Taylor's Addison's Story

 

We first noticed Taylor drinking and peeing more than normal, so we obviously checked her for a bladder infection first.  Although negative for that, a blood test looked like it could be Leptospirosis, so we started her on Doxycycline.  About this time, she started vomiting and stopped eating.  For anyone who knows Taylor, if she doesn't eat, something is seriously wrong (gotta love a good eater)!  About a day or two after starting on the Doxy, she crashed.  She laid down on the floor and would not get up.  She had experienced what we would later know as an "Addisonian Crisis" and we immediately took her to see Dr. Calvert. 

The next day, Dr. Calvert called me to tell me that Taylor was not doing well at all - her liver and kidneys were failing and she was unresponsive.  We wondered if she had gotten into any kind of poison, so I rushed to the vet's office with some weed killer that we had recently used, but were pretty sure she had not come into contact with.  By the time I got to the vet's office, Dr. Calvert had run another blood test and recognized that Taylor's sodium levels were dropping and her potassium levels were rising, indicating a possible diagnosis of Addison's Disease.  Dr. Calvert was on her way to the hospital to pick up some medicine to inject into Taylor.  Once Taylor's life was no longer in danger, the ACTH test was run to confirm the Addison's diagnosis. 

Once Taylor had her life saving medicine, it was up to her to rest and heal.  We took her home after a few days and watched the miraculous healing process.  Since she hadn't eaten anything in over a week, she had lost 15-20lbs.  She was very unsteady on her feet, but she slowly regained her appetite and began her ritual of healing.  She would take a nap, wake up, drink a bunch of water, go out to pee, and come back inside for another nap.  Each time she woke up, we could visually see her improving.  It was just a long process of sleeping and healing until she was back to her wonderful and rotten Taylor self! :)

From the time that Taylor starting drinking and peeing more frequently to the time that she crashed was less than a week's time.  I want people to realize how fast you can lose your dog to an Addisonian Crisis.  If your otherwise healthy dog becomes very sick, very fast with liver and kidneys failing, please demand that your vet check for Addison's.  If they do not feel comfortable diagnosing it through a regular blood test, have them run the definitive ACTH Addison's Disease test.  Once diagnosed and on treatment, your dog can live a completely normal and healthy life, but a diagnosis MUST be made and must be made QUICKLY. 

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