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What is the life expectancy for a dog after Addison’s diagnosis?

Can you tell me the life expectancy for an Addison dog after diagnosis ?

Nanette

PS  My dog is being treated with percotin and prednisone for the last 3 years.

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33 Responses to “What is the life expectancy for a dog after Addison’s diagnosis?”

  1. Taylor says:

    Hi Nanette,

    We did some checking for you, and here is a good article from eHow on your question:

    Canine Addison’s Disease is caused by the failure of the adrenal glands to produce cortisone and aldestorone. While the disease can be fatal it should not be considered an automatic death sentence. With the proper treatment, the dog can be expected to live a normal life.

    Occurrence of Addison’s Disease
    1. Addison’s occurs most often in young to middle aged dogs with a tendency towards females. Labrador Retrievers, Standard Poodles and Portuguese Water Dogs are suspected to have a genetic link to the disease.
    Symptoms
    2. Dogs with Addison’s Disease may appear weak with a reduced appetite and pain in the hind quarters. Vomiting, diarrhea and tremors are also common symptoms. In advanced stages the heart rate slows to the point death may occur.
    Prognosis with Treatment
    3. Hormone replacement therapy is the common treatment for dogs with Addison’s Disease. According to the Web site ProVet.co.uk, the dogs receiving treatment can be expected to live between 2 and 7 years after diagnosis.
    Prognosis without Treatment
    4. Left untreated, Addison’s Disease results in increases in the sodium level in the dog’s blood and an increase in potassium. This slows the heart rate and drops the blood pressure, referred to as Addison’s Crisis and leads to death. The length of time from diagnosis until death depends on the aggressiveness of the case and how early it is diagnosed.
    Treatment
    5. Veterinarians have a variety of hormone replacement drugs at their disposal. Estimated costs for treatment vary with the cost of the hormone replacement drugs approximately $30 per month. Treatment will be required for the rest of the dog’s life.

    Read more: Life Expectancy for Canine with Addison’s Disease | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5534176_life-expectancy-canine-addisons-disease.html#ixzz0uQTZi5al

  2. mara says:

    3. Hormone replacement therapy is the common treatment for dogs with Addison’s Disease. According to the Web site ProVet.co.uk, the dogs receiving treatment can be expected to live between 2 and 7 years after diagnosis.

    This is for cushings disease not addisons! two very different illnesses.

  3. Anthony says:

    Mara, ty you so much for saying that i got scared when i first read that on ehow.
    Doc told us Canine Addison’s Disease with treatment will not affect dogs life span.

  4. Pv says:

    My American Bulldog was diagnosed at the age of 2 with Addison’s Disease. She gets 5mg of pred every 3 days and a percortan shot every 30 days. She is currently 13 1/2 years old!

  5. Caroline says:

    PV – that is probably the most encouraging message I’ve read!

    My papillon was diagnosed at 4 and has been living with Addison’s for over 2 years now. Sometimes I worry that he may not make it to old age.. I especially worry about the pred making him more aggressive or the occasional vomiting and bloody diarrhea.

    Does everyone with Addison’s pets deal with these side affects, or is it just me?

  6. Sheila says:

    hi my GSP was diagnosed with addisons when she was 3 and for the past 6 years she has been on flourocortisone and medrone daily And she has no problems at all and she is. Now 9

  7. tracie says:

    Hi all.
    My dog was diagnosed with Addisons at age 7 and I had the last six years living with her with it.
    It was often a struggle,but we managed,and I like to think she was happy.She maintained a good quality of life,but I would state that for the first 4-5years post diagnosis she had a crisis/near crisis every 8 mths,and we had to keep adjusting her meds. She also had frequent UTI’s and bouts of vomitting and passing faeces intermittantly.Then as she turned twelve old age caught up with her,and this last year she was ill almost every month,had to have frequent bloods taken,various skin ear and eye infections and more frequent bouts of loss of bladder and bowel control. I had to make the choice to let her go yesterday aged 13yrs and 10mths.Devestated by the loss of my long time companion.

  8. Tom says:

    Caroline, symptoms you describe are typical. As is frequent urination after pred is taken. Our dog is a tall papillon about 18 lbs. Takes .6 ml of percortem monthly and 1.25 mg pred every 3 days – this is less than recommended, but makes the trips to the bathroom less frequent. Doing well after 3 and 1/2 yrs. currently about 6 or 7. If you are careful in watching tithe bowels, adding metronidiazole to settle the stomach works.

  9. Jerry says:

    I have a West Highland Terrorist that was diagnosed with Addisons at one year old. We went through the flourocortisone and predisone thing but wasn’t working, I suggested to the vet percortan, but he would have no part of it, so I changed vets. He has been on percortan and very little pred. Shot ever 25 days, and less than a mg of pred a day. Today he turned 13, thing that irks me is the drug companies, I get the percortan at cost, relative is a vet. Initially I paid $90 per bottle, now it is $165.50 for about 3 shots. Drugs are meant to help, not line some CEO’s pocket. I guess they aren’t Dog Lovers.

  10. Judy says:

    I have a PWD who was diagnosed with Addisons at the age of 6. She has a pecortin injection every 27 days and takes 1 mlg of pred. daily. She is now 11.5 and the pred is taking its toll. As incontenince becomes a problem our vet has started Proin, 50 mg’s 2 x a day and estrogen weekly. She is basically in good health otherwise and very active. Some issuse with skin problems are arising, not sure if it is related.

  11. nyx says:

    One of my chihuahuas was diagnosed at about four years after she crashed. She lived to be 16 and finally had heart and breathing issues at the end, common old age ailments. The Addison’s was always kept under control. We did have a couple more incidents over the years where meds had to be adjusted but you’ll get used to how your pet behaves – you’ll notice when something’s off and the vet can do a blood workup to check electrolytes, etc., and adjust dosage. With Angelbat we did shots for a few years, then switched to pills every 12hrs. When she got older and had poor teeth I crushed the pills, mixed them into a slurry with a little warm water and used a little oral syringe to squirt it into her mouth. They get used to these changes very quickly and adapt to new meds and ways of living comfortably. Don’t let anyone tell you an Addisonian pet has a limited lifespan or enjoyment of life. Angelbat was a happy, much-loved girl who lived well into old age. You will probably have to make adjustments to your own lifestyle to care for a pet who requires more attention than an average, healthy dog but it’s worth it and you’ll work those things out naturally as you go along, just as you would for a sick child, elderly parent, spouse or friend.

  12. nyx says:

    Caroline – yes, typical symptoms. The various meds can cause upset tummies and, eventually, perhaps ulcers. If you see dark tarry stools then I would suspect blood is getting in the stool from an ulcer. Your vet can give you an exact dosage for anti-acid pills, same ones you buy at the grocery for humans. I crushed them into a slurry for Angelbat as the Addison’s meds evenutually led to bouts with a bad tummy. You’ll get used to the signals your pet gives you – Angelbat would do a “play pose” with her butt up in the air and a sad face when her tummy was acting up and I’d see a change in her stools. Your vet can also give you a liquid tummy medicine to help settle your dog’s stomach when needed, kinda like when we take pepto but don’t give your dog pepto or any human meds unless the vet says to – even simple over the counter meds can affect the meds your dog needs to control the Addison’s.

  13. nyx says:

    Tracie – I’m so sorry – I have been heartbroken with the loss of each and every pet but Angelbat was the only one I actually had to take to the vet to be put to sleep at 16yrs after a long, happy life dealing with Addison’s. I held off as long as possible and I know that she had just gotten to that point where she was scared and confused and in pain, had trouble breathing and couldn’t get off her blanket to pee, which upset her because she was always very good about getting to the pee pad, even near the end, she wanted to much to do it in the “right spot” and not in her bed. She was put on antibiotics for a possible bladder infection and that cleared up a lot for her, she still couldn’t get out of bed to pee but the accidents happened much less frequently. It can be a lot to deal with and you just have to remember that your girl knew how much Mama loved her and cared for her and kept her healthy and happy until the very end. I miss all my darlings but I know that they were well aware, every single day, how very loved and adored they were. It still hurts but if you’ve done the very best you can by them, they know it – you need to take some comfort in that.

  14. Ayesha Hameed says:

    With nutritious foods and supporting the needs of the reproductive cells, the skin is certainly more brilliant…sory my english is suck 😀

  15. Alicia says:

    My dog Kobe is in the early work of being diagnosed currently, he’s only two years old. Naturally I’m shocked and worried about him. Seeing as I’m only 21 me and my boyfriend are worried about about cost, I wanted to know if anyone can help me figure out what I’m looking at for prices on meds. What can they range from? Naturally I would do anything to save my boy I love him so much, I’m so worried. I do have to say, reading some of these now and seeing that he can make it has helped a lot.

  16. Charlie says:

    The cost depends on the weight of the dog. CVS has a program for uninsured people and pets, the program alone brought the cost of the fludrocortisone from .75 a pill to .34 a pill. Every other pharmacy was .50 to a 1.00 per pill.

  17. MIKKEL says:

    I have an English Mastiff, female, developed Addison’s at 2, she’s now 5 & doing poorly. Obviously as a pet willing to foot the bill I love my dog. The bill is $180 every 3months for Percorten-it’s the only med that worked, plus prednisone. Now however I’m dealing with myocardial issues and fluid in her coughs. Having loved my dog and loving my dog understand that Addison’s will shorten your animals life. Excepting this is another story.

  18. Savannah says:

    My rottweiler, Mash, was diagnosed with Addison’s at age 2. Terrifying experience to say the least, watching him crash and not knowing what was going on. Luckily the vet came to the Addison’s diagnosis pretty quickly, so they were able to bring him back to health within a week. After a year and a half of treatment (percortin shots once a month and prednisone every other day), he is in great health and about to turn 4. He had some side effects from the prednisone (aggression and excessive peeing), but we lowered the dose until his needs balanced with the side effects. My vet bills with Banfield run around $170 a month (including the wellness plan) and includes the vet visit, the percortin injection and electrolyte test. Sometimes caring for him gets extremely stressful, but at the end of the day seeing him happy and healthy is completely worth it. I’m extremely comforted by some of the testimonials that their dogs lived to old age as that is one of the things that has concerned me since Mash was diagnosed. The best advice I have for anyone with an Addison’s dog is be patient and pay a lot of attention to shifts in their behavioral and/or daily habits. You will come to recognize when they need help and when they need the help of a vet to get through an episode. Good luck to all the Addison’s dog owners. My heart is with you.

  19. Peggy says:

    My Papillon was diagnosed at age 6. He is now 13 and going strong. I doubt he will die of Addisons but of old age. He is on Percorten once a month and Prednisone daily. He lives a great, active life and is a happy dog. His health is just fine. So while Addisons, if left untreated or not treated properly, can shorten a dogs life, if treated properly, they live a very long, happy life.

  20. Peggy says:

    My Papillon was diagnosed at age 6. He is now 13 and going strong. I doubt he will die of Addisons but of old age instead. He is on Percorten once a month and Prednisone daily. He lives a great, active life and is a happy dog. His health is just fine. So while Addisons, if left untreated or not treated properly, can shorten a dogs life, if treated properly, they live a very long, happy life.

  21. Marleen Fox says:

    I have a standard poodle that was diagnosed sometime ago she is going on 5 and gets a shot was every 6 weeks now its down to every 4 weeks plus now we have her on hormone replacement as well for incontinence. When she has her shot and her hormone pills she does just fine until its time for her shot again, sometimes vomiting lack of energy and incontinence then we know for sure she needs her shot we were trying to take her to 6 weeks since her shot is $125.00 a month and her hormone pills are only $27 a month. however we have gone through a lot to get to this stage w/her and its been painstaking and often times very difficult financially. Thank god our Vet is a standard poodle guy himself he has 2 that have no issues. Anyhow I often wonder how long she will be with us…her coat is awful her hair gets very wirey. However we do have her groomed every 6-8 weeks that $65 each time….I will probably never get another standard poodle again way too much money..I also have a Golden, a Lab and a minpin…to be honest the Golden and the minpin are absolutely the lowest maintance dogs we have. All 4 of our dogs are indoor dogs too btw. We love them like children but I do often go through alot of anixity w/my poodle and sometimes want to just give up…

  22. Nikki Grind says:

    My female pit was diagnosed at 2 years of age. The diagnosis was slow because my vet was not well diversed with the disease. She is now 9 and is in pretty good condition. She is on 1.2 ml of Cort every 28 days and .5mg of pred daily. She’s has an electrolyte panel done every 6 months and has had 2 crashes since being diagnosed. Both times were near fatal. Each visit costing around 1500$ to “bring her back”. THE ROUTINE OF INJECTIONS ARE IMPORTANT! She lives a very good life and is still a very happy puppy, so long as we keep up on a daily steroid and the monthly injection. The vet has stressed she may not survive another one. If you’re new to this disease, remember those injections like clockwork. You’ll save yourself a lot of money and you’ll save yourself and your little best friend a lot of stress trauma.

  23. Kevin says:

    I have a female black lab that was diagnosed with Addison’s after a crash at age 2. She turned 9 in September of 2013 and is in very good health, still acts like a puppy all the time. I administer the percorten shot once every 28 days and she takes 5 mg prednisone every day. It certainly doesn’t seem like it has affected her quality of life at all, which I am happy about.

  24. Robert says:

    My great dane has been living with addisons for 4 years. I have learned a ton since she had her first crash and diagnosis. Here are some tips I’ll share with you to make things less stressful and less costly

    – Prednisone makes them drink lots of water and sometimes leak or have accidents. Have your vet prescribe Pro-in it helps them have better control
    – Buy Percoten yourself and administer the injection yourself. The first one is the hardest, but then its very easy. Less stress for your pet, because you can do it at home. You’ll save up to 50%
    – As they get older their might be some problems with digestion. My vet prescribe a probiotic that we sprinkle on her food.
    – Up the prednisone before stressful situations like boarding or even if you are expecting a lot of guests to visit.
    – Close to the end of the shot cycle, keep your dog away from stressful situations. Dog parks, boarding, etc… They can’t handle it.

  25. Sarah says:

    Our yellow lab, Jackson, turns 12 next month, and has started slowing down about six months ago. He was diagnosed at age 3, and gets 2.5 mg of Percortin on the first day of every month (our wonderful friend gives the injection.) The cost is currently about $158 per month. Jackson also takes a low daily dose of Pednisone.

    Jackie has been blessed with excellent health and vigor since the beginning, with tons of energy and pep. It wasn’t until recently that a decline in his rear legs really started to affect his ability, at times, to maintain the leg strength needed to get up, makes turns and push off. He also drags a rear paw at times.

    He has been on homeopathic remedies for the past six months, which helps. He is such a sweet, loving and fun guy; we will just continue this ride with him as long as he is able and pain free…

  26. Laura says:

    Our 17 mo Westie has been ill the past 4 days. We thought is was a bowel obstruction since she hasn’t had a movement since Thursday night. She won’t eat or drink and has started shaking. We had our second vet appointment today. The vet said her colon was empty so no obstruction. She is now testing for Addison’s. I’ve read many posts on Facebook about Westies getting Addison’s. I’ve been reading about it today and I confess I’m scared by some of the posts and encouraged by others on this site. It seems to be so individual – the med dosages, the symptoms, the med prices. She’s so young, feisty and sweet. I don’t want that to change. I also don’t want to go broke. Don’t get me wrong we will do anything for her but I’m scared it will be a burden financially. I will check out the program at CVS and hope that it’s still available. I’m thankful for all the info and advise. I hope all your dogs will live long, happy and healthy lives.

  27. Julia slack says:

    My toy poodle truffle was diagnosed in May ….two previous vets hadn’t spotted addisons although symptoms were Classic addisons…. Doing good, but a couple of blips….if your dog has addisons, watch out for vomiting ( through whatever cause, eating sneaky biscuit eg!) coz they go into shock really quickly and need urgent get treatment…..long live addison dogs x

  28. Jeff says:

    We had a Golden who was diagnosed at 3 yrs old. Had the corotozone shot, on predisone, etc…. Not doing well. After THOUSANDS of dollars of trying to discover what was going on ( we were at one point hoping he had Valley Fever, so at least we could treat it ), our Vet finally figured it out.

    Meds are not working for him, so just making him as comfortable as possible. I’m guessing we have more going on than just this as we have a cronic dry nose, had eye issues and a very bad skin issue as a puppy.

    We can only hope he passes peacefully and in the comfort of his home.

  29. Lindsey says:

    My 6 year old Westie, Leo, is currently in the ICU at LSU Veterinary Hospital in Baton Rouge, LA. After spending a week at my local Vet’s clinic, being monitored and suspected to have pancreatitis but without any real answers, we headed to see the Internal Medicine Team. He hasn’t really eaten much food for a couple weeks and has recently been vomitting a lot. Our DVM there is very confident that he does in fact have Addison’s Disease. His problem is that he was sick for a while now and hasn’t been given the correct treatment for his condition. I know that these brillant Vets at LSU will stick with him and get his Sodium levels corrected and get him the right steroids to combat his problem. He has just been diagnosed today, so I’m praying we aren’t too late to save his sweet little life. I personally don’t care how much it will cost to get him better or the monthly cost associated with managing his condition. He is my therapy dog and means the world to me. I am just sad I can’t be with him everyday because we live 2.5 hours away!

  30. Lynette says:

    Hi Everyone
    We have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel turning 9 this year and she was diagnosed with Addison’s last year while interstate and she was prescribed Florinef tablets 1 morning and 1 night and prednisone 1 a day however 6 months later after blood tests our local vet and the pathologist both advised prednisone leaves a residual and florinef is better with cortate and we noticed a marked improvement as soon as we switched her over to the cortate
    The only downside to this is while these 2 drugs are human drugs and cost people $25 for the florinef and $11 for the cortate on the National Health Scheme we have to pay $84 for the florinef and $42 for the cortate from the vet and that lasts 50 days but little Bella’s worth it
    Oh and Lindsay the interstate vet that first saw Bella told us Addison’s was a Lyrebird disease ie: it mimics other diseases and so can get missed unless blood tested for it, hope your little guy recovers and you’re back together again soon

  31. dasha18 says:

    Our labradoodle at age 7 was diagnosed with addisons after all 4 legs splayed out and we carried her to the vet. It is now about 2 yrs later and she has really slowed down, but is in no noticeable pain. She is on the very expensive percortin shots and predisone and yes if you miss the shots the cost of the IV, etc is more expensive. Overall she can walk for about 15 minutes and sleeps the rest of the day, but remains affectionate and loving. She does have a cough of unknown origins but it is also not so bad. She moans as she lays down. We are ok with hospice care as long as possible. Bowel, bladder and stomach are fine.

  32. Michelle says:

    I have 2 collies and our female was diagnosed at 9 months. She is 10 now. She has done well for the most part only one crash until the last year. She gets stressed with any change in our activities. She has always gone camping and to our cabin in Wisconsin but now she gets so stressed out and crashes. The last trip to the cabin she ended up throwing up for most of the trip up in the car and by the time our week was over she was lethargic. Took her to the vet upon our return and she had a small setback. Gave her subcutaneous fluids and a shot. Now she seems to be losing control of her hind legs. We have to help her up the stairs and she seems like she walks drunk. I am hesitant to take her back to the vet. 3 trips in the last 6 months is really taking a toll on my bank account not too mention the meds she takes that adds up to about $2.25 a day. florinef, prednisone, thyroid meds and proin. The vet always runs blood tests at $160 and other tests and it is a $400 bill. I am just wondering when is enough enough. I know I sound heartless but I am starting to wonder if she is suffering and the constant stress of not feeling well is what is taking its toll on her. Has anyone had their addison dog lose complete control of their hind legs?

  33. Jerri LeBlanc says:

    At the age of 2 our Jack Russell Terrier was diagnosed 9 months ago with Addison’s Disease. She goes in for a shot every 28 days and takes 1/4 of 5mg predisone pill every other day. Two months before she got the Addison’s disease diagnosis I enrolled both my JRT sisters in a Pet Assure program for a special family rate of $40 per year. That was a finance saver. 25% off her shots and pills and any medical care at the office. It was a special Groupon rate. So we pay $55 every 28 days for the shot and $16 for a month’s worth of pills. I was wondering if anyone else was having a problem with aggression from this disease/medication? By reading this forum it looks like that might be a side effect. Any movement in bed and she wakes up growling and snapping at us. Also, if you startle her you get the same result.

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