How to Get Cheaper Treatment for Canine Addison’s Disease
Posted: July 29, 2009 Filed under: Treatment 22 Comments »If your dog has canine Addison’s disease, you might experience sticker shock at the veterinary office. A month’s supply of replacement hormones for our Addison’s dog, Shakti, cost $80 per month. In this article, I’ll discuss how to reduce the costs of treatment, or even get it for free!
Shop Around for Percorten-V and Florinef
At diagnosis, our border collie, Shakti, weighed 33 lbs. One shot of Percorten-V (1.33ml) cost $69 at the veterinarian. On top of that, we had to pay $15 for prednisone every 20 days. Money was tight at the time–so I did a little shopping around.
Google is your friend, but don’t expect miracles: The cheapest price for a 4ml bottle of Percorten-V I found on the internet at time of writing was $150 (“on sale”). I followed one ad for $138.50 to “Entirely Pets” but when I got there–surprise, surprise the price had jumped to $179.99. Even if I could get it at $138.50, that’s still $46.16 per dose…and you have to buy the needles and administer it yourself on top of that.
Try compounding pharmacies for cheap Florinef (also ask about liquid Florinef, which is another option). Here are links to a few:
Nora Apothecary 1 (800) 729-0276
Congaree Veterinary Pharmacy1 (877) 939-1335
Valley Drug and Compounding1 (818) 788-0635
Pet Pharm
Summit Chemist (Canada): 1-866-794-7387
Find the cheapest vet around and give him your business: We live in Jacksonville, Florida, and there’s a well-known pet clinic here called Herschel Animal clinic. They don’t have the bells and whistles of the upscale veterinary practices (they rarely answer their phone and sometimes you have to wait out in the parking lot to be seen); you sometimes have to wait in line for an hour or two. But they are cheap, and for someone with an Addisonian dog, that can literally be a lifesaver. We’re charged only $45 A 1.33ml shot of Percorten-V (including the office visit charge) and a month’s supply of prednisone is $10. Shakti and I take a book and a Starbucks, and just enjoy the time together while we wait.
Cut down on the dosage of Percorten-V/Florinef
Decrease the medication dosage with your vet’s help: Since being diagnosed with Addison’s, Shakti has put on ten pounds (she looks healthier now). However, her medication (1.33ml) has stayed the same. Technically, the dosage should have been increased but as her blood work is fine, there’s no need.
Tell your vet that you would like to decrease your pet’s medication. Your vet will check your pet’s electrolytes every month for a few months until you’ve reached the lowest maintenance dose possible. Initially, this will be expensive, say $50 per month for the additional blood work for 6 months. But it might save you $20-30 a month thereafter in decreased Percorten-V or Florinef.
If you can’t afford it, find a way to afford it:
One reason that Dr. Plant at Herschel offers Percorten-V at the lowest price possible is because he knows it’s sometimes prohibitively expensive. One former client of his just didn’t get the treatment for their dog, and the animal “just wasted away,” he said. “It was sad, sad.”
The fact is, your dog must have replacement hormones, or they will die. Although there isn’t a free pet clinic system in the states like there is in the UK (the PSDA), there are many routes you can try to obtain reduced cost, or even free, care.
Write a letter to your vet: this will probably work if you’ve been a long term client and are likely to continue being a client in the future. Write your vet a personal letter and tell him that you cannot afford full treatment costs. Tell him what you can afford a month. Ask him/her for their help. Remember that your vet will still have to purchase the drug at base cost ($45 for a 1.33ml dose!), so don’t expect miracles. But it’s worth a shot.
Contact shelters and rescue organizations in your area and ask them if they know of any low cost clinics. Pets 911 offers a search feature where you can enter your zip code and find local organizations.
Consider finding another home for your pet. If you have a purebred animal, contact your nearest breed-specific rescue and tell them that you are having trouble affording medications. Some rescue organizations will allow you to advertise for a new home on their website, and someone who is familiar with Addison’s might be willing to give your dog a home. You can also look for breed-specific rescue discussion boards–there are many on the web. Whatever you do, make sure that you don’t give your animal to the local animal control or city-run shelter; they will immediately euthanise sick animals.
Make A Wish: if all else fails you can try posting for help on this Make a Wish website. They match donors people with needs. You never know when an angel (maybe a local vet?) will offer a helping hand!
Only the first injection of percorten V is based on weight, after that the dose is supposed to be adjusted by the end of cycle electrolytes. Less than 20% of dogs ever need to the full 1 mg per lb starting dose. Most dogs settle in at about .5mg per lb and some even less. My 75lb dog started with 3.1ml and now takes 1ml every 28 days.
I get 8 months worth of prednisone form my vet for $18. The cheapest place to get prednisone is costco.
Vets pay $122 for a 4ml vial of percorten directly from Novartis. You can buy a 4 ml vial online for $145 with a script from your vet. Any vet should teach owners to give their own dog the injections if asked. it is easy and saves money.
Florinef is not a drug that is usually reduced, in fact most dogs have their dose increased a lot over time.
The cheapest Vet is not always the best vet.
Bre,
Thank you for an informative comment. It looks like your experience was vastly different from mine: after following the “rules” and paying out over $1200 in post-Addison’s tests, I gave up with the “usual” advice and took matters into my own hands, self-treating my dog with incredible results. Unfortunately, not all vets (even the “internal medicine” ones) are educated about Addison’s, and it goes without saying that even expensive veterinarian treatment doesn’t guarantee you good results either. I am a firm believer in reducing medications to the absolute minimum: my dog is on 1/4 of the recommended dose of pred (something my vet advised me against), but she has never looked or felt better.
BTW, the price of Percorten just went up $20 (last month) for vets.
Stephanie
We are beside ourselves since finding out our 110 pd. Sheppard husky mix has addisons. I need to find out how I can get percorten-v for cheaper than 164.00$ . Money is tight and my dog is like my child, I can’t give him up ! ! If anyone has any info. I would appreciate it……. sincerly, lost in Colorado
I did my homework and educated myself and then educated my vet on managing Addison’s using percorten. My vet was very willing to learn and is impressed with the results. My boy was started on florinef and that did not work out well at all and it was expensive.
Reducing the percorten to the lowest effective dose is “dosing to effect” and most Vets seem to know very little about it when using percorten. My boy takes 1.25mg of pred a day and rearly if ever needs more. His physiologic dose is supposed to be 7.5mg.. “dosing to effect” is where it is at.. Why give more of any drug than will accomplish the job in my opinion.
Novartis generally increases percorten in January but they increased twice last yr. So far I have not seen the increase but I am sure it will come. The online sites have not increased their price yet.
Thank you for the article. I’m from Canada, and am currently paying $234 per vial of Percorten-V (and yes, that is after shopping around, lol). I give the injections myself. Since the dollar is now on par, I was hoping to order online from the US, but can not find any Percorten-V for $150 a bottle – which would justify the shipping. I was wondering which site offered it for that price?
Also, I’ve found that Depo-Medrol (an injection she receives every 8 weeks) has been more effective than pred when treating our German Pinscher. Not only because she was extremely adverse to taking pills after a year (she would search them out no matter where I hid them!), but I also found she was stable on a very low dose. We’ve been using it with her for the last 5.5 years to great success – she is 8 now. The cost has been ~$34/7 mos + needles.
You’re welcome!
I did find one website (about a year ago) that offered it for $150 a bottle, but the price went up when I clicked on their ad. Plus, my vet told me they increased the base price to vets by $20/bottle recently, so I doubt you can find it for $150 any more.
I hadn’t heard of Depo-Medrol being used before, but I am going to look into it…my dog also is stable on a very low dose (2.5mg pred per day). Thanks for the tip!
I would be careful with the depo-medrol, it can lead to diabetes, which is also a risk with addisons. If your pet won’t take oral med, you can get trans-dermal gels from pet pharmacys.
I work in a vet clinic in canada and am also looking for the cheapest price… as listed sofar it’s $197 + tax for our cost
We are just recovering from a crisis with our wire hair male dachshund and the Vet is not diagnosing much other than viral. They did a full panel senior blood workup. I remember the intern saying something about abnormal WBC and mineral something. But she said that could be from Dehydration. He is almost three years old. And was totally fine until age 1 and a half. Then the aggressiveness with his toys. The skin itching, skin infections. Now this latest is gastro intestinal infections. Why hasn’t my Vet looked for a connection here. Now we are home on Flagyl which seems to be accentuating his skin scratching. I am just lost here. Before this we thought just skin allergies. But now the stomach problems. He has never been on steriods so far. Just been given ataract for a possible skin allergy. But it did not help that much. And I noticed the weekend stay in Vet hospital with iv’s seems to exasperated his skin problems. So stress seems to make him worse. I am lost. Helpless. I love my dog.
Been dealing w/Addison’s afflicted 45 lb. standard poodle for over a year now. Have been going ’round & ’round about Percortin vs. Florinef; cost is very much a concern.
Have good vet, but my indecision has defaulted treatment to 10mg/day prednisone and 1.9 ml Percortin whenever my buddy is starting to display symptoms…(usually 60+days) bad on me!
It appears from what is said here, I should be able to get on the right track with Percortin/pred at significantly decreased dosage levels….
My Question then is, how do you dial the dosages in without the blood tests?
I Really Appreciate the benefit of your experiences
There really is no way to “dial the dosages” without the blood tests. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, because I do know the cost can be significant!
If you are concerned about dosing, I would recommend consulting an Internal Medicine Specialist. Most dogs will do well on a very small dose. Hopefully this information will be published over the next few months.
my 55 lb dog was diagnosed with Addisons about 6 weeks ago after a crisis became apparent after the violent storms hit our neighborhood and his lifestyle was turned upsidedown for a while. The emergency vet prescribed Florinef and I got rx filled for almost $2.00 a pill, which makes the cost for treatment almost prohibitive for me. When I took him for his vet visit, I thought Percorten would be the cheaper way to go, but it cost $150. for his shot. ouch! Anyway, I found Florinef at a Canadian pharmacy for 16 cents a pill, which will make his monthly med cost at $19.20, which is so much cheaper than the $2.00 a pill I had been paying at a US pharmacy. Of course, I still have to have the labs drawn every 2 weeks for a while to make sure he is on track.
http://www.onlinepharmaciescanada.com They will only fill a 3 month supply so I got 400 pills for 64. plus 9.95 shipping, for a total of 73.95.The only problem is it takes 2-4 weeks to arrive.
I hope this helps people afford treatment for their precious fur babies.
I have a 10 year old Rat Terrior that was unofficially diagnosed with Addison’s. We didn’t do the official diagnostic test since he had all the classic signs and responded to the treatment very well. Originally I had to pay someone to get the injections till we were sure it would work, that only last 3 months cause I couldn’t afford the cost of the 60 mile trip and then the $150/visit cost. (Some vets are there to make money, not patient care)
Since that time I give the injections myself (I’m also an EMT taking nursing classes) and buy from the cheapest/best source I can find. Since my dog is only 20 lbs we only give .5ml/dose and we do stretch that dose for 28 days. All blood tests that have been done are favorable and our vet is very happy with the results. We are giving Prednisone as needed (which isn’t very often) but it does make him gain weight.
We’ve been on the .5ml dose for 7 1/2 years. We keep a very detailed record of any issues in a notebook so we can take any frequency in problems.
Good luck to all and enjoy those dogs cause they are precious.
Just wanted to say thank you for this site. Our journey so far has been crazy so far and this gives me hope for cost and health
We left our pup boarded at the vets for 10 days while on vaca she was perfectly healthy, and had just had bloodwork done saying so a month before. We came home and picked up a dog that did not bounce back to her usual self. It has been 9 days since we picked her up and she is on deaths door, stayed at the vets overnight and today we are starting treatment for Addisons! I am absorbing all of your comments and hope I can find a clinic here in NC that will be reasonable, the vet has told me her cost is $120 per shot. Thank you again for the hope and should I learn anything useful I will certainly come back! De
Hi – where in NC are you? I’m in the Charlotte area.
My westie was diagnosed with Addison’s two months ago. Since that time, we have spent so much on his treatment – hospitalization was required he was so ill prior to the diagnosis.
I was giving him 1/2 prednisone tab (5 mg) and 1 fludrocortisone (.1 mg) each day since his release from the hospital on May 9, 2011. Yesterday he was vomiting, as we witnesses two months ago, so my husband brought him to our vet.
We are being told that the fludrocortisone is not sufficient and he needs the Percorten at $222 every 25 days. I am so upset! There is no way that we can afford that!
I’m wondering if maybe the Florinef would have worked better than the generic.
Can someone help me? I don’t want to lose my dog, but we can’t pay for his treatment.
Thank you.
I pay $65 per month now for Percorten for my border collie. I would estimate you should be paying about $30 for your Westie — shop around with vets for one that won’t overcharge you so much.
My dog was diagnosed 1 month ago with addisons disease need info on buying percorten at what you are paying
My 11 year old Portuguese Water Dog was diagnosed with Addison’s Disease in 2007 after suffering an Addisonian crash. He did very well on Percorten and Prednisone although we did notice that if we injected him on say, January 1, the affect left him quite zippy for about a week, then for two weeks he would level off, and then the last week he would be quiet. In other words, each month following an injection he would have an initial “high” which would level off and then drop just as he was ready for a new injection. On the advice of another veterinarian after I mentioned the “highs” and “lows” of our dog’s Percorten schedule about 2 years post-diagnosis (on Percorten and Prednisone the entire time), it was suggested we switch to Florinef and Prednisone. The fact that Florinef is given daily would keep him level or at least the same each day, and the cost was a fraction of the Percortin. We found a compounding pharmacy and after some initial adjusting of dosage, things seemed fine. After 9 months on Florinef, our dog sustained another Addisonian crash and we took him to the emergency clinic where he spent 4 days in ICU. He is now back on Percorten. We will have to adjust our budget elsewhere to make up for the additional cost, but I just wanted to let folks know that Florinef is not an appropriate substitute for Percortin for all Addisonians. Dogs’ needs are individual and Percortin works for some while Florinef might work for others, but they are not interchangeable.
Thanks for the information. One of my dogs was just diagnosed with Addisons. Prior to his diagnosis, the vet had put him on prednisone for a large skin rash. I was not told that prednisone use could cause Addisons disease, and I am disappointed that I did not research the side effects. Anyway, now I have to decide between the shots or the pills. Sounds like Percorten may work better from your experience.
My little Lou-Lou Mae is a 5lb Yorkie. She has been diagnosed with addisons, $800.00 later and 2 days in the hospital. She is responding well to .75ml of Prednisone and percortin. I asked my vet about giving the shots myself and was told NO!!!! They offered for me to buy the bottle for 87.00 then said NO!!!!It wasn;t allowed I feel they are out for just the Money. I also have a 5lb male Yorkie with allergys he visits the same vet atleast 2 times a month. My monthly expense is at least 200 amonth for both dogs. Special food and treats.
I can’t really say much more on the Procorten but my local Taget fills my Predinsone for $4 for 30 pills. It is one of medications on the “cheap” list for people and they give it my dog as well. I recently had 2 dogs on Prednisone. One being 20mg pill and the other a 10 mg pill. Total due @ checkout $14. Try your local Target.