Addison’s disease is also known as hypoadrenocorticism.It affects dogs, cats, and people. It is a hormone disorder that results in deficient production of cortisol or aldosterone, or both which is most typical. The condition occurs most commonly when the immune system destroys part of the adrenal glands where these hormones are produced. The cause is unknown.
Great Danes, rottweilers, Portuguese water dogs, standard poodles, West Highland white terriers, and wheaten terriers are predisposed. There is no breed or sex predilections in cats, but in dogs, females are most often affected. It occurs mostly in dogs under 5 years of age and in middle-aged cats. It was once considered rare in dogs, but is now seen more commonly.It is still considered a rare disease in cats.
Symptoms are variable but often include lethargy, vomiting, decreased appetite, diarrhea, excessive thirst and urination, and weight loss. These symptoms are not specific and a dog or cat presented with these clinical signs could be suffering from a variety of different diseases.
The diagnosis is made through laboratory tests. Sometimes the sodium, calcium, and potassium levels are abnormal, but this is not always the case. The definitive diagnosis is made by demonstration of low levels of cortisol in the blood that fail to increase after injection of a hormone (ACTH).
Long-term treatment is simple and effective. Hormones are given orally and sometimes by injection for the rest of the patient’s life to replace those hormones which the adrenal glands are no longer producing. If the disease is not diagnosed quickly and prompt treatment is not provided then the result can be very bad. Untreated Addison’s disease is a fatal disease.
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