I posted this on AO but someone suggested I post it here.

Alright Ags need some advice here. My 17 month old Great Dane just got diagnosed with Addison's. Earlier this week he had an Adisonioan eposide and nearly died. In fact Tuesday night at 8:30 he was in a coma and the vet that was treating him realized he would not survive the battery of tests she needed to perform to determine what was wrong so she treated him for Addison's hoping that was it but knowing if it wasn't she was out of time. Turns out she was right and he's going to survive. I just spoke to our Aggie vet and he said we are looking at $200/month plus for shots to keep him regulated! Given his size and potential size it could be more.

Cost aside I'm sure someone around here has dealt with this disease and can give me some guidance on how best to manage this thing. I had never heard of it until Tuesday night when the emergency vet told me that is what she thought he had. What are we up against here?

Thanks!

I'm not a vet.
In humans the tx is low dose steroids for life.
Steroids should be very cheap and you should be able to give orally. Not sure what the reason is for the high cost.

My family lab growing up had Addison's disease.
She lived to be 12 and was a great dog. She had to take shots regularly (maybe cortizone?) and some pills, but lived a long, full life. In the end, she died of kidney failure.
I don't know much about the medication she had to take, because I was a kid and my parents did that stuff.

The biggest side effect of the medication and/or disease was that she was EXTREMELY hungry all the time and would do anything to get food (even more than normal for a lab). She had no shame and her training was out the window when it came to food. Otherwise, the meds didn't change her sweet disposition or her personality.

I suppose I could google but oh well. I've never heard of this. Could you please explain more about the disease?

It's malfunction of the adrenal glands (which can be caused by a variety of different things). The corticosteriods are a buffer in the bodies response to stress. Without it the body doesn't respond well to stresses (emotional stress or other things such as infections).
Steroid replacement is the treatment but this treatment is not benign. If undertreated there is risk of Addisonian crisis. If overtreated then you run into Cushing's disease type problems. Even well regulated doses can cause problems (osteoporosis, avascular necrosis of the joints, etc).
I would supsect that the life expectancy of the dog will be decreased somewhat just due to long term steroid use.
JFK I think had Addisons and he died young.

Loyal Ag

I am not an endocrinologist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last nite! Just kidding, addison's is actually a disease that can be very well managed and have a good long term prognosis. However, finances almost always come into play, especially on a big dog. You may be looking at costs of over $400 per month initially to just get him regulated, then the drug that we commonly use to treat this disease ain't cheap. I usually punt these cases to specialists to boot, which are usually by desing more $$ than you local vet. Sorry to hear about you situation. Good luck!

DVM

[This message has been edited by DVM97 (edited 5/7/2009 5:21p).]

Addison's is typically a deficiency in both glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, two stress hormones produced by the adrenal glands. It happens when the adrenal cortex is destroyed, usually by the immune system or an unknown cause.

Most dogs will have to be on something that will supplement both (however, some dogs with certain types of Addison's only need glucocorticoid replacement).

The most common drugs to use are oral daily prednisone for glucocorticoid replacement. This drug is very inexpensive. For mineralocorticoids, either Percorten (DOCP) is injected about once a month, or daily oral Florinef (Fludricortisone) is given.

Florinef is usually more expensive than Percorten, but both can be pretty pricey for a Great Dane. The advantage of Florinef is that you can adjust the dosage on the fly much easier, and it has some glucocorticoid activity (50% of dogs on Florinef do not have to take prednisone also).

All in all, it is fairly costly, but there are worse diseases for your dog to get. You should give your vet a lot of credit, because this is a very uncommon illness, and he/she was very sharp to get the diagnosis correct, and quickly enough to save your dog. Many times with a dog in Addisonian crisis, by the time you figure out what the problem is, it is too late.

Most dogs do well long-term as long as you keep up with the medication.

www.lakesidevets.com

[This message has been edited by RandyAg98 (edited 5/7/2009 6:09p).]

turtle...JFK did indeed have Addison's, but I don't think his death was due to the Addison's

Thanks for catching that, Randy!

Randy

Good stuff that really mirrors what our vet told us. Yesterday he received a shot of Percorten. It was $188 and he's 30 lighter than he was a week ago. Our vet did some shopping for Florinef and said we'd be looking at $180 a month for that. To be honest if the price isn't much different I'll do the shots as its just easier to manage. We were also given some prednisone to help him through stressful events.

Honestly my biggest concern was whether the steroids would change his personality. Like most danes he's a bit hyper at this age but is starting to mellow out and is becoming more aware of the world and what he might perceive as a threat. Danes aren't aggressive by any means but if this were going to make him aggressive I'd worry because with his size obviously he could really hurt someone.

And yes theonly reason he is here is because the emergency vet treated for Addison's on a hunch. Pretty amazing.

Pasadena

I wanted to ignore you but what kind of message does that send to my kids? My 7 YO daughter will lay on the floor with her head on his chest and read books to him. My 10 YO son will play tug of war with him until he can't anymore. They knew when we got him that he would likely only live to be 8 to 10 years. If we put him down at 17 months how emotionally invested will they get in the next dog? Toby is the first dog we've had that they had a hand in choosing and it shows in how attached they are to him. I think it's a bad message to tell them that he's not worth an amount of money that we are capable of paying.

Good job Loyal....I never judge my clients decisions. We are all different and I swore I'd never spend big $$ on a dog....until my Gordon Setter was HBC while I was a 4th year vet student. I couldn't believe the emotional tear it was putting me through....I spent $6k I didn't have to save her, and don't regret the decision to this day. She died 2 years later from a Gastric Torsion she got while I was at work, but I would have spent another 6k if I could have saved her. Best dog ever!

Other folks like my dad won't spend $100 to keep fleas off the dog....I do my best to educate everyone on medical decisions, but in the end it is their decision to make.


DVM

quote:

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turtle...JFK did indeed have Addison's, but I don't think his death was due to the Addison's

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I believe the autopsy revealed that it was actually lead poisoning that killed him.

LOYAL I think in the same position as you and being capable of paying for it. I wouldn't hesitate. Hell I'd probably go into debt to save my dog if I had to. Your kids I'm sure will learn a lot from it.