I got a phone call from Rio's oncologist confirming that the "rash" on Rio's back is actually a rare side effect of the Cushings disease/Prednisone double-whammy called calcinosis cutis. This is actually the FIRST time her oncologist has ever dealt with this sort of thing, so she's really not an expert on the subject.

I held off on giving her her chemo this week because I wanted time to do a bit more research, although her blood work is well within an acceptable range. I'm just looking for any/all information I can get on dealing with treating the skin thing in conjunction with the cancer…. They're recommending DMSO, applying to no more than 1/4 of her body at a time. Not sure how many times a day.

Help???? Anybody????

Thanks, Comet's mom,

I found both of those same sites, as well as a few others, and was equally unnerved by the mention of cancer in the articles. I asked the oncologist about this, and she said that more often than not, the tumors in the pituitary or adrenal system are benign. Granted, we're still talking about odds — some are and some aren't — but I'm trying to think positive here.

We knew going into this latest cancer drama that there was every likelihood that Rio had Cushings in addition to the Mast Cell, as the numbers in her "senior screen" panel (that we did at the same time as her fine needle aspirate for the leg lump) suggested this. We felt it was more important to get on top of the Mast Cell cancer first, and then revisit the Cushings, so we proceeded with the amputation and follow-up chemo. I was very concerned about adding Prednisone to the drug mix that Rio was on for chemo, but the doctor assured me that we needed to do it. I just wish now that I'd listened to my better judgement. Just in the past two months, her one adrenal gland has visibly enlarged because of the Prednisone, and her (suspected) Cushings has gotten significantly worse.

I don't know a lot about DMSO, either. Been doing a bit of poking around online, but there's not a whole lot of info out there in regards to treating calcinosis cutis. The articles I did find suggested that it was only moderately effective, and conversations with the Dr. left unanswered questions as well:
1. DMSO is typically mixed with other medications and applied topically. This readily allows those other meds to be absorbed through the skin. Should I be worried about other environmental agents being absorbed into her skin, as well????
2. If it is mobilizing the calcium deposits, what else is being "mobilized?" Is this going to affect how the chemo works? Is this going to affect her ability to absorb the nutrients in her food?
3. Is this treatment going to affect yet another set of side effects in this poor pup? She's already got full-blown symptoms from the Cushings. She's not a spring chicken, and she's already undergoing chemotherapy. Do I really want to dump one more thing on her poor overloaded immune system? Or by not treating the skin thing, am I subjecting her to more of a prolonged recovery period from this problem????

Meanwhile, I'm also debating whether to give her this week's chemo as well…. I know that it's gonna kick her butt, cuz it always does, so I'm reluctant to do it….

Thank you, thank you! Yeah my vet has never dealt with this either…. Apparently its a relatively rare condition.

I hadn't read this one, Samson. Thanks for finding it for me! I will read through it tomorrow when I'm not so tired and can understand all the science stuff in it…

Thanks again for your help!

tazziedog said:

Have you considered holistic treatment for the Cushings?  I really like Dr Patti Schaeffer and have used her for my own dogs.

I'm very interested in more of a holistic method of treatment — I feel like I'm already dumping enough chemicals into Rio's system. Where is Dr. Schaeffer located?

Micki