My dog has an autoimmune disease?

[Megan]

My oldest Siberian Husky (who is only 4 years old) was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Discoid Lupus Erythematosus today. He has scabs and sores on his nose and in his ears.
While I now have medication for him, it will be a few days before I know if he will get any better. The vet says the disease may disappear, or he may have it for life. There's still a lot unknown about the causes.

Poor guy's nose has even gone smooth from the disease.

More information can be found here for those interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canine_discoid_lupus_erythematosus
Does anyone else have any experience in dealing with this?

Any and all positive healing appreciated at this time for Moose (and me, since to be honest, I'm not exactly taking the news well.)


Thank you.

[Crystal Dragon]

Hi Megan,

I was sorry to read your post about Moose and will gladly send loads of healing energy his way.
Also sending you a big cyber and try to keep your thoughts as positive as you can at this time

Blessings,

CD

[Susanne]

Hi Megan
Healing coming to Moose & you as well. I don't know anything about the disease but I do know that in humans auto immune diseases can disappear never to return. Here's hoping that is the case with Moose!
Keep us posted.
Sue

[Megan]

Thank you both.
He's been on his medication for a couple of days now, and thankfully it wasn't very sunny today (never thought I would say that) which seems to be helping heal the open sores above his nose.

Here's hoping things get better from here, but we won't be back at the vet for another couple of days (waiting to see how the meds work out over a week.)

At least things don't seem to be getting any worse.

Thanks again

[Crystal Dragon]

Will keep sending some healing energy to Moose and do please post here to let us know how he gets on when he next visits to vet.
CD

[merryb]

Sending you and moose healing - I hope he regains his health and the diease burns itself out. Also sending you a reiki hug through the ether.
Merryb

[Megan]

Thank you all again for the healing energy.

Not much of an update, but I felt I should say at least something. The sores on Moose's nose seem to have healed over, leaving him with fresh, pink skin. There are still a lot of scabs, but the vet says that so long as nothing is ulcering and opening up again, scabs are OK.

Our follow-up appointment won't be for another week or so as we give his pills time to take effect and drop his dosage down to something a little more manageable. Hopefully soon he'll stop having to pee all through the night (a side effect) so that he, I and the other Siberian can all get a good night's sleep!

I will update more when we see the vet again, but so far things are looking better
Thank you all, again!

[Crystal Dragon]

Many thanks for the update Megan and I will keep Moose on my healing list for the time being.
Here's hoping all will be fine with him in the not too distant future
Blessings,
CD

[Zylah]

Just saw this thread - how is Moose doing on the meds? Keep us posted; sending healing energy his way (and yours - I know it takes its toll on us also when they suffer )

[Megan]

Thank you Zylah.

I just had a call from Moose's breeder, who owns Moose's sister and Mum still. While out playing with the dogs, she noticed that Moose's sister Sugar has also started showing some of the scabbing on her nose -- the first indication Moose had of the disease. The mother, however, appears to still be fine.

Why would the disease suddenly show up in four-and-a-half-year-old dogs? Why now? Why THIS spring? We don't know. We're going to try and make a double appointment with the vet (we have the same vet) on Wednesday, to check Moose's status and inspect Sugar's condition as well. The breeder is worried that if there IS a genetic link, (because it's not proven) it may have come from the father, which is not of her lines... and that Sugar's puppies may be exposed to it now as well. She's also going to call the owners of Moose/Sugar's other siblings to see if it is appearing in them as well.

I will let you all know on Wednesday (assuming we get the appointment) what the vet thinks and how Moose and Sugar are doing. I feel like I'm asking a lot, but those of you keeping Moose in your healing prayers, if you could add his sister Sugar, it would be appreciated. Sugar's owner/breeder is rather upset at the moment, since nothing like this has ever happened to her before. (And believe me when I say she's a VERY responsible breeder. She takes more precautions with her lines than everyone I've ever known.)

Thank you.
BB.

[Susanne]

Ah Megan, healing energy coming along to Moose & Sugar. It's so hard to see your buddies hurting. Here's wishing you great news on Wednesday! Hang in there & give Moose a good scratch around the ears for me!
Sue

[Megan]

I got home tonight to discover a weird blistery-looking mark on Moose's nose. I don't know if it's from the disease or not (it's quite large, and today is the first day of skipping his half-pill for the "half-pill every other day" instructions.)

I'm probably panicking over it, but in light of what's been happening, I don't know if I should be calling the vet tomorrow or not to see if they will come in and take a look at him. (It's 12:10 a.m. right now for me.)
I suppose I will wait and see what happens to it. I took a picture to document it, dealy hoping it doesn't burst open in any way. It's much larger than any of the other marks have been.


The blister is under his nostral. You can also see some of the de-pigmentation and loss of nose-print near the bottom of his nose (his nose used to be a bright reddish-pink colour, and now is quite grey.)

Poor Moosie. He doesn't deserve any of this

[Bronzewing]

I don't have any experience with Lupus, but i do have a couple of lovely auto-immune things myself. I have recently been reading stuff that shows a possible linkage between AI diseases and underlying Lyme disease. Worth looking into anyway, as I should think you would have Lyme where you are. He and his sis might have caught it via tickbite, or their mum might have it as can be passed on through the mother before birth. She might not show it the same way. Everyone shows it differently depending on your own immunity and where it settles and when.

Best wishes for a recovery for Moose. It is awful to see our furkids suffer and not be able to help them.

Hugs,

Bronzie

[Megan]

Wednesday has come and gone already?

Well, Moose and I ended up going to the vet on Monday morning, since he had three more of those odd, white blisters on the top of his nose. After some discussion between vets, we decided to biopsy them and remove the ones that we could. Moose was put under and three of the nodes were removed. I brought him home that afternoon where -- thanks to a very good friend who stayed with me during the evening -- Moose's anesthetic wore off and he slept through the night.

Tuesday I managed to work from home -- thanks to one of my bosses who argued my case against the other, who didn't want me to bring the work computer home -- and Moose seemed to be recovering well. He had his ups and downs, and since the biopsy results didn't come in, I decided to stay home again on Wednesday.

Wednesday... things got worse. More of the white nodes appeared on the front of his nose, which then burst and ripped off at some point when I took my eyes off him. I called the vet, and we put him back on the pill he was previously on for the discoid lupus, since at least that seemed to keep these things at bay. The lab called, asking some questions about the biopsy, and now we're expecting results by the end of the week.

Unfortunately, I had to come back into the office today to work, so Moose is at home with his little brother Zero. Hopefully I don't have any surprises when I get home

I will update you guys again once I have the biopsy results. I won't post any more pictures, since it's really not very nice looking at this point in time.

[Aurora]

Poor Moose and poor you, for you and healing energy for Moose.

[Susanne]

Still thinking of you guys. Hang in there!
Sue

[Megan]

Biopsy came in, confirming what the vet had thought about the pustules (the blistery things).
Pemphigus is also an auto-immune disease, sometimes found in animals, which creates the blistery pustules.

Moose is on medication, and I have antibiotics for him, since there was also infection found within the biopsied pustules. We're still waiting to hear back from a dermatologist in eastern Canada as well, who may have more insight.

That's really all the information I have at the moment.
Wikipedia has an informative entry about the disease, and can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemphigus
"Pemphigus foliaceus has been recognized in pet dogs, cats and horses ... Pemphigus foliaceus in animals produces clusters of small vesicles that quickly evolve into pustules. Pustules may rupture, forming erosions or become crusted. Left untreated, pemphigus foliaceus in animals is life-threatening leading to loss of condition and secondary infection."

Thank you again to everyone who has helped with thoughts, prayers and energies. My biggest hope now is that nothing worsens in the next month or so, since in a week I'll be travelling across the pond for the International Dryade Camp (and visiting family in Europe as well.) Moose will be staying with his breeder for three weeks, so I know he'll be in good hands, but not being around to see how the medicine really takes effect worries me a little.

[Megan]

Wow, it's been over a month since I had any updates for you all.

Moose has been doing all right, and did well while I was away in Europe for two weeks. He hasn't shown any signs of the disease while on heavy medication for a while, so I now get to start reducing it (slowly) in hopes of controlling the pemphigus with minimal medication in the end.

If he shows any signs of blisters, pustules or ulcers on his nose though, it's back to square one.

I'm hopeful that he will start to return back to his happy self once the medication is reduced. He's been lethargic lately -- not even getting up to greet me when I come home. (But I suppose it's better than the alternative.)

Thank you all again for your support through this time
Now it's time to see where this road takes us next

- Meg and Moose

[Susanne]

Hang in there Megan & thanks for the update. I hope that weaning Moose off the meds goes well & he gets back to being the energetic buddy you are used to
I'll be sending the good vibes!
Sue