thank you so much for the information. She does have growths on her footpads as well as her tongue plus hard lumps under her skin. The vet said all of those he didn't believe were cancerous. She has the regular calcinosis cutis that shows up on the back and neck as well. Plus, some scabss on her head near her ears. The vet did say it could just be an ulcer or part of the cushing's but he was concerned about it because it was affecting her eating.

I feel a little better seeing this info though. I'm trying my best not to think the worst but this while ordeal has been so stressful for our family and poor Lilo. She's been so amazing through all of it. My heart breaks for my poor little puppy. I wish I could do more to help her.

Thank you again.

[lilosmom1508]

Marianne,
Thank you for your kind words. The vet said next week but right now every minute feels like days. Lilo is my first dog and I love her like a parent would a child. She's my family and seen me through so much. I really wish I could take all this away from her and I don't want to lose her. I'm very grateful for a forum like this with people who can understand this difficult time.

[labblab]

Oh, you are so welcome. You'll see that I've taken the liberty of revising your thread title in order to highlight the CC. This way, our members who have first-hand experience with the problem will be more likely to see your thread and stop by.

Hang in there! I know how hard it is to watch your baby suffering, but hopefully she'll be able to get some relief now that the underlying Cushing's has been diagnosed. The LDDS results you've posted are indeed consistent with the pituitary form of the disease. I know the eye surgery was your first priority, but has your new vet spoken to you yet about treating the Cushing's? We have lots of experience here with both of the effective medications: Vetoryl (trilostane) and Lysodren (mitotane). So we stand ready to support both you and Lilo as you move forward.

Marianne

[lilosmom1508]

Happy to say the enucleation was a success and she is feeling much better today. I am still terrified of the biopsy for the scary tongue lesion. Not sure my poor dog and I can take another horrible diagnosis.

Lilo was originally given 10 mg of vetoryl from her old vet and the new vet has switched her to 30 mg of vetoryl. He said that at her weight and with such a bad case of Cushing's she should have the 2mg/1kg dosage of meds. She weighs between 18 and 19 lbs.

She seems to be responding well to this dosage. Her Calcinosis is very severe. It was noticed because it was causing a lump under her fur near her neck and then the hair started to come off and she was bleeding. She developed some pyoderma in this area and needed two courses of antibiotics. That was in July when the vet swore it was an allergic reaction to flea meds. She now has some hard lumps near her hip bones as well as lots of crusting on her back. Since the vetoryl I swear I've seen a little improvement in the skin but that might just be wishful thinking.