Addison's Disease

[JeepinDog]

Judyjoy:

If K-os colapsed after missing 1 day, you may want to consult your vet and do the injections on a 28 day rotation. It'll give you an injection cushion, just incase you can't give the meds. Shadow was 3 days late, and made it with not much problem. Just started getting "down" that day.

Just some experience talking, unfortunately I had to learn the hard way.

[judyjoy]

Hi jeepindog,
Thank you soo much for the valuable information, I will call my vet today to make sure he has some on hand.

The first few months after we found out he had Addsons were very difficult, trying to get it regulated. I had actually gone over by four or five days because of holidays and car trouble, (my vet is 3/4 hr. away) Couldn't even get a ride there and it almost cost him his life. The whole deal ended up costing over $2,000. in the end. He just barely made it and was at the vets for over a week.

I am a lot more carefull nowadays, so again thanks for this wonderful informative topic and all the info.

I loveeeeeeeee pit bull forum!

[JeepinDog]

No prob.

you may even want to think about self injecting. The vet can show you how. It'll save you money (if he charges and office visit per injection) plus, it'll be less stressful on the pooch.

My vet's 45 minutes away also.

[JeepinDog]

Update on Novartis:

I just talked to their Pet Health customer service, regarding the shortage of Percorten - V. The shortage is over and they have another company making the medication for them. Baxter was making but tried breaking their contract with Novartis. Long story short it went to court, short term shortage but now it's over. The higher prices are here to stay though.

[judyjoy]

Thanks again for the info. could you please give me the phone number of the company where you get it. Although I'm not sure if I could give the shot, I'm wierd with needles. But.... I would love to have a vile on hand in case of emergency as I live in Fl as have to evacuate every now and then.

Right now I am actually getting it cheeper than you as I only pay $75. for 2.5 ml. $150 for two shots and you are paying $167 for two shots.
K-os loves to go to the vet, as all the girls there love him and make a big fuss over him, we don't see the vet only a vet tech. But, I can't get it wholesale from him and couldn't find any other source.

My vet (Dr. Murphy) told me that it is very, very rare for a male dog under a year old to get Addisons as it usually only effects older females. That's why he almost died as it was the very last test we tried. What age was Shadow when he got it? Again, thank you for your time and all of your help, we reallly appreciate it.

[JeepinDog]

Thanks again for the info. could you please give me the phone number of the company where you get it. Although I'm not sure if I could give the shot, I'm wierd with needles. But.... I would love to have a vile on hand in case of emergency as I live in Fl as have to evacuate every now and then.

Right now I am actually getting it cheeper than you as I only pay $75. for 2.5 ml. $150 for two shots and you are paying $167 for two shots.
K-os loves to go to the vet, as all the girls there love him and make a big fuss over him, we don't see the vet only a vet tech. But, I can't get it wholesale from him and couldn't find any other source.

My vet (Dr. Murphy) told me that it is very, very rare for a male dog under a year old to get Addisons as it usually only effects older females. That's why he almost died as it was the very last test we tried. What age was Shadow when he got it? Again, thank you for your time and all of your help, we reallly appreciate it.

I get the Percorten directly from my vet. I know, that I'm paying more than most online pet drugs. But, I'd rather go pick it up, and pay a little more, knowing that if I have a question when I'm there it gets answered.

But, with the big increase in price, I may start looking online.

Actually, there are no common factors amoung Addison dogs. Check out www.addisondogs.com

I hate to go against what your vet said about it being more in older females, but he's dead wrong. If he keeps that in his mind, he may lose a patient to AD. My vet has 6 dogs with it, and 5 are male. Your vet, along with many others, need to do more research on the disease. It's unfortunately a disease that's not very well known, and too many vets are misdiagonising it for Lyme disease.

There's alot of information out there on Canine Addison's Disease lately.

[judyjoy]

Thank you Jeepin, I am going to see if I can get at least one vile from my vet just to have on hand in case of emergency.

I wish I didn't have to put my vets name in there because he is a brillant Dr. He also has many Addison patients but, somewhere came up with that about mostly females get it. He may have read it somewhere, I don't know.

He actually treated him for it and saved his life, before we got the results back, he had to as he was moments from death. He had to deal with a lot of other issues like kidney shut down etc and to get him stablized enought to test for anything.

K-os had eaten a rotted, dead frog, that he had picked up somewhere in the yard the night before he collapsed, so at first it seemed so cut and dry that he must have been poisened. That's why, he was testing for what I told him and when he found out it wasn't the dead thing that caused him to go into shock, he treated for addisons as it was his suspision from the beginning.

He also saved my other pit's eyesight with his quick thinking by taking blood from his body and putting it in his eyes. (sort of stem-cell) He is a wonderful vet and I'm sorry if I made it sound like his fault for not diognosing it. Your right about many vets in general are missing the mark and treating for lime des. though. I'm sure many dogs die form misdiagonising.

Thanks for the web site, can't wait to check it out. I did a lot of research on the K-9 Addisons site when he first got it. But, I could get some extra education on the subject as we'll have to live with it until he dies. God Bless!

[PitBull-Lady]

Having been a mom to a beauty with Addison's I agree with JeepinDog on a bunch of issues. (It's obvious you've been on the roller coaster too but you've got all the info for sure!)

The one thing I can't stress to you Addisonian noobs enough is to be prepared!

Things we learned about needles:
*Needles 'bodies' come in various sizes. Make sure the size you get accommodates the injection size you are giving. In a rush the vet/vet tech may accidentaly hand you a small one
*On most of the bigger body needles the injector is a bigger needle, but the smaller needles often are more comfortable for your pet.
*consider buying the smaller needles only and the bigger body (you can also switch out the needles)
*Dispose of the needles properly, you can use a plastic jug or coffee can, jut label properly

ALWAYS, have a back up plan.
You never realize how important it is to at least acknowledge what a plan would be, because it's not fun running into the first establishment that's open for miles and flip through the yellow pages to find the local vets.

Have paper work with his diagnosis from your vet to make an emergency QUICK.

Vacation
If you are leaving your dog at home during vacation MAKE SURE the person caring for them understands the situation and how grave it can be. Think about calling your vet ahead of time, faxing a letter etc. and let them know who will be taking care of your pet and maybe bringing them in if necessary. This way your account can be 'credited' and you can pay when you get back.

Bring your own PercortenV and syringe with you, when traveling etc. if possible.
It's not something that all vets stock.
If they do, it might only be one vial AND it could be half full.

The nice part is Addison's is a disease that does not typically involve drugs that people want (like ketamine etc.) So if you need the drugs and do not have paper work with you (like on vacation), they are likely to believe you. Especially if you remember the exact injectable amount. Plus, with the cost, who would fake that need!
(Yes, this happened to us *stupid, stupid )
We went on vacation to a semi-rural area, luckily the 1 vet in town that was on call trusted us and our needs without contacting our vet to confirm the diagnosis. He watched us inject him and done.

[PoopsterMuffin]

thanks for the informative post, and i'm glad to hear Shadow is doing well.
i'm having some problems with my 10 month young pup and we're off to the vet tomorrow, i'll definitely have her checked for it.

[Curly_07]

thanks for the informative post, and i'm glad to hear Shadow is doing well.
i'm having some problems with my 10 month young pup and we're off to the vet tomorrow, i'll definitely have her checked for it.

Shadow passed away

Sent from my HTC Inspire using Tapatalk

[PoopsterMuffin]

thanks for the informative post, and i'm glad to hear Shadow is doing well.
i'm having some problems with my 10 month young pup and we're off to the vet tomorrow, i'll definitely have her checked for it.

Shadow passed away

Sent from my HTC Inspire using Tapatalk

oh no, our love and condolences to all, so sorry to hear the news!