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Congratulations to Henry,
our April
Pet of the Month!
Back to Pet of the Month
 Henry is a 4 year old
Bassett Hound. He came to us not eating
and drinking for several days. On exam he was in cardiovascular collapse: he
was very weak, depressed, his pulses were very poor, his gums were extremely
pale and his temperature was below normal. Dr. Forbes immediately hospitalized Henry and put him on IV fluids to
treat for shock. Based on Henrys
clinical signs the decision was made to draw blood and send it to the lab for
diagnostic testing. When the blood work
results came back they confirmed Dr. Forbes' suspicion of Addison's
disease.
Addison's disease, also called Hypoadrenocorticism, is a
condition where the dog's adrenal glands do not produce a sufficient amount of
mineralocorticoids (aldosterone), glucocorticoids or in many cases both.
These hormones help regulate many of dog's bodily functions
such as metabolism, blood pressure, and stress response. When these hormones are low they can cause
many symptoms which include lethargy, diarrhea and weakness due to shock; it
can be very life threatening. With
proper treatment a dog can participate in all of his normal daily
activates.
In Henry's case we
started him on Percorten injections, a mineralocorticoid supplement, to treat
his Addison's disease. He was also
placed on a low dose of steroids to help with the glucocorticoid
deficiency.
After a few weeks Henry
was back to his good old self. We have
been rechecking Henry's blood work regularly and his levels have been within
normal ranges. Addison's disease does
not have to affect a dogs quality of life when treated properly. Henry has been doing very well on his new
treatments and is back to living a normal life.
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