Addison's Disease? Very sick dog :(

[ndwebber]

Hi,
I'm new to Yorkie Talk, and was wondering if anyone could give me some insight. We brought our 1yr3mo yorkie in to the emergency vet this morning. He was totally lethargic, and was vomiting and had diarrhea. The e-vet said he had low blood sugar, and his electrolytes are out of normal range. He's suspecting Addison's Disease because he is past the age where hypoglycemia is a problem. His blood tests don't show any sign of infection or illness.
Up until now he has been very healthy. I'm just shocked at how quickly he got sick, just Friday he was perky and playful. Yesterday he was a little quiet, and not very active. I was so scared when we brought him in this morning, I thought he was going to die before we got there.
Has anyone else heard of a yorkie with Addison's? The e-vet said he does not normally see it in yorkies, especially such a young yorkie. They are working on stabilizing him now, but he cannot do an Addison's test now because the lab that processes the blood for that test is not open.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Dana

[livingdustmops]

Please let us know what the lab work says. Poor little one.

What is Addison's Disease

[Izzy Princess]

Oh so sorry to hear about your poor little baby. For sure can you post your lab work numbers? That will help many of us here to try and help and give you perhaps some advice.

We thought Izzy had Addison's but turned out she has SIBO/IBD which triggers pancreatitis sometimes. We finally after almost losing her 4 times and tons of tests that she had SIBO which triggered everything else.

She is on a special diet, Tylan and supplements. We have also consulted with a pet nutritionist out in California.

Keep us posted. Hang in there..I know what you are going through. Izzy was almost 2 when this started last November.

[ndwebber]

Hi,
Thank you for your tips and support! I'll have to look into SIBO and see if the symptoms match or not. I'm sorry your dog has been so sick Cynd!
I don't have the lab results on paper, they just said his blood sugar was 32 when we brought him in early this morning. They have him on an IV and are supplementing his blood sugar thru the IV. His values are all normal now, including his kidneys and electrolytes. He is still very lethargic and his body temp is around 98 F. They would expect him to at least be looking around or moving in his cage at this point, but he's not. I held him a little bit, he does make eye contact, and he seems to recognize me. He is just very sleepy.
When I get the lab work I'll post the numbers. Thanks again for the support! He's our baby, and we love him so much.
-Dana

[Izzy Princess]

I knew it was SIBO when I would hear Izzy's tummy gurgling like crazy and making all types of sounds when she would even be sitting on the chair next to me.

Let's hope all our furbutts get better soon and stay that way.

[Patti]

I am keeping your little one in my prayers. Hoping they can determine what is wrong and it is easily fixed. I have had an adult go hypoglyceimic on maybe that is what it is.

[daisy mae06]

I had a Sheltie Mix with Addisons they treat it with steriods. Dogs can lead normal lives with Addisons with medication. My Kayla didnt do so well on it though. I will keep your lil one in my Prayers

Yahoo does have a addisons dog group they helped me alot

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by ndwebber

Hi,
I'm new to Yorkie Talk, and was wondering if anyone could give me some insight. We brought our 1yr3mo yorkie in to the emergency vet this morning. He was totally lethargic, and was vomiting and had diarrhea. The e-vet said he had low blood sugar, and his electrolytes are out of normal range. He's suspecting Addison's Disease because he is past the age where hypoglycemia is a problem. His blood tests don't show any sign of infection or illness.
Up until now he has been very healthy. I'm just shocked at how quickly he got sick, just Friday he was perky and playful. Yesterday he was a little quiet, and not very active. I was so scared when we brought him in this morning, I thought he was going to die before we got there.
Has anyone else heard of a yorkie with Addison's? The e-vet said he does not normally see it in yorkies, especially such a young yorkie. They are working on stabilizing him now, but he cannot do an Addison's test now because the lab that processes the blood for that test is not open.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Dana

usually they determine it in an addisonian crisis as it goes undetected and only real way they can catch it without crisis is weight loss - have you noticed weight loss? Was there anything else off in blood work as hypoglycemia and liver shunt go hand in hand so has your yorkie ever been tested for liver shunt with bile acids? Was there high alt on the blood work. Addisons is an auto immune disease like allergies and hypothyroid and sadly due to inbreeding in this breed it is very common for them to get auto immune disorders sadly my yorkie has hypothyroid and atopic dermatitis both auto immune diseases so i am not surprised to here addison in the breed as well while it is not real common it is possible due to inbreeding --- did you get your dog from a reputable breeder as i did not did not know all this stuff until my dogs were sick. My friends bull mastiff has addison and doing very well - there is another test that confirms it acth i believe - she had no idea it was this until he had a crisis like yours. The liver enzymes are also high on this disease i believe so I would make sure they further test for liver shunt before putting your dog on steroids and rule that out as that is much more common in this breed than addisons and many go undetected the first year. Does your dog have head pressing, seizures, picky eater, etc?

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by ndwebber

Hi,
Thank you for your tips and support! I'll have to look into SIBO and see if the symptoms match or not. I'm sorry your dog has been so sick Cynd!
I don't have the lab results on paper, they just said his blood sugar was 32 when we brought him in early this morning. They have him on an IV and are supplementing his blood sugar thru the IV. His values are all normal now, including his kidneys and electrolytes. He is still very lethargic and his body temp is around 98 F. They would expect him to at least be looking around or moving in his cage at this point, but he's not. I held him a little bit, he does make eye contact, and he seems to recognize me. He is just very sleepy.
When I get the lab work I'll post the numbers. Thanks again for the support! He's our baby, and we love him so much.
-Dana

hmmm usually they bounce back real fast once they do treatment if addisons so i am suspecting something different possibly liver - post the blood work and lets see what others think to narrow things down for you as the test to determine addisons is not the a fun one so let us see the blood work

[ndwebber]

He's home! I'm so thankful he's alive and has a chance! My vet did the test, it is Addison's. My vet said his hormone levels were so low that the dose of meds given to him by the e-vet was nowhere near enough. He is eating and drinking, and he is walking although he falls over a lot. He is partially blind now, at first he was totally blind. The vet is thinking that he will likely regain his sight. The lack of oxygen he had on Sunday caused the blindness. He stressed that I need to be patient, he has a good chance of recovering.
The vet has him on a pretty high dose of prednisolone (10 mg/day) and he's only 5 pounds! His legs have been getting progressively weak, and I'm thinking it's the prednisolone. I read that muscle weakness and excessive fatigue can be side effects. I've let my vet know about these symptoms, but he says it's a result of his brain injury. Has anyone else had a yorkie on high-dose prednisone/prenisolone? Maybe the benefits outweigh the side effects? He will probably have his dose lowered on Monday.
Thanks in advance for your input! I'm worried about him.
Dana

[Patti]

I am glad he is home, but sorry to hear he does have Addison's. I would find a specialist (internal medicine) and see what they can do. When my pom was diagnosed with Cushing's my vet referred us to a specialist. Hope he continues to improve.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by ndwebber

He's home! I'm so thankful he's alive and has a chance! My vet did the test, it is Addison's. My vet said his hormone levels were so low that the dose of meds given to him by the e-vet was nowhere near enough. He is eating and drinking, and he is walking although he falls over a lot. He is partially blind now, at first he was totally blind. The vet is thinking that he will likely regain his sight. The lack of oxygen he had on Sunday caused the blindness. He stressed that I need to be patient, he has a good chance of recovering.
The vet has him on a pretty high dose of prednisolone (10 mg/day) and he's only 5 pounds! His legs have been getting progressively weak, and I'm thinking it's the prednisolone. I read that muscle weakness and excessive fatigue can be side effects. I've let my vet know about these symptoms, but he says it's a result of his brain injury. Has anyone else had a yorkie on high-dose prednisone/prenisolone? Maybe the benefits outweigh the side effects? He will probably have his dose lowered on Monday.
Thanks in advance for your input! I'm worried about him.
Dana

my girl is on temarilp which is prednisolone and tavist and the prednisolone is 2mg and she gets 1/2 every other day of it and has been on it over a year with perfect blood work. Prednisolone is safer than prednisone as it is easier on the liver -- I also would consolt with an internal medicine specialist as we work with one as well just to get a second opinion

[dwerten]

oh and high doses of steroids can cause bone thinning and muscle deterioriation but that would take some time - it would not happen quickly