New member - Addison's

[jennygrace]

Hello,

My name is Jenny and my goldendoodle, Grace, was diagnosed with Addison's last week.  The vet currently thinks she either has atypical or secondary Addison's, because her potassium/sodium levels are normal.  So she's getting 10mg prednisone daily.  It has taken a long time to get this diagnosis, which I understand is pretty normal.  Grace was initially diagnosed with irritable bowel disease. She had so many other little niggly things wrong with her that I felt it all had to be related somehow.  After obsessive internet reading I asked for an ACTH test and bingo!   I am worried, but determined to give her the best care I can.  I look forward to learning more on this forum.

Thank you.

[Jo CIMDA]

Hi

I'm sorry Grace has Addison's but thank goodness you asked for an ACTH test.  Has she improved since being treated?

The prognosis for Addisonian dogs is excellent.  Atypical seems to occur less than primary Addison's but the prognosis is still excellent.  She may at a later date develop full blown Addison's but that can't be predicted and remains to be seen.

I do hope she stabilises very soon.  Good on you for prompting your vet and all credit to him/her for listening to you. 

Jo

[jennygrace]

Thanks Jo.  She was initially on 2.5 mg/day, and today the vet bumped her up to 10 mg/day after consulting with another vet.  They don't see many dogs with Addison's, which is why I feel like I need to be very proactive in researching it.  Grace seems to feel well, she is just very underweight.  The vet put her on Prescription i/d and she's eating 3-4 tins a day.  I had always heard that Prescription is a rubbish food, but I must say she is wolfing it down and seems much better since having been on it.  I had been feeding her Canagan. Thanks for your reply.

Jenny

[Lovemedogs]

Hi Jenny
This is a really huge dose of pred for Addison's and really not necessary. This is a therapeutic dose as opposed to the replacement dose that an Addisonian needs. I know of some dogs as heavy as 100 lb only needing 1 mg pred daily. At this dose it is likely Grace will have side effects from the pred.

You will ned to check the lytes regularly for while as many dogs do transition to Typical Addison's in the first few months following diagnosis.
My own dog, TJ, lived 12 years post diagnosis until I lost him suddenly to cancer. You would never have known he had anything wrong with him if you had met him.

Pam

[jennygrace]

Hi Pam,

I'm so glad you posted this, because I've been doing some reading (http://endocrinevet.blogspot.co.uk) and the vet writing this blog says the maximum dosage he ever prescribes is 5 mg for a really large dog.  He says that 5 mg is a human-sized dose.  I am going to call the vet again tomorrow because it seemed like too huge of a jump to make. I know that Addison's is fairly rare, and evidently my vet's surgery doesn't see a lot of it.  They are getting information from a nearby animal hospital.  I sure wish I had absolute confidence in my vet, but I don't.  The practice has a good reputation, but it's difficult to see the same vet twice, and they all look like they are about 12 years old...