What skin problems are associated with Addison's disease in dogs?

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Addison's disease is called the 'Great Pretender' because the clinical signs vary so much. They often display signs of 'poor doing' which can include a poor hair coat. There are other causes of hair loss as well so making sure that the cause is Addison's and you aren't missing something else is important. I would have Pete seen by your vet for this, and work this up in conjunction with the Addisons. Best of luck with Pete.

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!

Addison's Disease cannot be cured, but it can often be managed with life-long medications. It does usually require frequent vet visits for monitoring in the future. However, it can be life-threatening if a dog is sick when it is first diagnosed (or the suspected diagnosis). Without aggressive treatment, dogs can easily die from dehydration and shock caused by the effects on their fluid volume. Here is a great article on Addison's Disease and what to expect from diagnosis and treatment: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=608

I am sorry Rylee has not been feeling well. I am unsure by the picture if Rylee is having a drug reaction. Cushings disease is when the body over produces cortisol which is a steroid. Once cushings is being treated a lot of dogs will start to have underlying skin issues due to allergies. The cortisol/steroid being produced by the body will decrease or hide skin allergies. I would recommend taking Rylee to the vet to determine if maybe this is why the skin has changed. It is possible a course of antibiotics or topical shampoos will help with the skin./ I hope this helps and Rylee feels better!

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.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Spud. Addison's disease is not typically associated with hypothyroidism. However, when a dog develops one autoimmune disease, they can be more prone to developing another. Hypothyroidism cannot be diagnosed off of one low thyroid value though as this is not accurate. The thyroid levels can be artificially suppressed by stress or concurrent disease. Levels of thyroid stimulating hormone and free T4 by dialysis need to be evaluated in conjunction with thyroid hormone levels to make a diagnosis. I hope this information helps!

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