My dog has Addison's. What are the symptoms, causes, and tests?

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.

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.

If the ACTH stim test was positive then that is a pretty definitive diagnosis. If you stated that he had an ACTH stim in the last question, I'm sorry I missed that. Likely his symptoms are medication related so work with your vet about adjusting the dosages (if they can be adjusted). I hope this clarifies! Thanks!

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 assume your vet is concerned about Addison's disease. This disease requires life-long medication, but they tend to live long and well with treatment. It's difficult to know how suspicious this is without evaluating the dog or records, but I wouldn't be too concerned until a diagnosis is made. Even then, it's not a terrible disease to live with when treated appropriately. For more information, I recommend you read the article at the link below. https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/addisons-disease-in-dogs-overview I hope that helps and all is well with Tony