Labrador Retriever Cushing's Disease

[MAH]

I am new here and I had a question for dog owners who have cared for a pet with Cushing's.

My 12 year old Labrador retriever, Trifko was diagnosed with Cushing's in March this year. He has since been on medication, his cortisol levels are ok and he has been doing a lot better. For the most part he regained some of his strength, pot belly went away, and all was well.

About a month ago Trifko started to develop fur loss on his back right leg. The skin in the area appears normally colored and is textured very rough and dry, feels warm to touch. The patch of missing hair got bigger.

I had a visit with Trifko's Doctor and she was not able to see anything from the skin sample she tested. She recommended some antibiotics (in case its bacterial/infection driven) to see if it helps. She also said she thinks its related to his Cushing's - but his cortisol levels are fine so I didn't think that would be an issue. The doctor recommended tying the antibiotics.

A few days prior to this visit I noted the patch bothering the dog a bit, I rubbed in a bit of Cortisone cream and Benadryl. He stopped looking like he was bothered by it. A few days after this to my surprise his spot got a little better. The skin appears to be recovering slowly but the doctor didn't comment too much on this.

I wonder if anyone has had the same experience with their Lab? What did you do/what was effective?


Thanks!

[labblab]

Hello, and welcome to you and Trifko! I’ll have to wait until tomorrow before I can write more, but I did want to let you know we’re really glad you’ve found us, and there’ll be more info to follow. Promise!

Once again, welcome.
Marianne

[labblab]

OK, I’m back again this morning ;-). As you can tell from my avatar and my username, I’m a Lab-lover, too. My first Lab boy was my Cushpup. Subsequent to that, I’ve had two non-Cushing’s Lab girls, one of whom went through a period of time when she suffered from recurrent staph infections on her skin. So I’ve witnessed hair loss due both to Cushing’s and also just infection alone.

From your description of Trifco’s problem area and the fact that it seemed to respond to the cream, I’d be more likely to think that it is simply some sort of local irritation or minor infection. If the cream seems to help, I’d continue applying it for at least a week. Who knows, that may solve the problem in and of itself. Cushing’s dogs can be more vulnerable to skin infections, but any dog can be afflicted from time to time. As I say, my non-Cushing’s girl went through about a year when she kept experiencing recurrent staph infections. She’d suffer from patches of hair loss, but accompanied by gunky, smelly discharge. We first tried oral antibiotics, but the infection always came back as soon as we stopped them. The cure finally turned out to be frequent baths with an antiseptic shampoo. We also used an antiseptic spray on the spots in between the baths. It took a couple of months, but these topical treatments finally rid her of the infection.

Hair loss due to uncontrolled Cushing’s tends to involve generalized areas of baldness along the flanks or haunches. Trifco’s area sounds as though it is more localized than that. Also, if his cortisol level is being therapeutically lowered with medication, it seems less likely to me that a new, small area of hair loss would be a direct result of high cortisol. Infection or irritation seems more likely to me. As I say, if the cream seems to be helpful, I’d stick with it daily for a while in order to see what happens. Cortisone is a steroid, of course, and you typically don’t want to unnecessarily give a Cushing’s dog additional steroids, even topically. But I assume you’re using an over-the-counter cream with a relatively low concentration of cortisone, and also that the area of hair loss isn’t very large. So as I say, I’d probably stick with it for a week to see if it continues to improve.

In the meantime, we’d love to find out more about Trifco’s treatment. What medication is he taking, and how recently has his cortisol level been checked? Can you find out the exact numbers for the monitoring testing? In writing what I have above, I’m assuming that his cortisol level is truly being kept within the desired therapeutic range by the medication. If not, then it is possible that his Cushing’s is indeed having more of a direct impact on the condition of his skin and hair.

I’ll go ahead and close for now. But once again, welcome, and we look forward to learning more about your boy.

Marianne

[bluejaysmon]

Hello. It could be early calcinosis cutis which is usually diagnosed by biopsy and is a sign of Cushings in some cases. I'm not saying this is it but the roughness might be a sign. Look up calcinosis cutis and see if it fist with what you are seeing. These types of adrenal and illnesses can cause other thin skin and skin infections in some our furries but it sounds slike you saw it and treated it early

[labblab]

Yes, that’s a good point by Bluejaysmom. Calcinosis cutis is indeed a skin disorder that can manifest in Cushpups. I wasn’t thinking about it earlier, because your description of the bald area isn’t really consistent with what we commonly encounter here. Most of our Cushpups who develop CC have the plaques develop on their neck, back, and/or flanks. I’ve not commonly seen it erupt on the leg, but it’s good for you to be aware that the condition exists. As Bluejaysmom suggests, you can Google some pictures of the disorder, and you’d definitely want to bring it to your vet’s attention if you ever saw anything similar developing on Trifco. It sounds as though your vet may already have biopsied a skin sample, though, with no diagnosis. So that is good. Thanks, Bluejaysmom!

Marianne