addisons disease

[Blondie]

My 2 yr old female rottie was very ill last week. The vet diagnosed her with Addisons disease. I am devastated. A few days of iv fluids has her almost back to normal. She will have to be on medication every day for the rest of her life. Any comments or experiences would be appreciated.

[Helen B.]

Blondie,

I'm sorry to say that some very close friends of mine have had first hand experiance with this disease and last month had to have there 6yr old rotti put down.

Brook was diagnosed with Addisons disease at around the same age. She had to take medication daily but as the years went on, her system was not responding to the medication any more and her quality of life was in question.

I was told that this is actually a human disease and it's hard to diagnose because it is not very common to dogs. It comes on very quickly and with no warning signs at all.

I hope things go well for you and your rotti and she lives a long and happy life.

[MARYDVM]

Addison's disease is the "great pretender" because it can look like a lot of other diseases, or even none at all. Symptoms can range from mild lethargy and loss of appetite to sudden collapse or convulsions. The destruction of the adrenal tissue that leads to clinical Addison's disease is usually immune mediated. The hormones the damaged adrenal gland no longer produces are essential for life and must be given to the dog daily(in pill form) or monthly(by injection). Treating Addison's disease is a constant balancing act, frequent monitoring of blood values is required. There is no cure, just maintenance therapy.

[pogosladyfriend]

my sweet girl was diagnosed with addisons disease when she was about four she was always sickly.she was put to sleep when she was eight. that was three months ago. we miss her dearly. i have only heard of it in one other dog. its really rare and i think it only happens in female dogs. im pretty sure its genetic too. its a sad disease and when they die they go slowly. muffin got pancreatitis and was on ivs for a week. strangly she didnt get better. we took her home. the medicine that we gave her had to be monitered and changed frequently. it made her diabetic and gave her kidney failure. on her last day, muffin couldnt walk but she wanted so badly to be with me that she managed to come into the room where i was. she started breathing funny and that made me cry. i got the vet to come by and put her to sleep. your dog will live a good life until the last few weeks. Dogs with addisons usually dont live past 8. im sorry you have to go through this.

[frontierrots]

My bosses neutered male GSD cross was diagnosed with Addisons at 4 or 5 years of age. he was on an injectible once a month med the last couple years (fluconal???) and a very small amount of predisone; before that he was on pills (Pred and maybe something else) and needed salt added to his diet daily. Max lived to be 12 years old and finally failed last year