Addison’s disease whether it occurs in dogs or humans, is an endocrine system disorder which begins when the adrenal glands fail to produce enough hormones for normal functioning.

Poodles, Leonbergers, and Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers are considered the most susceptible. Addison’s is primarily affects female dogs, but in the case of Standard Poodles and Bearded Collies, both sexes appear to be susceptible to the condition.

The disease is also known as, chronic adrenal insufficiency or hypoadrenocorticism. Because these hormones are necessary for life, this disease is extremely serious and should be treated appropriately.

All the causes for Addison’s disease are not yet understood. The known causes are genetic, very often related to an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks and kills its own tissue. Other cases of Addison’s are caused by various disease processes, including the atypical Addison’s or the failure of the pituitary gland to secrete Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), a hormone which stimulates adrenal production of cortisol.

Adrenal insufficiency can be primary or secondary.

Primary adrenocorticism affects salt/potassium balance in the dog’s body along with glucorticoid. The secondary adrenocorticism normally, only affects the glucocorticoids; and it’s not known why primary adrenocorticism occurs, and it can be an immune mediated process. Secondary adrenocorticism likely occurs when prednisone or other cortisone has be administered by a veterinarian for medical reasons, then is suddenly withdrawn. Another cause can be as the result of some other process, such as pituitary cancer which interferes with the production of the hormones that stimulate the adrenal glands.

Diagnosis of Addison’s Disease in Poodles

Most dogs exhibit symptoms of Addison’s disease initially as gastrointestinal disturbances like vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, lack of appetite, tremors or shaking and muscle weakness, a low body temperature, collapse, low heart rate, and pain in their hind quarters.

Many of these symptoms are pretty vague and in the begining it is extremely easy to miss this disease.

However, as the disease progresses more severe signs occur when your poodle’s system is stressed because of hypoadrenocorticism, or when the potassium levels get high enough to begin interfering with heart function. Poodles at this stage will sometimes suffer from severe shock, which can lead to sudden death. When potassium levels get high heart arrhythmias begin to occur or even stoppage of the heart; also is fatal.

It should be noted that in some situations, especially secondary Addison’s disease, there is no detectable electrolyte changes. In this situation the only accurate test for Addison’s disease in dogs is an ACTH stimulation test. While most corticosteroids will invalidate the results of an ACTH test, Dexamethasone may be used in cases of an Addison’s emergency without the worry of compromising the results of the ACTH test.

Addison’s can be discovered up by changes in the ratio between sodium and potassium, sometimes by accident. When this happens it is extremely important that you seek treatment for it. If it is confirmed by an ACTH response test, and the administration of this hormone should stimulate production of adrenal hormones. If, however, this doesn’t happen then Addison’s is present.

In situations where the electrolyte levels readings are normal, this is the only test for the problem and it will be missed unless the Vet is looking for it specifically. This disease can be hard to distinguish from renal failure because the symptoms and the blood work can be similar, so the ACTH response test may be the only way to differentiate between them.

While Addison’s disease occurs in humans it is much more frequently found in dogs, research shows it is likely to occur one hundred times more often in dogs. It mostly affects young to middle-aged female dogs, with the average age for diagnosis being around four; however, it has been discovered in puppies and in dogs as old as twelve years.

About seventy percent of dogs which are diagnosed with Addison’s disease are female. Addison’s disease is still a relatively under-diagnosed disease in dogs in fact statistics compiled at a large veterinary hospital found that the number to be 0.36 dogs per 1000,; this means that for an average veterinary practice, consisting of two veterinarians with about 1500 patients, there would be an average of one diagnosis of the disease each year.