Hello!  My first time posting here, and I'm afraid it's on a bit of a sad note.  I adopted my GSP, Petey, when he was a year and a half (abandoned at a shelter for being gun shy), and he is now 7 1/2 years old.  He has been mostly healthy with the exception of one mysterious seizure this past Oct with no recurrence since.  However, he has suddenly become very ill in the last 10 days.  He initially developed seemingly overnight red sores and lesions in his groin area.  It was initially thought to be a skin infection and he was put on Clavamox.  After seven days on Clavamox, he got progressively worse, so this past Monday he was switched to Cephalexin.  As the lesions were looking abnormal and he was also now developing crustiness and lesions on his mouth and anus as well, the vet did full bloodwork, T2, ANA test, and 3 biopsies on the mouth, groin, and anus.  He also suddenly developed some lameness and joint pain and now has trouble walking.  Bloodwork and T4 was normal.  ANA came back negative.  While the ANA was still pending, the biopsy results came back suggesting exfoliative cutaneous lupus erythematosus or ECLE of German Shorthair Pointers.  However, it also stated it should be supported by a positive ANA result, which did come back negative, thank goodness!  From what I understand of ECLE, it also normally presents between 5-7 months of age and most dogs don't live past four years old.  So the biopsies seem to indicate this disease, but with Petey's age and the negative ANA test, it does not appear to be the case. 

This was the diagnosis from the biospies:

"Skin: mild to moderate, superficial lichenoid, interface lymphoplasmasmacytic, occasionally neutrophilic, eosinophilic dermatitis with basal keratinocyte hydropic change and apoptosis." 

My vet is saying at this point that she believes Petey has some kind of autoimmune disease, but doesn't know which one.  He is currently on the following medications: Cephalexin 500mg 3x per day, Tramadol 50mg, 2 pills 3x per day, Niacinamide 500mg 3x per day (trying first before steroids), and a steroid spray that goes onto his sores. Metacam will be added tomorrow as the maximum dose of Tramadol is not controlling his joint pain.  The sores and lesions are showing marked improvement already, but the joint pain seems to be getting worse.  She wants to try the current medications for a month to see if we can get this under control or get this flare-up in remission.  If we can, we will wean off drugs to see if /when it comes back.  If it doesn't go away or comes back right away, we will have to move up to steroids and immune suppression drugs.  I am just curious if anyone here has had anything similiar happen with their GSP.  This is all new to me and I am afraid and confused right now.  I can't stand seeing him in pain like this, especially since it was all so sudden.  We don't know what the trigger was that started this chain reaction. 

If I'm posting there correctly, here are pics of his affected groin area:

10 days ago at sudden onset of lesions/redness/soreness:

4 days ago after being on Clavamox for 7 days:

Last night:

Here is my Petey:

Sorry, I meant T4, not T2! 

Thank you so much for the good thoughts and prayers.  Very much appreciated! 

Thank you for the link as well!  It is the same disorder and what the biopsies seemed to indicate, except we don't believe it is what he has because of the negative ANA test and because of Petey's age.  With that disorder, it presents very early on, around 5-7 months old in GSP's, and they don't live beyond 4 years old.  So sad. 

Ah, thank you!  I am new to this disease, so I apologize if I say something incorrectly.  I do know that the U of Penn has developed a marker for it now and that in their studies, most GSP's don't make it over 4 years old.  They also have a positive ANA test with this disease.  Part of me wonders about doing the marker on him even though it doesn't seem likely it is what he has.  It ultimately would not change his treatment either, but at least we would know what we are dealing with. 

Anyway, thank you all again so much!

You may want to contact Dr Casal at UPenn if only to rule LD out and perhaps be referred.  They took in a GSP puppy that was diagnosed with Fanconi Syndrome.

Deb Orpen

Thank you all again so much! We added Metacam to Petey's list of medications on Sat and it's made a huge difference for him! He's still in quite a bit of pain each morning, but as soon as the drugs kick in, then he's acting almost normal!  The sores have begun to heal in most places except two spots on his groin that have yet to show any improvement.  We're hoping these two spots will begin to heal like the other areas have as that would be a very good sign that his version of the autoimmune disease is the kind that will come and go with occasional flare-ups and hopefully not be the kind that needs long term steroids and immune suppression drugs.  Only time will tell.  We do know it's not ECLE because of the negative ANA test so I was told there is no need to run the marker on him, although if he doesn't show improvement soon, I think I may just fill out the application for it anyway.  We did a second ANA test to confirm and it did come back negative a second time as well.  The biopsies confirmed basal layer skin cells are dying, which confirms it is for sure an autoimmune disease.  Many of them present with joint pain and with sores that often will come and go with the occasional flare-up.  So all we can do is wait and see.  In the meantime, I am very grateful that we found a combination of drugs that work to make him comfortable during this time. 

Petey is doing MUCH better today!!  I'm seeing more improvement on his belly and he's running around like normal.  I feel so relieved!!!  We can't say for sure yet, but it's looking more and more like he has the version of the disease that is more mild with occasional flare-ups.  Fingers crossed it will keep going away and then stay away without steroids!!!  Next step is to hopefully ditch the dreaded cone as soon as his lesions heal enough!  

It has been an absolutely crazy, scary experience!  They think it's something hereditary, that he's had his whole life, but we've been extremely fortunate that he hasn't had an episode before now.  Apparently there is no cure, but can be occasional flare-ups for the rest of his life.  We don't know what triggered it.  Usually an allergy or stress. 

Here is Petey today, this is now two weeeks since it all started.  He still has pretty severe joint pain in the mornings before his morning dose of meds kicks in and is still on 4 medications 3x per day plus the steroid spray, so we have a long way to go still, but I am feeling much more encouraged at seeing this improvement! 

By chance has your vet recommended checking for Tick Born diseases? I had a female GSP who had very similar lessions on her stomach. I had them checked immediately and we treated her with Doxycycline. The lesions dried up super fast and have never recurred. She did test positive for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever! Joint pain is of course a symptom of tick born disease also. There is a pretty thorough tick panel that can be run with most labs.

Hope Petey continues to improve.

Tina M. Parker-Craig

Mi Karma GSH Pointers

www.mikarmagsp.com

craig@mikarmagsp.com