Addison's Disease

[Michelle and Chloe]

I was told my 4 1/2 year old GD was acting "grouchy" and slept for most of the day in daycare on Wednesday and when I took her home she definitely wasn't as energetic as she usually is.  She refused to eat or take any treats but was drinking a lot of water.  About a half hour later she started vomiting (5 times in a 1/2 hr span) and the emesis was bile colored with a lot of mucous.  I called my vet and they wanted me to take her to the emergency vet, thinking she might have a obstruction.  I ended up going to the vet school where they took x-rays and did not see anything that would cause an obstruction.  What they did find was her stomach was inflamed and intestines were filled with gas.  Lab results showed she was dehydrated so they kept her overnight and gave her fluids and antacids and anti emetics.  I picked her up on the next day (Thursday) and she was her usual energetic self. Friday she was also her usual self and I had no problem getting her to eat her bland diet of pasta and boiled hamburger.   Last night she woke me up in the middle of the night to go out and proceeded to have diarrhea.  This morning I thought she was acting fine and I left the house for 3 hrs and when I returned she had an episode of explosive diarrhea.  I called the vet school  and they wanted me to bring her in again.  While waiting she had another episode of vomiting and diarrhea and looked miserable.  The vet is thinking there might be a chance this could be Addison's disease or a very nasty bug.  Anyone's doodle have similar symptoms and was eventually diagnosed with Addison's?  What does the treatment involve and can they live a fairly normal life while they are on hormone replacement shots?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I hope your dog does not have Addison's Disease.

But we have had a number of doodles here with Addison's Disease. It runs in Standard Poodles so it's no surprise that doodles would have it as well. 

Many Addison's dogs do live perfectly good lives with medication, and almost always for life.. The treatment protocol will depend on what the tests reveal. It always involves medications, most often a drug to keep electrolyte (potassium & sodium) levels steady and a cortisol replacement drug. Here is some good information on diagnosing and treating Addison's Disease: http://www.2ndchance.info/addison's.htm

The very best resource for owners of dogs with Addison's Disease is the Addison Dogs website. There you will find answers to every question you may have, and a wonderful support group. 

http://www.addisondogs.com/

Hoping for the very best outcome for your girl. :)

[Rae]

We found out that our Goldendoodle, Bella had Addison's when she was 14 months old. You need to have a blood test done and then a special test for Addison's if the blood test indicates the possibility of Addison's. The sooner you get her tested the better! Percorten is the medication, injections every 28 days for Bella along with daily predisone. This is a life long treatment and it took us six months to find the exact levels of meds she needed. The Percorten is expensive! Be ready for that! The best deal for us was having our vet fax the prescription to 1-800-PetMeds which had the best price (about $150+ for 4cc bottle), they mailed the bottle to us and, because we are chicken about giving shots, we took the bottle to the vet office and a tech gave her the shot at no cost to us. Your dog will need on going monitoring by blood tests so also be prepared for that. The Addison Dog web site is simply wonderful....join the group and you'll get tons of information and great support. Be strong and love your dog every minute of everyday. Once we got Bella's treatment set you would never know anything was wrong with her. You can do this and your sweet pup is certainly worth it!

[Michelle and Chloe]

Thank you Karen and Rae for the information.  Chloe is still at the vet school and is still having diarrhea but the good news is her chem panel came back ok and the vet is not thinking she has Addison's.  She still had her tested for it to totally rule it out but she is now thinking it could be a nasty GI bug.  She received Flagyl yesterday and the vet is hoping that will end the diarrhea by the end of today.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's very good news.

Be sure to give her a very good probiotic while she is on the metronidazole and for a few weeks afterwards. One side-effect is ongoing diarrhea once the drug is discontinued, as it destroys all of the good bacteria necessary for proper stool formation. Proviable DC is a good one. Be sure to give it at least 2 hours apart from the meds.

If things don't resolve with Chloe, I would ask for a referral to a veterinary internal medicine specialist. I would do it sooner rather than later, and I say that from experience. I let my vet "try" various things for three weeks before he got so bad, he was in crisis. He was subsequently diagnosed via endoscopy with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and some of the symptoms you've described fit that disease. General practice vets are just not knowledgeable or experienced enough at diagnosing or treating it. 

But I hope no further treatment is needed. 

[Michelle and Chloe]

Thanks Karen.

I feel fortunate that I live a mile from a vet school.  The ER vet has had a consultation with internal medicine but I am not sure what internal med said.  I am going to ask her about IBS when she calls me this afternoon for Chloe's update.  One of my fears was, could this be giardia?   I have a 14yr old Shepherd that I am watching carefully for any signs/symptoms of what Chloe has.   Would I get the Providable DC from the vet school or is it something I could buy OTC?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's important that you know that IBS and IBD are two very different things. :)

IBS stands for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It's basically a nervous stomach, and it can be controlled with dietary changes. There are no tests for it, and it's not very serious. Inflammation, which is an immune response, is not part of IBS.

IBD, on the other hand, is Inflammatory Bowel Disease, an immune-mediated incurable disease with a 20% mortality rate, even with treatment. Dogs with IBD must be in the care of an IMS, and 80% of them require drugs and dietary changes for the rest of their lives. It's a very big deal, and right up there with the toughest diseases to manage. In all honesty, given a choice between Addison's and IBD, I'd probably choose Addison's. At least the treatment is straight forward. 

All veterinary ERs use internists as the attending vets for dogs who are there overnight..

This is not giardia. Vomiting, gas and inflammation are not symptoms of giardia. 

Proviable is available on-line and is also sold by some vets. 

[Rae]

GREAT NEWS in the fact that it isn't Addison's. Now to solve the mystery. Keep us updated. Rozee and Cassie send doggie hugs!

[Michelle and Chloe]

Karen, the vet recommended Fortiflora probiotic. Are you familiar with this one?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Unfortunately, yes. I would not use it. It is a poor quality product made by Purina and sold only thru vets at an exorbitant profit. The very first ingredent, Animal Digest,  is a flavoring agent which is described in the Dog Food Project's list of Ingredients to Avoid:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/?page=badingredientshttp://www.dogfoodproject.com/?page=badingredients

Animal Digest

AAFCO: A material which results from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue. The animal tissues used shall be exclusive of hair, horns, teeth, hooves and feathers, except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice and shall be suitable for animal feed. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind or flavor(s), it must correspond thereto. A cooked-down broth made from unspecified parts of unspecified animals. The animals used can be obtained from any source, so there is no control over quality or contamination. Any kind of animal can be included: "4-D animals" (dead, diseased, disabled, or dying prior to slaughter), goats, pigs, horses, rats, misc. roadkill, animals euthanized at shelters, restaurant and supermarket refuse and so on.