[Dailydrool] Addison's disease

[Sue Spataro]

Hi De Ann,

My Vinny, who is a 4 year old basset, has Addison's disease. It was diagnosed last May. He started having weakness in his hind legs years before, we assumed he had CP at birth. The October before the diagnosis he started to slow down; sleeping more, moving more slowly, his fur also changed and became fluffier.

He became very sick in May with what I thought was a tummy bug. He did not improve in what I thought was an appropriate time, and we took him to the hospital. He had all the symptoms of Addison's but to make the definitive diagnosis we had them do the blood test to measure his ACTH levels. This lets you know if he is making enough cortisol. Not making enough cortisol is lethal. It turned out he wasn't making enough so we began him on prednisone. At first he needed to stay in the hospital and receive it through an IV because he was still so sick. After awhile he felt better and started eating. This was when he could take the prednisone by mouth and go home. It took a couple of weeks to adjust his dose because with steroids, like prednisone, you can't just stop and start them- you need to gradually decrease the dose.

Once we did that he has been fantastic : )! Vinny is in the best shape of his life; faster than ever, more energy than a puppy : ). He became a new man. All he needs to do is have his 5 milligrams of prednisone every day and he is good to go. When I know he will be in a high stress situation, like boarding at the vet's, I talk with the vet and we gently increase his dose; no problems.

I know you can't afford the ACTH right now. It sounds like you and your vet agree on the Addison's diagnosis. It may be better for Gracie Mae to take her prednisone once a day as opposed to the shot once every three weeks; it will give her a steadier dose of the prednisone. It'll be more like how her body makes the steroid. It may take a little more time to adjust her dose to what she needs and then she'll start feeling better. How much is she taking now?

the good news is the prednisone is very inexpensive : ).

I hope this helps; I know how you feel, it can be pretty scary. Once you get the prednisone dose right things will probably get better for Miss Gracie.

Don't be hard on yourself; you're doing the best you can and Gracie is lucky to have you,

If you need anything just drop me a line,

Sue : )

Sue Spataro
sue at pinksunrise.com
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