A routine, pre-dental blood screening raised red flags and led to further blood test that today confirmed Addison’s disease. I’m currently reading all I can find. Does anyone have personal experience or insight to share?

On the bright side, last February, just before our dog turned 4 years, we decided not to tempt fate any longer and bought the best pet insurance we could afford. Boy am I glad we did!

 Quote: Nancy Manuel

A routine, pre-dental blood screening raised red flags and led to further blood test that today confirmed Addison’s disease. I’m currently reading all I can find. Does anyone have personal experience or insight to share?

You probably know that there are three categories. Is it primary, secondary, or what's called atypical?

I can link you to treatment and other material.

Boy do I have experience with this. My last rottie was diagnosed with it right at 3 years old. We had just moved from the country to a neighborhood. My wife came home from work and brought him in the house from the kennel. He immediately crawled under the bed and looked at her with a look like something was wrong. She eventually coaxed him out and then he puked and she said it was bright green. I automatically thought, new neighborhood, big rottie, somebody doesn't like that and fed him antifreeze. Rushed him to the emergency vet knowing full well that if it was antifreeze it's over. Vet thought with the symptoms and the circumstances that I was probably right. They started him on fluids and he responded and got better over night so they started running tests. Came up Addisons. Apparently they can live pretty much forever with it as long as nothing stresses them out(going off memory from about 15 years ago) but us moving to a new place must have stressed him enough for his system to crash. Once they crash it has to be regulated forever. He had to have a hydrocorticoid shot every 30-45 days for the rest of his life, which at about 115lbs. cost about $120. At the time there was only one company in the world making the vaccine so it was expensive. Not sure if that's still the case. The vet said there was a pill form but it didn't work very well. On the plus side, he lived to be almost 13 years old which is pretty old for a rottie.

After thinking about it, it might have been glucocorticoid? Can't remember for sure. He died about 6 or 7 years ago.

Thank you Connie. I have found more information than I can digest. I have much admiration and appreciation for your mastery of resources and experience. Thank you for your continuing generosity.

Thank you Kory for sharing your first-hand experience. The similarities are incredible. We too recently moved and our dog's lifestyle has been dramatically impacted. I have asked myself over and over, is he bored or lethargic? Is the atrophy I see a result of less activity or something else? I was dragging my feet with his dental cleaning, because my gut kept telling me something just wasn't right. Finally, the pre-dental blood test tipped us off.

He will need monthly injections that won't be cheap, he's a big one like your rottie. Fortunately, with proper maintenance, he can live a full life.

The atrophy is typical. My dog went up and down in weight quite a bit before we got the dosage right. He never did get the mass back in his head though. Lost that blocky rottie head. I said after that that I'd never spend that kind of money on an animal. Then we got another rottie about a year and a half ago and he broke his leg at about 6 months old. $3,200. Still paying for that one.

OUCH!

My second PSD, A German Shepherd contracted Addison's disease at about 11 years of age. The only thing that helped him was the cortisone shots and that only helped his appetite. He wasted away in about 6 months and eventually we had to end the suffering. Sucked.