About Addison's Disease in Dogs

Video Transcript

"Let's talk about Addison's disease in the dog. Addison's disease is called hypoadrenocorticism in the medical field and that means lack of adrenal function. The adrenal gland is very important. It produces glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids which are types of steroids and hormones that the body needs for everyday things. These are stress hormones, these help everything from nice normal membrane balance in cells to the fight and flight responses and so when we're talking about Addison's, what that is is that means there is a lack of production or decrease production of those needed hormones and steroids. And so dogs with Addison's disease are fairly classic. They will be a lot of times they vomit a lot, they shake and shiver, they're lethargic, they lose weight, just their overall appearance is just not right. Usually people bring them in because they've lost weight and are vomiting and are shaking all the time and they're just very lethargic. And so blood tests can be done by your veterinary clinic to diagnose Addison's and Addison's is a manageable disease. Depending on what is diagnosed or what type of Addison's is diagnosed, Prednisone is a glucocorticoid side of Addison's that is used to treat and also there is an injectable form for the other side, the mineralocorticoid side for Addison's that you can give once a month and then there is an oral form of that as well. And so it is a manageable disease, but these animals are sick when they have it and when they come in usually they have a high potassium, sorry, and these guys can be very, very dangerously ill so check with your clinic if you see any of these signs and so they can be diagnosed and treated."