BEVOLASVEGAS
Posted : 10/6/2010 11:47:53 PM
I am not trying to scare you or worry you anymore than you already are, but I felt compelled to post this, just in case it helps you.
I just ran across this thread, & when I saw your dog, I immediately thought of a friend's schipperke who dealt with this issue a few months ago. It initially presented like your dog. Elvis would improve a little, & then he would have a big setback.
His owner took him to an internal medicine specialist, who did biopsies. The biopsies showed that it was pemphigus & he was started on pred & azothioprine. Those drugs failed to supress the immune system enough to stop the outbreaks, so his owner took him to a dermatologist who decided to start him on triamcinalone & cyclosporine. That drug combination didn't work either. During a recheck with the dermatologist, he mentioned that there is a certain type of liver cancer that can mimic pemphigus. They pulled blood for a chem panel, & Elvis's liver enzymes were through the roof.
Elvis went in for an ultrasound & possible biopsies of his liver. The ultrasound showed a very large, nonresectable mass in his liver. His owner decided to wean him off the drugs, & let him live out what life he had left.
I went with my friend the day he helped Elvis cross over. This is what he looked like that day.