Cushings and body sores

[My Prince]

After joining this site I did a lot of reading and research on cushings. I followed the idea of using Milk Thistle and went to the vet to find out what dosage to give. We lost our Hershey two years after diagnosis and after research and talking with the vet, we decided to use the Milk Thistle instead of the standard blood work and regular meds for our Prince. They agree, either way, we have at least two more years.

My question is, do all dogs that have cushings have sores that break open and bleed. Our Hershey had them on her tail and around her anus area. Our Prince has them on his feet. We have tried everything the vets recommenced and at this time we are doing Epson salts soaks and using Medicated Gold bond and putting gause booties so he doesn't lick his feet.

Any other suggestions would be great. I am so worried that he will get an infection.

[Harley PoMMom]

Were the sores biopsied? Some dogs with Cushing's, and even dogs taking a steroid for a period of time, can get a skin issue called calcinosis cutis (CC) but the only true way to tell if it is CC is with a skin biopsy.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your dear Hershey, it is difficult losing our fur baby.

I hope I'm not being too nosy in asking why treatment with either Trilostane or Lysodren aren't options, please know we are not here to judge any one as deciding what path one takes concerning treating is a very personal one and we are here to support you and sweet Prince in any way we can.

Hugs, Lori

P.S. I'm at work so my post is quite short, sorry about that. :o

[LaurieS]

Im so sorry about your loss of Hershey and that now you are having to go through this with Prince. My Charlotte has what we believe to be calcinosis cutis but we havent biopsied it so we cant say for sure. Ive been pretty successful using apricot kernal oil mixed with lavender essential oil to keep it dry but not too terribly itchy. The lavender is also antibacterial and we havent had any infection as of yet. And she smells good which is a nice benefit.

Im curious about the milk thistle. Im aware of it being very supportive of the liver, which makes it good for dogs with cushings since this disease affects the liver, but is there more that it does as far as cushings is concerned? Charlotte couldnt tolerate trilostane and we strongly suspect she has a macro tumor as she is displaying many of the symptoms. I have her on prednisone and some natural supplements but would like to hear more about the milk thistle.

Laurie

[molly muffin]

Hello and welcome from me too. It might be worth it to figure out what exactly the sores are (re Lori mentioning biopsy). As normal calcinosis cutis, which is calcium deposits caused by high cortisol, show up more on the torso than on the feet. So in case it is something else, or a bacterial infection, it would be worth it to know for sure, to make sure that any treatment is something that will target the problem.

I too am so sorry that you lost your dog Hershey and now Prince is having problems.

[My Prince]

We were told that giving our Prince the other meds would not prolong his life any more than the Milk Thistle. So we opted for the Milk Thistle so we didn't have to put him through the trauma of going to the vet and staying there. He gets so nervous that we decided to limit the trauma on him.

[My Prince]

We have gone to the vets for this many times and nothing. He is also taking an allergy med. After trying many different things I finally just got the antibiotic cream out and put that on his feet. It is starting to look much better. I put the cream on nightly with gauze booties so he can't lick them.
Thank you for your suggestions. He is not taking any Cortisone.

[My Prince]

When the doctors suggested the trilostane which means blood work regularly and our Prince gets very upset and nervous going to the vet we just didn't want to do that so we asked, our vet has doctors that also believe in the natural meds...and they suggested the Milk Thistle. They took his weight and told me what dose to use daily.
Thanks for the suggestion on apricot kernal oil mixed with lavender essential oil. I am going to go get some. Anything is worth a try to keep him comfortable

[labblab]

Hello and welcome from me, too! I'm surely sorry that Prince is bothered by these foot sores. Although it is true that Cushing's dogs are more vulnerable to infections, generally, I cannot say that foot sores are a common complaint. So I'm not sure that Cushing's is actually the culprit, although obviously you want to find an effective treatment, regardless.

Before talking about the sores, can you tell us whether Prince suffers from any other more typical Cushing's symptoms such as excessive thirst/urination/hunger, pot belly, hair thinning, panting, seeking cool places to lay on, etc.? Does he have any abnormalities on his general labwork, and has he had any specialized testing for Cushing's itself? So in other words, has he been formally diagnosed with Cushing's, or is your vet just thinking it might be a possibility?

Turning back to the sores, you mention soaking his paws in Epsom Salts. Since it appears he will let you soak his paws, you might ask your vet about giving you an antiseptic solution that could be used for soaking. My non-Cushing's Lab suffered from intermittent bouts of interdigital cysts, and one of the things that seemed to help her the most was daily soaking her paws in a warm chlorhexidine solution. Chlorhexidine is an antiseptic that is used in different forms. Our vet gave us a small bottle of blue solution that we needed to dilute in order to arrive at the correct strength. But once diluted in warm water, it made a soothing cleansing agent. We put it in a baggie with a zipper top, placed the paw in the baggie, zipped the top around her ankle, and let it soak for five minutes per daily treatment. If you were to try an antiseptic like this, you should definitely consult with your vet in order to make sure you are getting the right product at the right strength. You cannot use antiseptics like this in an undiluted form or it will injure the skin. However, in general, chlorhexidine can be an excellent skin cleansing ingredient. We have another dog who suffered from recurrent staph infections across her back for several months, and regular use of a shampoo containing chlorhexidine has been an enormous help in controlling the infection.

OK, those are just a few thoughts/questions for you ;). Once again, welcome back to us.

Marianne

[Grants mom]

My maltipoo has the sores also he licks his paw constantly and has developed sores on his belly tail and sides of his tail the vet told me to apply a ointment on them 3 times a day it has helped I tried also benedryl for the paw licking it has done nothing for him !

[Squirt's Mom]

Welcome to you and your baby!

You haven't given us much information on Prince (like his age, any other health issues, etc) so it is very difficult to provide meaningful feedback. But I do want you to be informed as much as possible. Milk Thistle is great for the liver but will do nothing for the cortisol which is the enemy in Cushing's. Whether Prince actually has Cushing's is still unknown since no info has been provided. But just in case I want you to know what uncontrolled high cortisol can do to his body. So here is a link from our Helpful Resource section (where you can find LOTS of valuable info ;) ) describing those possibilities - https://www.k9cushings.com/forum/showthread.php?t=195

Calcinosis cutis is a serious complication seen with Cushing's sometimes and the only way to get it under control is to get the cortisol under control. To verify whether the sores are CC or not, I would want a derm vet to do the testing asap. If it is CC, that is almost 100% sure that your baby boy does have Cushing's. You can google calcinosis cutis and find pics to compare to what is going on with Prince to see you might want to pursue this diagnosis.

Glad you found us and keep reading! Milk Thistle is great for what it can do but not to control Cushing's. ;)

Hugs,
Leslie and the gang

[My Prince]

They did blood work on my Prince and said it looked like cushings. They wanted to do more but said it was a start. He does drink a lot but nothing else.
It is scary now that I read all you put together for me. I will check out the sites mentioned but it sounds like another trip to the vets.
Thank you all for your help.