Addison’s Disease is a disorder in which the outer layer of the adrenal glands stop producing important hormones. These hormones help control the many important functions including electrolytes and helping the body to deal with stress. Without these hormones, severe illness will occur, even death.
Dogs with Addison’s Disease present in two ways: those that present in severe distress (hypovolemic shock) and those who have a more chronic illness that present in an on again off again fashion. Symptoms can include:
weakness, collapse, vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, lethargy.
As you can tell, these are very common symptoms. With pets that have the more episodic form, sometimes we see just mild vomiting every few weeks, or just being a bit off. One of my instructors called Addison’s Disease “the great mimicker” because it can look like some many other diseases including a simple upset stomach.
Diagnosis is based on lab tests. A general lab panel will show electrolyte changes, notably high potassium, low sodium, and high calcium. Not every dog will have these changes but many do. There is a specific test to look at cortisol. Unfortunately, it’s an expensive test and we only want to run it when we are suspicious.
Treatment is replacing those lacking hormones. It is for life. Severely ill dogs will need to be hospitalized. We typically treat with a monthly injection and a daily pill…again for life.
My dog, Daisy, was diagnosed with Addison’s today. Two weeks ago, she had an “off” day, didn’t eat and was lethargic. Because she has a chronic issue with her stomach and tends to eat things, I didn’t think much of it and she was fine the next day. But then on Christmas, she was lethargic and didn’t eat. On the 26th, she was still a little lethargic. But today, she was acting weak and had a tremor. We ran a lab panel and she showed electrolyte disturbances. We ran the test on her cortisol and treated her with IV fluids and steroid replacement. Her test came back with no reportable cortisol. Fortunately, within a few hours she was more energetic and even ate tonight. She was very lucky that we treated her today, because she could have crashed quickly. Tonight, she’s not herself yet, but she’s by my side on the sofa comfortably.
So, if your pet comes in for “not feeling themselves” know that we run lab tests for a very good reason…to make sure your dog doesn’t have Addison’s Disease is a good one.