Update: I need advice and hairpats - new puppy

[chloesilverado]

Sept 4, 2014 8:26:02 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

I didn't read all the replies but I have an Addison's dog, diagnosed at just over 3 years of age - she is about 5 now. Willow is a boxer/pointer mutt. The first few months were a bit rough until we got her meds squared away (we needed to do lots of bloodwork tests which wasn't cheap) but now, 2 years later, she is just fine. She takes Prednisone daily and gets a shot monthly. She weighs 60-ish lbs and we can get 4 shots from a $200-ish vial so the meds and shot are probably about $60/month. With your much smaller dog, I would assume the cost would be even less since you would be able to get more shots of Percorten out of a vial. She also has hyporthyroidism but with the correct med levels you would never even know she has anything wrong with her.

She drinks water normally, eats normally (she has always been a chow hound/very food motivated though), exercises normally (we go running with her 2-3 times a week in addition to daily walks) and kicks our other dog's (a 3 yo pit mix) butt whenever they wrestle.

The bad thing is that we didn't have pet insurance before her diagnosis and now that she has been diagnosed, the Addison's and hypothyroidism are pre-existing conditions so wouldn't be covered. (so for anyone who had a pet and doesn't have insurance, this is a plug for getting pet insurance before you need it)

ETA: The vet, knowing that Addison's is an expensive disease, taught us how to give the shots so now we do them at home saving us a vet visit every month.  And they have been good about price matching on the Percorten with what I can find online.  

This is all very helpful - thank you.  I'm hoping to have a diagnosis today.  This made me feel a lot better.

[nomad100]

Sept 4, 2014 8:43:27 GMT -5 chloesilverado said:

Sept 4, 2014 8:26:02 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

I didn't read all the replies but I have an Addison's dog, diagnosed at just over 3 years of age - she is about 5 now. Willow is a boxer/pointer mutt. The first few months were a bit rough until we got her meds squared away (we needed to do lots of bloodwork tests which wasn't cheap) but now, 2 years later, she is just fine. She takes Prednisone daily and gets a shot monthly. She weighs 60-ish lbs and we can get 4 shots from a $200-ish vial so the meds and shot are probably about $60/month. With your much smaller dog, I would assume the cost would be even less since you would be able to get more shots of Percorten out of a vial. She also has hyporthyroidism but with the correct med levels you would never even know she has anything wrong with her.

She drinks water normally, eats normally (she has always been a chow hound/very food motivated though), exercises normally (we go running with her 2-3 times a week in addition to daily walks) and kicks our other dog's (a 3 yo pit mix) butt whenever they wrestle.

The bad thing is that we didn't have pet insurance before her diagnosis and now that she has been diagnosed, the Addison's and hypothyroidism are pre-existing conditions so wouldn't be covered. (so for anyone who had a pet and doesn't have insurance, this is a plug for getting pet insurance before you need it)

ETA: The vet, knowing that Addison's is an expensive disease, taught us how to give the shots so now we do them at home saving us a vet visit every month.  And they have been good about price matching on the Percorten with what I can find online.  

This is all very helpful - thank you.  I'm hoping to have a diagnosis today.  This made me feel a lot better.

((hugs))  Keep us posted.  

I know it is very scary with the initial "crash" that they can have.  But Addison's is a very manageable (if slightly expensive) disease to manage.  And we tell Willow all the time that it is a good thing she is so cute and snuggly since she has expensive broken mutt parts.

Here she is lounging on the patio furniture.

[chloesilverado]

Sept 4, 2014 9:01:16 GMT -5 nomad100 said:

Sept 4, 2014 8:43:27 GMT -5 chloesilverado said:

This is all very helpful - thank you.  I'm hoping to have a diagnosis today.  This made me feel a lot better.

((hugs))  Keep us posted.  

I know it is very scary with the initial "crash" that they can have.  But Addison's is a very manageable (if slightly expensive) disease to manage.  And we tell Willow all the time that it is a good thing she is so cute and snuggly since she has expensive broken mutt parts.

Here she is lounging on the patio furniture.

Willow is adorable! You're right - the initial crash had me really shaken. I'm starting to feel a lot better and more confident if the test today confirms Addison's. The stories here have made me feel like it's def manageable.

[jlt19]

If he does have Addison's, make sure you express to the breeder that the parents should no longer be bred. It's hereditary. My moron breeder didn't even know about the disease (even though it's somewhat prevalent in danes) and refused to do a damn thing. This was long before I knew about good vs. bad breeders, obviously. I've learned a LOT since.

[chloesilverado]

Sept 4, 2014 9:28:00 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

If he does have Addison's, make sure you express to the breeder that the parents should no longer be bred. It's hereditary. My moron breeder didn't even know about the disease (even though it's somewhat prevalent in danes) and refused to do a damn thing. This was long before I knew about good vs. bad breeders, obviously. I've learned a LOT since.

I contacted the breeder and told her what the vets thought it could be and she was not familiar with Addisons. I sent her a link which described the disease, treatment, that it's hereditary, etc. She said she was reading up on it and to let her know how the testing today went. If it comes back positive, I'll talk more with her.

[chloesilverado]

Thanks for all the stories and support!