Does Anyone Have A Dog With Addison's Disease?

[Scarlettsmum]

My dog has Addiosn's Disease that was diagnosed in January 2008. Does anyone else have a dog with this condition? I am having troubles stabilising Scarlett and would like to know of any experiences. Thanx

[JackieW]

I don't, but you may find this email list useful if you're not on it already. There's a huge amount of info in the files and extremely knowledgeable people - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanineCushings-AutoimmuneCare/

[Scarlettsmum]

I don't, but you may find this email list useful if you're not on it already. There's a huge amount of info in the files and extremely knowledgeable people - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CanineCushings-AutoimmuneCare/

Thanks JackieW....I do belong to an addison's disease yahoo group but everybody is in either the US or UK! I was hoping I might find someone in Aus!!

[isthisdesire]

My dog has Addiosn's Disease that was diagnosed in January 2008. Does anyone else have a dog with this condition? I am having troubles stabilising Scarlett and would like to know of any experiences. Thanx

Hi,

My dog (well my parent's dog now) - a Bearded Collie - has Addison's. She was diagnosed about 6 years ago. It probably took a year to get her medication right (Florinef?). She's been on 8 tablets a day (4 in the morning, 4 at night) for a few years now and hasn't had any problems. She has a blood test every 6 months. Early on you need to really keep a close eye on her - nearly a year after Chloe's diagnosis her kidneys failed and we came really really close to losing her - they upped her medication and she's been perfect ever since.

The difference in her personality once she was stabilised was amazing - she'd always been terrified of EVERYTHING. You couldn't hold a remote control in your hand if she was anywhere near you cause she'd freak out. She was so quiet and nervous - once she was sorted it was like having a brand new dog. She's outgoing and rarely scared of anything these days.

Good luck with Scarlett, get regular blood tests and be vigilant with meds - we think when her kidneys failed she'd been dropping some of the tablets when we would give them to her. I think it's also important to give them the tablets at around the same time every day.

[Clyde]

One of my clients dogs was recently diagnosed with this. I had not ever heard of it before then. I'd noticed the dog was losing weight and becoming depressed, the last time I groomed him he was wobbly and actually snapped at me (usually a very laid back boy). They finally got to the crux of it and it was found to be Addisons. I groomed the dog (Lhasa Apso) again yesterday and he was back to his usual lovely self. Although still very skinny and peeing everywhere from the electrolytes... on meds for life now.

[GoldenWei]

I had a dog who was diagnosed with Addisons when she was about 6. She died at the age of 12 from cancer. Early on it did take a bit of adjusting the medication with Sascha to stabalize her, although from memory it was only a couple of vet visits. Sascha early on from memory was on 2 Cortate and 2 florinef a day, however as the years progressed this was adjusted, florinef increasing with cortate decreasing. Some dogs don't need the cortate at all. It pays to have a good vet that you can discuss with your concerns, and regular blood tests especially early on are vital. Sascha was going every fortnight until she stabalised, and then 6 monthly. The adrenal gland doesn't stay at the one "functional" (for lack of a better word) level thoughout the course of their life. IE. when they are first diagnosed, it may only be operating at 70%, as the years pass that may drop to 50% etc etc. Hence the need to 6 monthly bloodwork, and medication adjustment IF needed. With Sascha, over the course of about 6 years, her medication was adjusted maybe 3 times.

What sort of trouble are you having with her meds, too much or not enough, how often are u taking her for bloodwork? When Sascha first started on her meds, within a couple of days she was like a puppy again, running around like a crazy dog, almost hyperactive, before that she was very lethargic, wouldn't eat to the point of anorexia and occasionally she'd vomit. After her meds kicked in she loved her food.

Edited July 18, 2008 by GoldieGirl

[Scarlettsmum]

My dog has Addiosn's Disease that was diagnosed in January 2008. Does anyone else have a dog with this condition? I am having troubles stabilising Scarlett and would like to know of any experiences. Thanx

Hi,

My dog (well my parent's dog now) - a Bearded Collie - has Addison's. She was diagnosed about 6 years ago. It probably took a year to get her medication right (Florinef?). She's been on 8 tablets a day (4 in the morning, 4 at night) for a few years now and hasn't had any problems. She has a blood test every 6 months. Early on you need to really keep a close eye on her - nearly a year after Chloe's diagnosis her kidneys failed and we came really really close to losing her - they upped her medication and she's been perfect ever since.

The difference in her personality once she was stabilised was amazing - she'd always been terrified of EVERYTHING. You couldn't hold a remote control in your hand if she was anywhere near you cause she'd freak out. She was so quiet and nervous - once she was sorted it was like having a brand new dog. She's outgoing and rarely scared of anything these days.

Good luck with Scarlett, get regular blood tests and be vigilant with meds - we think when her kidneys failed she'd been dropping some of the tablets when we would give them to her. I think it's also important to give them the tablets at around the same time every day.

I guarantee, I am being vigilant! She has been on 16 tablets of florinef (8 at 7am and 8 at 7pm) each day and having her blood tested every 2 weeks. Her ratio was still not acceptable so this morning I gave her an injection of percorten and will be testing her blood in 14 days. Her coat has been falling out and she looks so scruffy at the moment, I hope when she stabilises that this will rectify. She is a beautiful dog and has been through hell! She turned 2 last February and had a total hip replacement the December before. I had tried all sorts of medication to help alleviate the hip dysplasia and although she didn't exhibit any obvious signs of pain, I could tell by the way she moved that she just wasn't right. Hopefully I will be able to get her Addison's stable and she will feel on top of the world.

[GoldenWei]

16 tablets thats a lot. Sascha was only ever on 4 at the most in any one day, although she was on cortate as well (which I assume is similiar to your injections). Does your vet have any idea on why she hasn't stabalised?

[Scarlettsmum]

16 tablets thats a lot. Sascha was only ever on 4 at the most in any one day, although she was on cortate as well (which I assume is similiar to your injections). Does your vet have any idea on why she hasn't stabalised?

Apparently it's quite common for some dogs to go through this during the first year after being diagnosed. I am assuming the cortate is prednisilone? As well as the forninef, Scarlett has been on Delta Cortef aka prednisilone, and this will continue with the injections. Both the injections and the pred will need to be adjusted over the next few months until we find the optimum dose. At first, Scarlett had weekly blood tests, now it is fortnightly. According to the experts, she should stabilise very quickly on the injections........here's hoping!!

[kleintjie]

My mum's little dog was diagnosed with Addison's. Her medications were changed on a regularly basis. My mum had to determine how she acted, especially her depression, to adjust her dose acordingly. It did help her a lot and kept her with us for another 2.5 years. But she has been waiting at rainbow bridge for us since last month. Although she had other problems as well.

All the best with your dog. It can be managed quite well.

[Ally-lee]

Hi, I came across this forum by accident, searching for the addison's condition, for our 7 1/2 hr old silky cross. She had always been a nervous dog right from puppy. But last week she took a turn for the worst and refused to eat. we took her to the vet and they have diagnoised her with addison's. We had never heard of dogs getting it. She has been on medication for 2-3 days and she has just tonight started wanting to eat for her self again. We've been feeding her with a siringe for the last week. I read all the posts on this forum about the disease and everything that everyone is sharing is exactly what our puppy has been going through. Thanks to everyone on here for sharing.

Edited December 18, 2008 by Ally-lee

[Dogsfevr]

A dog we breed got Addisons.She lived a great life passing at 15 yrs.

She was on 8 Fl & i pred every second day.

[Danois]

CIMDA

Not sure if you are a member of the CIMDA group.

[Steve]

We have now posted our first minor questionaire on our website.

Its designed to collect info to help us try to see patterns in the issues dogs suffer with

We're asking for everyone who has had or who still has a sick dog to

give us a few minutes to answer the questions for us. You will need to re do it for each dog

and if its something that's happening now you are able to go back and update the info.

It comes up as a pop up or a link at the top under survey on the front page of our website.

www.mdba.net.au

Julie

[annukya]

Hey everyone,

My 2 year old German Shepherd was diagnosed with addison's disease 5 months ago. She has been regularly having blood work and at the moment is on 1/2 a tablet of prednisone in the morning and 2 florinef at night. She is quite energetic and overall is really healthy (nice glossy coat etc). However, she still doesn't seem to have had any increase in her appetite. She is VERY thin and we have literally tried everything from (BARF, Hills, Evo, Royal Canin, Satin Balls, cooked meat, BBQ chicken...) I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

[ari.g]

I cam across this on a website. May be of interest to some.

Holistic Animal Medicines

[Danois]

Hey everyone,

My 2 year old German Shepherd was diagnosed with addison's disease 5 months ago. She has been regularly having blood work and at the moment is on 1/2 a tablet of prednisone in the morning and 2 florinef at night. She is quite energetic and overall is really healthy (nice glossy coat etc). However, she still doesn't seem to have had any increase in her appetite. She is VERY thin and we have literally tried everything from (BARF, Hills, Evo, Royal Canin, Satin Balls, cooked meat, BBQ chicken...) I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this?

I would be incredibly careful of feeding rich foods like Satin Balls to a dog who is on prednisone.

Prednisone itself can be a cause of pancreatitis and so can rich food.