My dog's ACTH test was positive for Addison's. Is the diagnosis wrong?

Thank you for posting the results! I'm not sure what you are reading regarding diagnosing early and late, it is not so much of an issue with Cushing's. In really really advanced cases there can be a lot of damage done to other body systems but it is usually caught on way before that stage. And your dog is not there. From your results I can see that the post result is a two fold increase from the high end of normal. This makes me think the disease has likely been rumbling away for some time. Like I say the most important determination of progression of the disease are the clinical signs. If your dog is getting coat change and a pot belly then it's been going on for a few months. The acth stimulation test is not perfect but it is highly suggestive of Cushing's in this case. If your dog has clinical signs I would get your vet to start therapy with vetoryl which should make a huge difference. It's not too late to start treatment.

I'm sorry Julinho isn't doing well! Addison's disease in dogs is diagnosed by a blood test. A dog is given an injection of the adrenal stimulation hormone called ACTH. A normal dog will show an increase in blood cortisol, which a dog with Addison's disease will not have an increase in blood cortisol. Keep in mind that Addison's is not common and has a wide variety of symptoms so your vet may want to do other tests to rule out other possible causes of his symptoms. If those are ruled out, then the vet will do an ACTH stimulation test. I would take him into the vet on Monday. I hope this helps!

Hello. Having a chronic condition like Addison's can stress the body & cause an artificial lowering of T4. You should insist that your veterinarian run a full thyroid panel, not just look at T4 which can be artificially lowered in many non hypothyroid situations. In addition, we generally treat Addison's disease with a mineral corticoid along with a glucocorticoid like prednisone. I would ask your vet about this as well. You need some more information on your pet. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I am sorry this has happened. To test for Addisons disease you would do the ACTH stim test. I do not think there is a genetic test for the parents. This is an adrenal gland disease and basically the dog is not producing enough mineralcorticoids. Thank you for using PetCoach. Here is some information about Addisons disease: https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/endocrine/c_dg_hypoadrenocorticism

Hi there. Sorry to hear that Tink is having this issue. I strongly recommend you work with your vet regarding this issue. She may need to have her medication dosage(s) adjusted. What is usually done is the dog is started at the recommended dose and then the dose is decreased by about 10% monthly to find the lowest dose possible that will control the disease. It is not super common for a small breed dog to be diagnosed with Addison's disease. It is not impossible and I am not questioning your vet but since I am not privy to all the details on her case you may want to get a second opinion. It may be that she isn't truly Addisonian so the medications she is taking is making her worse. Just a thought. I hope this helps. Best wishes.

If Holly is not improving clinically, she might need to be tested again (ACTH stimulation test) to make sure the dose of Vetoryl is the correct one for her. Usually the blood test has to be done 10-14 days after the treatment has started, 4 to 6 hrs after Vetoryl administration. Please post again on the forum if you would like to discuss it further. I hope my answer was helpful.

I am sorry the K-Cl was diagnosed with Addison's disease. Good news is that once treatment is start they usually do really well! If they are vomiting you may need to have him examined to ensure he doesn't need any fluids as he could be in an addisonian crisis. Finally addison's is usually the cause of having too low of two different type of stress hormones. So you may also want to talk to you vet to see if he needs to be on an additional medication besides just prednisone like florinef or percorten injections - these may help speed up his recovery. Also know that addisons is a life long condition so these medications will likely need to be continued long term. I hope your sweet baby starts feeling better really soon. Please feel free to contact us again on the forum or to set up a consultation if you have additional questions or would like more information. Below I have attached a link with more information on addison's disease http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=608