My Staffie Has Addison's Disease

[AndreaC]

Ive had a terrible week with my dog falling severly ill. At one point I almost lost him and his body was cold as ice like a coarpse. He has been diagnosed with Addisons disease and luckly enough the test results came through just in time to confirm it and start treatment. He came back home today full of beans though his legs still give way on him. He will be on 2 lots of tablets daily now for the rest of his life bless him but I am so happy he has fought it and survived this crisis episode.

 

[jaw]

My dog has had addison's disease for about 4 years now and she is doing wonderful - so there is hope. We started her out on two tablets as well - Flourinef and Prednisone but we ended up switching her to the shot that is administered every 25 days (http/www.vetmed.wsu.edu/clientED/addisons.asp) - I can't remember the exact name but my vet calls it the Dopa or Doka shot. I would seriously suggest you go the route of the shot every 25 days - it is cheaper in the long run and my dog is much healthier.

When my dog was on the flourinef and prednisone, she got real fat (she was up to a total of two prednisone pills a day) and she had an "attack" every 6 weeks where I was forced to board her at the vet where he could flush her system out. It got so bad that I thought I might have to put her down. By chance, I was telling a different vet about my problem and he told me about the shot every 25 days. The reason some vets don't use the shot is (as my new vet explained) because there is a lot of paperwork that must be filled out because there are a lot of regulations that go along with the treatment (on the vet's side of things). There is some danger to the shot because the vet must give the shot into the dog's spine so if the dog were to jump while the treatment was being adminstered then there would be a chance that the dog could become paralyzed.

That was about 3.5 years ago and my dog has returned to her normal shape and normal muscular definition. My dog still needs to take prednisone everyday but we have her down to about .5 pill a day and we haven't had an addison's attack since we switched her to the shot.

I hope everything works out well. By the way, my dog is a jack russel terrier about 14 lbs.

 

[Heather.]

Aww sorry to hear that about both of your dogs... Hope your dog makes a full recovery Andrea just like jaws dog did ... xx

 

[seffieuk]

Sorry to hear about your dog - it is heartbreaking when they are ill. <big hug>