My dog with Addison's keeps getting sick. What can I do to help?

Atypical Addison's is a disease of the adrenal glands that prevents them from producing and releasing cortisol in response to stress. It is diagnosed with a test known as an ACTH stimulation where an injection of a hormone is given and cortisol is measure before and after. Dogs with this disease can get very sick during a crisis and it might take a few days before treatment is successful.

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 Maggie has been well controlled for that long then I suspect something other than the Addison's is causing the weight loss. I would recommend an examination by your veterinarian. They will likely recommend blood work and possibly x-rays depending on what is revealed or found during the physical exam. I hope this gives you a place to start. I hope Maggie improves soon.

That is very concerning that she is not eating, vomiting, and losing weight. If blood work is normal than your vet could do x-rays and/or an abdominal ultrasound to look for abnormalities. Your vet could also do an ACTH stim test to make sure she is on the correct dose of vetoryl. Your vet could also treat with an anti-nausea medication called Cerenia and an antibiotic called Metronidazole to see if that helps with the vomiting and diarrha. Hope she feels better soon.

I am sorry to hear that Holiday isn’t doing well. There can be many different problems that can cause the symptoms you are describing. Intestinal obstruction, Addison’s disease, kidney disease and cancer among many others. I would highly encourage you to have Holiday evaluated by your veterinarian as soon as possible. After an examination they will recommend diagnostics to help them determine the diagnosis. I suspect they will want blood work and an x-ray. Best of luck and I hope Holiday improves soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Hi, I am sorry to hear Fox is having these problems. If she has had pancreatitis once before, it is a possibility she has it again, as some dogs can get chronic pancreatitis. If her Amylase and Lipase are very high, she can have pancreatitis. If you want to know for sure an abdominal ultrasound is the next step. This can be done at some regular vets, or a speciality facility with the Internal medicine department. If your dog is not acting right, I suggest doing this test. Her hematocrit should be rechecked in 48 hours roughly to see if it is dropping. If it is holding steady, I would be less concerned. If it is dropping, there may be a blood disorder or a cancerous tumor that is bleeding internally. 32 is just on the low end. I strongly suggest rechecking her blood work if she is not getting better and getting an ultrasound. Your vet can tell you how to go about getting this. Good luck, and I hope Fox gets better!

It sounds like Sherry has been through a lot. With intermittent low grade fevers, I think it would be time to pursue more advanced diagnostics. This would be xrays of the chest and abdomen, and then moving on to ultrasound. Based on your zip code, I think it would be important to rule out Coccidioidomycosis, which is a fungal disease. I'm not saying that is what she has, but it can cause seizures, lethargy, fever, and more, and I think it needs to be ruled out. To encourage her to eat, you can try warm baby food, just make sure there are no onions or garlic in the ingredients.