Help Needed! Rapidly worsening skin problem

[Sedaves]

Hello,

I have a 7 year old English bulldog that was just diagnosed with Cushings disease. We haven’t started the meds(trilostane) because they were ordered Friday and should arrive tomorrow. In the meantime, Millie has developed severe spreading ulcerations on her skin. She’s been on antibiotics for 2 weeks now and it’s getting worse pretty rapidly. Does anyone have any suggestions/experience on what this could be or if it’s related to the cushings. I had biopsies taken last week and am waiting on those results too. Any advice would be appreciated. I’m very worried.

 

[1Chumly]

Your poor baby. Sorry, I have no experience with this but I am sure someone will be along to help. I hope you can get it all sorted out soon.

 

[Dollys Owner]

Sorry Millie is going through this. I'm thinking it might be an allergic reaction to the antibiotic, so it might be worth not giving it tonight and starting Millie on some diphenhydramine 1 mg/pound 2-3 times daily until tomorrow when you speak to vet.

 

[Sedaves]

Thanks, it did start before the antibiotics, which is the reason they prescribed them, but they haven’t helped at all. I guess at this point it wont hurt to stop them. I have been giving her Benadryl intermittently and started Rimadyl three days ago too. It’s just alarming the rate this is spreading. I will definitely ask the vet about a possible allergy tomorrow.

 

[Dollys Owner]

Thanks, it did start before the antibiotics, which is the reason they prescribed them, but they haven’t helped at all. I guess at this point it wont hurt to stop them. I have been giving her Benadryl intermittently and started Rimadyl three days ago too. It’s just alarming the rate this is spreading. I will definitely ask the vet about a possible allergy tomorrow.

In that case it's not caused by the antibiotic. I would say it's either a staphylococcal or fungal skin infection, which cushings can make the dog prone to. Which antibiotic is she on? Usual antibiotic is cephalexin. If not painful you may want to leave some chlorhexidine or betadine shampoo on for 10 minutes and wash off.

 

[2BullyMama]

Poor baby! Maybe Nustock will help clear it up... it smells to high heaven but works Greta
[MENTION=9157]ddnene[/MENTION] any insight


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[Sedaves]

I am hoping this is related to the Cushings and will start to resolve once the meds are started. I was cleaning it with chlorhexadine wash at first. Since the biopsies have been done and she has a few stitches, I’ve been rinsing with warm salt water daily and applying animax ointment, which seems to be drying it out some. She’s on clindamycin orally because she had vomiting and diarrhea in the past with cephalexin. *Sigh* she’s had skin issues since she was a pup but nothing this bad. These are bleeding and skin thickening. It’s even on her anus skin and a new spot popped up yesterday on her neck. I’m considering a raw diet too.

 

[Sedaves]

Thanks, I will check it out.

 

[Dollys Owner]

Poor baby! Maybe Nustock will help clear it up... it smells to high heaven but works Greta
[MENTION=9157]ddnene[/MENTION] any insight


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Or if you happen to have any Rx fucidin or bactroban cream, those would be good too.

I don't really like clindamycin in humans, since it's got a high rate of causing clostridia difficile diarrhea in humans. I'm not sure about dogs. Maybe the vet can try an injection of Cefovecin injectable, 8 mg/kg SQ , which lasts for 14 days. He should also check if there's any yeast growing.

I would definitely start her on some probiotics, either a commercial dog probiotic or something like sauerkraut from refrigerator section of health food store.

Raw food would be especially helpful if she has allergies, but I don't see it hurting to start it anyways since it's got less carbohydrates to feed the yeast/

 

[ddnene]

Poor baby! Maybe Nustock will help clear it up... it smells to high heaven but works Greta
@ddnene any insight


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My boxer had cushings disease, but she didn't have any skin issues... we did put her on a raw diet, and she thrived on it. I would say this is allergies, and changing her food would help tremendously... have you ever had her tested for allergies?

 

[Dollys Owner]

[MENTION=19428]Sedaves[/MENTION] How's Millie doing today?

 

[Sedaves]

My boxer had cushings disease, but she didn't have any skin issues... we did put her on a raw diet, and she thrived on it. I would say this is allergies, and changing her food would help tremendously... have you ever had her tested for allergies?

I’ve been looking up raw recipes. Did you make your own or buy pre-made?

She definitely has allergies, but I haven’t had her tested. I went through two years of skin infections when I finally found a food that worked for her. They’ve been on the same food for 4-5 years now with no issues. The vet had recommended I switch foods due to the pea/taurine issue and this all started when I switched their food. I’ve since put them back on their old food. In the past, the skin problems were just multiple quarter sized crusty/red spots that lost a little fur.

Was your boxer on trilostane? If so, how did that work for her?

 

[Sedaves]

[MENTION=19428]Sedaves[/MENTION] How's Millie doing today?

Thanks for asking. The new spot on her neck seems to be growing. I’m hoping for the biopsy results to be in today or tomorrow.

 

[ddnene]

I bought the pre-made patties at my local pet store, and she thrived on them.

I think your babies issues are definitely food related... what are they eating now? Raw has made a huge difference for my Walter, he is my allergy baby. I also (after having allergy testing done) get him Cytopoint injections, and that has helped as well.

I honestly don't remember the meds that Roxie was taking, I will have to do some digging... she passed over 5 years ago. She was 10 years old, which is pretty old for her breed...

I actually joined a cushings group on FB, and they helped me tremendously... let me know if you are interested and I can give you more info.

 

[Sedaves]

I bought the pre-made patties at my local pet store, and she thrived on them.

I think your babies issues are definitely food related... what are they eating now? Raw has made a huge difference for my Walter, he is my allergy baby. I also (after having allergy testing done) get him Cytopoint injections, and that has helped as well.

I honestly don't remember the meds that Roxie was taking, I will have to do some digging... she passed over 5 years ago. She was 10 years old, which is pretty old for her breed...

I actually joined a cushings group on FB, and they helped me tremendously... let me know if you are interested and I can give you more info.

They’ve been on Zignature which has worked well for them. Millie’s skin is the worst by far, but I noticed Thornton started to develop some of the red crusty patches after switching too. His seem to be resolving on their own now that they’re back on their old food.

Awe! I had two boxers. The male lived to 9.5 and got lymphoma. The female lived to 15!!! Great dogs. I was planning on making my own food, but may just swing by my local dog food store to see what they have available.

I will check out Facebook. I haven’t really searched anything on there. Just joined this forum to see if anyone has ever had anything that looked like what Millie has. She is starting the cushings med today.