My dog has Addison's. Why are his thyroid meds not working, what's next?

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.

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

We are not in a position to prescribe medication for your pet. The results you show here are not showing enough proof for the need for thyroid medications unless she is showing very clear symptoms in which case a free t4 ft4 test should be completed. I recommend repeating in 4-6weeks to track changes. I would be more concerned about her elevated bun and creatinine which may indicate kidney disease and should be investigated with urine tests by your vet to determine the concentrating ability of the kidneys

Addisonian dogs can live completely normal lives with appropriate medications and dosing, so no, I would say that she shouldn't always be like this. Your vet might also re-consider the dose of prednisone - they actually need very little, so that's worth double-checking. Also doing another cortisol level might shed some light on things. If her cortisol level is normal at the current dosing, there may be something else going on, such as pain or anxiety, that's causing the tremoring.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If there is evidence of lethargy in a dog with a history of Addisons disease, it is always best to make sure that there is nothing to worry about in terms of disease control. It is possible that this is nothing to worry about. However, given the possibility of this being related to the Addisons disease history, I recommend that if this continues, you have Bonnie evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Best of luck!

Hi there! I'm sorry to hear that Bindy is having side effects from her medication. I would not recommend stopping her meds or making any dosing changes without talking to the veterinarian who is treating her, because this can cause serious problem or even death for patients with Addison's disease. I would definitely recommend discussing your concerns with Bindy's regular veterinarian, since it's likely that her steroid doses can be reduced if they are causing side effects - most dogs this size do not need this much prednisone to control their Addison's symptoms, although each individual patient is different. A medication called DOCP (desoxycorticosterone pivalate) can also be used in place of the fludricortisone if needed, which she may tolerate better. Your veterinarian can discuss these options with you and help you make changes to her medication safely.