tman Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 I have a 5 1/2 year old female border collie and she is spayed. About 3 years ago, she developed a mass on her nose starting about about halfway down the bridge and ending at the tip of her nose. Our vet felt surgery was in order and she subsequently had the mass removed and it tested benign. About a year after that episode, she again started to show signs of swelling on the bridge of the nose and swelling of the tip as well. She further developed cysts on her ears and body and they were in the shape of a smartie (candy) The vet put her on predizone and it did relieve the symptoms. After about a month of this treatment he put her on a 'weaning' off period of the drug, but the swelling of her nose came back, but not all of the body cysts. The vet feels that this reaction is some sort of auto immune desease (in other words he is not sure what it is) The vet clinic then tried a drug used for human transplant patients and that drug almost killed her, and her liver took a awful beating but blood test reveal it has recovered quite well. She is back on the steroids and it is obvious they are becoming less effective as the dose has been increased and she is showing the signs of this in increased weight, increased thirst and excessive panting. Has anyone experienced this with their dog ? or does anyone have any suggestions? I am thinking about trying an Antioxidant regime. Does anyone have any comments on this? Please help as she is suffering with this unknown entity, especially the steroids. Signed, Desperate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Tman, Ask your vet about the possibility of histiocytosis. It is a disease common to Bernese Mountain dogs, but I know of someone who has a border collie pup who was diagnosed with this disease. Your dog sounds as if it may have something similar. If you have an e-mail address and wish to send it to me privately, I can put you in touch with her. Of course, this may not be your dog's problem, but it's worth asking your vet about it, andit may give him or her some other ideas.... J. poudrier@inteliport.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windam Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 This also sounds similar to certain forms of lupus another autoimmune disease. I volunteer at a shelter and a lab was surrendered with lupus. His symptoms were similar to those you described. In his case overexposure to sunlight (he was an outside dog his owners said) aggrevated the condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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