Originally Posted by lataina (Post 4526669)

I have a 5-yr-old yorkie with vaccine induced vasculitis. I have been treating him for the past six months now, and he is only getting worse. Today I had to leave him overnight at the hospital, on oxygen. Since this past Friday his breathing has been shallow. His X-rays showed a mild fluid buildup around the lining of his lungs. He has been on Prednisone, Pentoxifylline, Cyclosporine, Doxycycline, but none of these seemed to help. I had to give him these with food and he is very difficult to feed in general. He is not food motivated at all. I'm not sure if not being able to keep him on a consistent schedule might have affected the efficacy of his meds. I was giving them to him everyday though.

At the beginning of January, this year 2015, he was started on Sulfasalazine which after three weeks I started to see a visible improvement with his ears. After the three weeks though, the vet dermatologist took him off of it because it raised his liver enzymes to 503. She put him on Dexamethasone, but after being on that for two weeks I really didn't see any improvements. Although, I didn't see him getting worse either. This past Thursday she stopped the Dexamethasone because of the breathing issues he developed.

And now I am at a loss. His ears look absolutely horrible. They are black and scabby. He has lost almost half of the tissue from each. His paw pads were split and bleeding, but now haven't bled for about three weeks.

I need for his breathing to get better so I can bring him home and try to find a treatment that will work for him. My heart is broken because the vet and the vet dermatologist, both gave euthanasia as an option. I don't want him to continue to deteriorate, but I feel if his breathing gets better I can try giving him Mycophenolate, which is what the next option would be.

I've been reading that some of you have had succes with the Pred and Pentoxy. I don't know if I should give that another try? His ears are really bad so I feel something more aggressive might be best. In the past week he started to develop ulcers on his upper lip.

Can anyone help? I'm desperate! :cry::cry::cry:

Originally Posted by lataina (Post 4526880)

ladyjane: Yes, thank you. I received Lisa's message.

After reading different posts here, I am contemplating putting him back on the Prednisone and Pentoxy. The vet dermatologist doesn't like giving him steroids because it causes him to get bladder infections and bacterial infections on his ears and paws. I'll have to discuss this with her.

Yes, it is very difficult getting him to eat. I have tried people food, along with all sorts of dog foods. I've even tried giving him not the best choices in dog food, just to get him to eat. He seems more willing to eat the junk, but I need him to eat better quality. I feel that probably plays a role because his immune system is weak.

I stayed up all hours of the night just to try and continue his meds as directed(every 12 hours). I was up at 1am, 2am and 3am trying to be consistent, but he did not make it easy. By nature he is a very picky eater and doesn't eat much as it is, so imagine trying to feed him while he is not feeling well. It breaks my heart because he doesn't understand that I NEED him to eat so all these meds don't upset his stomach. There is no point in giving them to him if he is just going to throw it up.

It's been 5-6 months of this and I am starting to feel defeated and helpless. It is not cheap and seeing him now as to how he used to be, is breaking my heart.

Originally Posted by ladyjane (Post 4526865)

Here is a thread about Lisa's pup Piccolo....maybe it will help you....

I do know that with cutaneous vasculitis the meds are ultra important and must be given beyond the point that the pup is no longer showing symptoms. My son's pup was on prednisone for I believe four weeks. I might be able to find a thread about it as I was caring for her when she started getting bad.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/yor...ind-gross.html

Originally Posted by lataina (Post 4526998)

Sadly, not much to report. I went to see him at the hospital and he hasn't improved. His breathing is still pretty much the same. He is not better, but he is not worse either. I am going to speak with the vet dermatologist tomorrow about putting him back on Prednisone. Hopefully he will not get any severe infections from it. It is worth a try.

I want to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. You ladies have given me renewed hope and I am determined to get him back to his lovable, playful, happy self. He truly is such a sweet dog. He is kinda of quirky too...lol. He hates to go outside when it's raining and will never walk in any puddles.....lol. He will either walk around them or find the smallest part where he can jump over them...lol. It's funny watching him try to decipher how he's going to approach them.

Once again, thank you all so very much. I will post another update tomorrow after I get more info.