SusieQ_Lily
Member Since 2020
Hi Everyone,
Was hoping i could ask for some advice please?
Lily was diagnosed in January with pituitary cushings. She was put onto Trilostane and we explored having the surgery at RVC to remove. Unfortunately, an MRI scan showed that the tumour was not symmetrical and their is a major blood vessel running through the tumour. Surgery was deemed near impossible.
We've been managing fairly well, until recently where we have areas of scaly skin/dandruff. The flaky skin pulls the hair away. The skin left behind is either very pink or purple and then a wound develops. This heals but the hair never grows back. Before trilostane we had very fragile skin which tore easily, but her skin is very good now in terms of fragility. This is very different. We've had bacterial tests and the vets have said its a symptom of cushings and there's nothing they can do.
Her stim tests are all perfect, her diabetes is well managed, so we're struggling with why this is happening and there's nothing we can do.
I'll upload a couple of photos, does anyone have any experience with this? Thank you
Was hoping i could ask for some advice please?
Lily was diagnosed in January with pituitary cushings. She was put onto Trilostane and we explored having the surgery at RVC to remove. Unfortunately, an MRI scan showed that the tumour was not symmetrical and their is a major blood vessel running through the tumour. Surgery was deemed near impossible.
We've been managing fairly well, until recently where we have areas of scaly skin/dandruff. The flaky skin pulls the hair away. The skin left behind is either very pink or purple and then a wound develops. This heals but the hair never grows back. Before trilostane we had very fragile skin which tore easily, but her skin is very good now in terms of fragility. This is very different. We've had bacterial tests and the vets have said its a symptom of cushings and there's nothing they can do.
Her stim tests are all perfect, her diabetes is well managed, so we're struggling with why this is happening and there's nothing we can do.
I'll upload a couple of photos, does anyone have any experience with this? Thank you
). I *may* have an explanation (disclaimer I’m not a vet). The excess cortisol of Cushings causes changes in some skin and blood vessel proteins. I’ve only found one study, and it was in humans, but they measured these in Cushings patients and controls at baseline and after one year of treatment and there was no significant improvement. Whether that means it takes longer, or never improves I don’t know. My first Cushing cat died during treatment so I can’t say what may have happened with his skin issues. My current one still has issues but he’s maxed out on Vetoryl and still has elevated cortisol. I read one anecdotal report of a cat post surgery who was improving in general but still needed to wear T shirts. Someone here has a cat whose surgery was successful but idk if their skin fragility improved. I suspect part of the problem may be these cats are often older, and at least in humans skin and blood vessels become more fragile with age even without underlying disease due to lost regenerative capability.