General Question Possible Cushing's Disease?

[spork3127]

Hi everyone! I haven't been around in a while as this whole having a bulldog, toddler, and wife thing has been keeping me quite busy! Our EBD, Ellie Mae McPigglesworth, has started losing hair on her sides. The hair loss is in the same place on both sides, almost symmetrical, and then a quarter sized spot on one of her hips. She recently had bloodwork done for possible thyroid related issues and got a clean bill of health there. She went in 2 weeks ago and our vet put her on a medicated shampoo, Cefopodoxime (antibiotic), and Ketoconazole (anti fungal) and did a skin scrape that came back negative for mites/parasites. While she's done well with the baths and medicated shampoo, the medication has upset her stomach quite a bit and we've stopped giving them to her a couple of days ago. We had a 2 week recheck today with no improvement and possibly a little more hair loss. His next thoughts are that she needs to be tested for Cushing's Disease and if that comes back negative, referring us to a dermatologist. We're scheduled to go in Tuesday morning for the Cushing's test. I've attached a couple of pics as well. I just wanted to see if you guys had encountered this before or had any input on the situation. The 1st pic shows a bald spot where they did the skin scrape.

 

[2BullyMama]

Looks like seasonal flank alopecia (spelling) Bulldogs are prone to it and you can give melatonin to help out. I tagged a member to help that has experience

 

[Manydogs]

@spork3127
Hello, Three of my dogs have had seasonal alopecia. I have found that if they get the melatonin all winter,the skin still turned black,but there was no hair loss. If I were you, I wouldn't waste $ on a Cushing's test, unless she has other symptoms. Before I started the melatonin, the first dog got it, and her hair never did grow back on one side-but did on the other. She still gets melatonin, but it didn't seem to help grow the hair back, but I think I waited too long on that! You can see her side-the dog standing up in the photo. The other dog had it after I gave Melatonin all winter(still giving) and her skin went back to normal and she never lost her hair. I am actually surprised that your vet doesn't know about it. You don't need to give her meds./as long as this is the only symptom. Get melatonin at store,3 to 5 mg. once a day.

 

[TyTysmom]

Hi everyone! I haven't been around in a while as this whole having a bulldog, toddler, and wife thing has been keeping me quite busy! Our EBD, Ellie Mae McPigglesworth, has started losing hair on her sides. The hair loss is in the same place on both sides, almost symmetrical, and then a quarter sized spot on one of her hips. She recently had bloodwork done for possible thyroid related issues and got a clean bill of health there. She went in 2 weeks ago and our vet put her on a medicated shampoo, Cefopodoxime (antibiotic), and Ketoconazole (anti fungal) and did a skin scrape that came back negative for mites/parasites. While she's done well with the baths and medicated shampoo, the medication has upset her stomach quite a bit and we've stopped giving them to her a couple of days ago. We had a 2 week recheck today with no improvement and possibly a little more hair loss. His next thoughts are that she needs to be tested for Cushing's Disease and if that comes back negative, referring us to a dermatologist. We're scheduled to go in Tuesday morning for the Cushing's test. I've attached a couple of pics as well. I just wanted to see if you guys had encountered this before or had any input on the situation. The 1st pic shows a bald spot where they did the skin scrape.

View attachment 88870View attachment 88871

Definitely looks like seasonal flank alopecia - which is nothing serious at all. Lynn has chimed in right above with great advice & photos. I am also with her on the testing - UNLESS there are other obvious signs or symptoms. Go ahead and google this, and you will see many photos, etc.

 

[spork3127]

Thanks everyone. With Melatonin, would this be the over the counter sleep aid that you can get at wal-mart or the like? And if so, is it available in a liquid format? [MENTION=8741]Manydogs[/MENTION]

 

[Manydogs]

@spork3127 You can get it at walmart, or the dollar general store,if you have one. I have never seen it in liquid form, but I give my dogs a snack before they go to bed, with a tablespoon or 2 of yogurt. I just put the "pill" in the yogurt, and they don't even notice-but my(2) are hogs and they just gobble it up! p.s. I just noticed today, that hair is growing back on Maude's side, that has been bald for quite a while!

 

[1Chumly]

Monty's dermatologist says she heard that Nature's Bounty works better than other Melatonin brands and I also saw that on another forum. We haven't tried it yet as I had just bought a big bottle of the CVS brand! He weighs 66 lbs and has a 3mg pill twice a day.

 

[spork3127]

Thanks again guys. We were at good ol' Wally World and I got the last bottle of Melatonin that they had. Unfortunately it was only 1mg tablets. But we only spent a couple of dollars on it, so I would rather have it should I not be able to find the 3mg than not have any at all. I might wait another day or two to start Ellie on it though. Her is just starting to firm up again from her upset stomach caused by the previous meds.

 

[spork3127]

Before I go out and look for the Nature's Bounty 3mg tablets, I wanted to make sure that I was looking for the right item. Also, I'm assuming regular strength as opposed to the triple strength shown in the pic below? And unflavored as opposed to cherry flavored?

 

[aprilemari]

It does look like SFA, but the skin usually darkens with that. Lola had similar bald spots for about a year when she was younger. It happened to be a chicken allergy. She immediately started to grow hair back when we incorporated some raw salmon patties into her diet. I thought they'd never grow back. The difference was that the skin under the bald spot wasnt darkening. My vet wouldn't even do a scrape (not the best vet we've had), because she wasn't itchy at all, and the scrape itself it kind of painful. For sure it didn't hurt her or itch, so we were fine with it. Ecstatic when it grew back though.

 

[1Chumly]

Before I go out and look for the Nature's Bounty 3mg tablets, I wanted to make sure that I was looking for the right item. Also, I'm assuming regular strength as opposed to the triple strength shown in the pic below? And unflavored as opposed to cherry flavored?
View attachment 88925

I haven't bought any of the Natures Bounty yet and wondered about the Triple Strength myself. Maybe that is why they supposedly work better!! I have looked in all the drug stores I have been to and all they have is the T Strength. I found these online but think I will call the vet on Tuesday when she is in and see what she says. I will post what I find out.
Nature's Bounty Melatonin 3 mg Dietary Supplement Tablets | Walgreens

 

[bullmama]

So nice to see you! See you should have checked with us and saved huge on your vet Bill. Haha!

I wanted to add that this occurs mostly during winter which is why it got its name as seasonal. Many believe it's from lack of sunlight. So try to give her a short time of sunning each day if you can.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[spork3127]

Well after talking things over with the wife, we've decided not to go through with all of the blood work tomorrow, even though I'd still like to do the allergy testing just for my own knowledge. With all of her previous blood work coming back normal, I'd anticipate the same this time and don't want to spend close to $600 just to be referred to a dermatologist an hour away and pay the "big city" and specialty vet bills. Instead, we've opted to take her to another vet in town that has been in business for over 20 years and has recently built a new office with all of the latest and greatest. I went by today and toured the new facility and it's down right fancy! They even had a bulldog in one of the kennel runs in the back with probably a 30" or 36" fan in front of that kennel. It's noticing the little things like that and you walk away with a good feeling. I made sure to mention that we thought it might be the Seasonal Flank Alopecia when making the appointment, so hopefully they'll strongly consider it.

 

[Christie H]

Looks just like seasonal flank alopecia..We give ours 3 mg of melatonin at night.We also rub coconut oil on his sides to help his skin.

 

[2BullyMama]

Well after talking things over with the wife, we've decided not to go through with all of the blood work tomorrow, even though I'd still like to do the allergy testing just for my own knowledge. With all of her previous blood work coming back normal, I'd anticipate the same this time and don't want to spend close to $600 just to be referred to a dermatologist an hour away and pay the "big city" and specialty vet bills. Instead, we've opted to take her to another vet in town that has been in business for over 20 years and has recently built a new office with all of the latest and greatest. I went by today and toured the new facility and it's down right fancy! They even had a bulldog in one of the kennel runs in the back with probably a 30" or 36" fan in front of that kennel. It's noticing the little things like that and you walk away with a good feeling. I made sure to mention that we thought it might be the Seasonal Flank Alopecia when making the appointment, so hopefully they'll strongly consider it.

Keep us posted!