How Addison’s Disease Can Affect Dogs: Sarah’s Story

What Is Addison’s Disease in Dogs?

Addison’s disease in dogs happens when the adrenal cortex isn’t working properly or isn’t working at all. In science, it’s called hypoadrenocorticism. The adrenal cortex provides two corticosteroids:

1. Glucocorticoids
2. Mineralocorticoids

Addison’s disease comes down to this: There is a disturbed balance between sodium and potassium. A shortage of sodium causes water loss and lowers blood pressure. At the same time, there’s too much potassium which causes the heartbeat to slow down in a dramatic way. When not treated in a proper way, this disease is fatal.

What Triggers Addison’s Disease in Dogs?

It is still unknown what exactly triggers Addison’s disease. The symptoms can be so various that it can be very difficult to establish the right diagnosis.

They do know that the disease happens more in dogs than in humans. The human form was first described by Dr. Thomas Addison back in 1849. The first canine form as late as 1953.

Short History of Our Dog Sarah

Our dog Sarah was a Wirehaired Pointed Griffon, a hunting dog breed also known as the Korthals Griffon. She came to live with us at the age of 11 months in January 1996.

We already had her litter sister Tsjip from the time she was 7 weeks old. Sarah went to a dog owner who didn’t deserve to have dogs at all. Sarah was mentally and physically abused for about 7 months of her life. She didn’t get enough to eat and they locked her in the garage most of the time because their 12-year-old dog didn’t like to have a puppy around.

After 11 months, the owners called the breeder and told them they wanted to get rid of the pup. The breeder asked us if we knew someone who would want this dog. We had her sister Tsjip and she was a marvelous dog. So we decided to take Sarah too. We’ve always had two dogs at the same time. I spare you to describe the exact condition she was in when I got her. It was bad, very bad. It took us weeks to clean her up.

Addison’s Started With Different Fallouts

It took months before Sarah even dared to act like a normal dog again. At the age of 2 years, she was a rather happy dog. Then she started to have these small fallouts, like vomiting after dinner. I took her to the vet, and she got some meds and seemed okay for a short time, but then she got diarrhea. We never were able to put the finger on a direct cause, so it was guesswork for the vet, too.

We later found out that these small fallouts, including diarrhea and vomiting, were actually early symptoms of Addison’s disease in dogs, caused by an imbalance in sodium and potassium levels due to adrenal insufficiency.

A few months along, it was obvious that Sarah wasn’t feeling too well. All kinds of trivial things seemed to bother her. One after the other. We thought it might be a reaction to the abuse, so we overloaded her with care and love.

When Addison’s Disease Reaches a Critical Point

Then, one Sunday night when I came home, Sarah jumped off the sofa to greet me. At that moment she collapsed on her back legs. She seemed paralyzed. We called the vet and it appeared that Sarah had a heartbeat of 60 (it should be 80 or 90). The vet still didn’t know what was wrong, but he gave her some meds for the night. The next day he made an appointment for us at the Department of Small Pets at the University in Gant, Belgium. That’s only 40 minutes by car from our home.

They couldn’t tell us if she would make it to the next day, but she did. She stayed in the University hospital for about a week and then we took her home again. They told us Sarah had to be on heavy medication for the rest of her life.

Our vet was not to blame. They never had a dog with Addison’s disease in their clinic before. They didn’t make the connection between Addison and all the ‘harmless’ fallouts.

Treatment Options for Dogs With Addison’s Disease

Veterinarians can treat Addison’s disease rather well with fludrocortisone and prednisolone, but they need to find the right balance. Both meds can have heavy side effects, and therefore vets don’t like to give them. Yet in the case of Addison’s disease, it’s a must and there will not be side effects. The meds will not be an addition on top of the normal production of these hormones. They regulate the balance between sodium and potassium and make it right again.

It takes time to experiment with the meds to get the balance right again. During that time, we had to rush over to the University when things were not going as they should. Sometimes in the middle of the night. When they finally found the right balance, things turned for the better. Sarah became a happy dog again. Yet we always had to be on the alert for signs that would set her back. In Sarah’s case, it was the vomiting after dinner. When that happened we knew she needed an extra shot at the vet.

Luckily we found a Pharmacist in Belgium, not too far from our home, who was willing to make the meds for us.

Skipping Meds Even Once Could Be Fatal

The administration of the meds is very strict and so vital. One missed medication in the morning or evening can mean death for the dog. Addison’s changes your daily routine. Medication time was a set time twice a day. We always had to make sure there was enough supply of meds in the house. We had a ‘survival package’, holding a heavy shot in case of an emergency.

When we took the dogs with us for a day or a weekend, we took enough meds along in case we were not able to get home in time. We also made sure to take along a vet’s declaration of what the dog was suffering from in case we had to visit another vet. That happened a few times.

Once in a while, the balance got unbalanced again. Then we had to get to a vet as soon as possible wherever we were. Waiting to see your own vet might cause the dog to die, if the heartbeat should drop too low.

Addison’s Disease Is Treacherous

Despite all the good care, things can go wrong anyway. With Sarah, the alert signal was always not eating or throwing up. When that happened, we knew something was wrong. Then we rushed over to the vet, who then checked her sodium and potassium balance. If it was out of balance he would give her an extra shot. That happened several times.

This all may sound very stressful and time-consuming to you, but actually, it wasn’t that bad. You get used to the routine and I must say, with the proper dose of meds, Sarah was living a normal dog’s life.

We knew that she wouldn’t reach a very old age. She would either die from her disease or from the heavy medication.

After 6 Years, Sarah Lost Her Battle Against Addison’s Disease

The specialist told us that it was rather important to avoid stressful situations. Too much stress can trigger the unbalancing. That was not an easy task. Our dogs had the habit of sneaking out when they saw a chance. Tsjip could open doors from the inside and outside. Being hunting dogs, they would roam the agricultural farmlands around us.

When that happened, they would stay away for as many as 12–16 hours. If that happened in the evening or night, it was useless to go look for them. We had to wait until they decided to come home again. They always came home together, and they never harmed any farm animals around us. The bad thing was that Sarah then skipped one medication. That we could solve. We could not solve that those trips were tiresome and stressful. At the age of 8 years old, one of those adventures became fatal for Sarah.

They were gone for 16 hours, so she missed her meds twice. When they came home, I immediately took her to the vet. He gave her an extra shot, but it was too late. She didn’t recover like she normally would. She died the following day.

It was terribly sad. Yet I was glad that we had been able go give her a happy, full life in her 6 years of Addison’s disease.

Addison’s Disease Can Be Hereditary, but It Doesn’t Have to Be

Quite often it happens that the illness occurs to more members of your dog’s family. Of course, if her family is unknown, there’s no way to tell if it’s a hereditary form or not. In Sarah’s case, it was hereditary. It appeared that her mother and two siblings came down with Addison too.

Addison’s Disease is one of the most underdiagnosed illnesses, due to the diversity in related ailments and symptoms. When a vet has never seen the symptoms before, they might not make the connection to Addison’s.

What Are Signs of Addison’s Disease in Dogs?

If your dog suffers frequently from one of the following symptoms, make sure to mention Addison’s Disease to your vet.

• Refusing to eat
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Lethargy
• Lack of appetite
• Tremors or shaking
• Muscle weakness
• Pain in hindquarters

Keep an eye on your dog after stressful events. Any repeated aberrant behavior could be a sign that something is wrong.

More Information About Addison’s Disease

• Addison’s Disease in Dogs: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention | American Kennel Club
• Addison’s Disease
  Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is one of the nation’s top veterinary schools. It has one of the best-equipped veterinary teaching hospitals in the world and top faculty who are respected worldwide.
• Addison’s Disease in Your Dog | Treating Hypoadrenocorticism
• What Is Addison’s Disease | AddisonDogs

Comments

Titia Geertman (author) from Waterlandkerkje – The Netherlands on July 13, 2018:

#Lori A Jenkins: Addison’s can influence a dog’s behavior in many ways. It’s been too long ago to exactly remember all the signs my dog showed, but I do know that with my dog it was mainly throwing up her food and a low heartbeat. Even when she already was on full medication the throwing up was a signal to rush over to the vet.

It took some time in the beginning to get the medication straightened out.

Lori A Jenkins on July 13, 2018:

My Roman has been diagnosed with Addison’s. Did your baby ever become really hyper with a lot of panting?

Titia Geertman (author) from Waterlandkerkje – The Netherlands on February 15, 2017:

#Ellen: I’m sorry to hear of your illness and thank you for your comment to Anselmo. Every country has its own medicine prices. Very interesting to know if dogs are treated with the same medications as humans. I’ll ask my vet about that.

Ellen on February 15, 2017:

Very nice article about your dog. She was gorgeous, and I’m glad she got away from her sad beginning and had some good years with you.

To Anselmo: I don’t know if they treat dogs with the exact same medications as humans, but I’m a person with Addison’s and my steroid tablets only cost about $30 USD a month without insurance or $10 with insurance. My emergency injection is another $10 without insurance, but I have not yet needed to use it, and so far have just replaced it every two years when it expires. I think it would be a shame for pets not to get treatment if the cost is too high for animals or in other countries. Best wishes to you if you have a sick pet!

Titia Geertman (author) from Waterlandkerkje – The Netherlands on January 26, 2017:

#Anselmo Santos: I don’t know what Addison medication costs in other countries. They weren’t exceptional costly in my case as I recall.

Anselmo Santos on January 25, 2017:

As in most cases Addison’s disease is autoimmune, caused by autoantibodies, and the remaining are also other diseases such as tuberculosis, AIDS, metastatic cancer, and others such as meningitis and hyperplasiat.

For the very rich owners, there will be no problem, but for ordinary people like me, we need to create associations to be able to respond to this problem.