<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content=text/html;charset=iso-8859-1 http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.7600.16490"></HEAD>
<BODY style="PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 15px"
id=MailContainerBody leftMargin=0 topMargin=0 CanvasTabStop="true"
name="Compose message area">
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>Hi De Ann,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>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?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>the good news is the prednisone is very inexpensive :
).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>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.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>Don't be hard on yourself; you're doing the best you can
and Gracie is lucky to have you,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>If you need anything just drop me a line,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>Sue : )</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Calibri>Sue Spataro<BR><A
href="mailto:sue@pinksunrise.com">sue@pinksunrise.com</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>