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When a 6-year old border collie with Addison’s disease showed up at Colorado State University’s veterinary hospital with an apparent Addisonian crisis, the treatment seemed obvious: IV fluids and DOCP to return the dog’s sodium and potassium levels to normal. But when the dog didn’t respond to treatment, the veterinary hospital found out the shocking cause of the dog’s psuedo-Addisonian crisis.
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You can now purchase Addison’s in Dogs on Amazon.com in paperback or e-book. My blog readers can get $5 off the e-book by following this link and entering the code GPGYPVGA.
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Addison’s dogs have a compromised immune system; it goes without saying that you should feed your pet the most nutritious ingredients available. By providing your dog with a home-made diet, you’ll avoid some of the shocking ingredients found in commercial food, including euthanized animals.
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Mineralocorticoids are hormones secreted by the adrenal cortex that regulate salt and water balance in the body. Mineralcorticoid deficiency (as seen in canine Addison’s disease) leads to high potassium levels, low salt levels, and poor heart function. Aldosterone has major mineralcorticoid activity in the body but cortisol also plays a minor part.
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Do you give your Addison’s dog Heartguard or Advantage for heartworm control? These medicines can put a major stress load on your dog and come with a whole host of potential side effects.
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My article, side Effects of Prednisone in Dogs, has just been published on Associated Content:
“Six months after starting a course of treatment for canine Addison’s disease, our dog Shakti’s hair began to fall out. Several weeks later, large bald patches appeared on her hind legs and elbows. Skin
infections broke out, and soon our beautiful border collie resembled a third world street dog. Our vet suspected a thyroid problem, a skin infection, or an Omega-3 deficiency. After a few tests and some futile attempts to correct her skin problems with special shampoos, spray on treatments and dietary supplements I stumbled across the likely answer while researching skin complaints on the Internet: too much prednisone.” Read the rest of this article at the AP website.
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I’m excited to announce the addition of two new tools to the site for Addison’s dogs’ owners: the DOCP dosage calculator and the Florinef dosage calculator. You can find both tools on the top toolbar, or click on these links to access this useful tool:
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Prednisone–one of the drugs used to treat Addison’s disease–is said to have a glucocorticoid effect. Unlike mineralcorticoids, a lack of glucocorticoids isn’t likely to cause an immediate, life-threatening situation. However, a lack of glucocorticoids means that your dog will not be able to physically deal with stress; this can lead to an Addisonian crisis.
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In my article Do Vaccinations Cause Addison’s Disease, I discussed how a dog with a lowered immune system (such as a dog with Addison’s disease), regular vaccinations might not be the best choice. An alternative to vaccines is a titer test, which measures how much antibody to a certain pathogen is on your dog’s system at the time of the test. However, titer tests are not without their own problems.
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If you’ve just found this site, and are looking for some basic information on Addison’s disease, my article that Associated Content just published will give you an overview of the condition:
“If you own a Bearded collie, German short-haired pointer, Great Dane, Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Portuguese water dog, Rottweiler, Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier, Springer Spaniel, Standard Poodle or West Highland White Terrier, chances are you’ve heard of Addison’s disease. It is said to be one hundred times more prevalent in dogs than in humans! Also known as hypoadrenocorticism…” click here to read the rest of the article
