A canine drama that turned out to be a common, but potentially fatal, condition

We were caring for a pair of poodles, Joey, a miniature, and Priya, a standard, who are our regular guests. A week after they returned home, the owner contacted us to ask if anything had happened while the dogs were with us, as Priya was a little off. There was nothing we could put our finger on. She had been eating well, playing happily, and was excited to walk the dog.

(Image: Sarah Walker)

Her owner explained that she had become a bit lethargic and had lost her appetite. He had gone to the vet with her, but was told only to keep an eye on her. The dogs needed to come back to us because the family was about to leave for a long-awaited holiday abroad. We agreed that they would come anyway, although when they left the dogs, Priya was still not herself.

Over the weekend, my son Jasper and I were increasingly concerned. Priya refused all food despite tempting her with treats like cheese and roast chicken that dogs usually devour. She spent most of her time sleeping and whenever she got up, her normally wagging tail was limp and lifeless.

Luckily, one of my other clients is a vet and is our go-to person if we are concerned about any of our expenses (if you run a professional dog grooming business, it is a requirement of your license to be registered with a vet, even if you don’t own a dog). When I texted her with the symptoms, she quickly responded that we should take her to emergency surgery right away.

The owner’s vet was an hour away, so we needed his permission to share Priya’s health details with the practice we wanted to use, which was much closer. This meant we had to interrupt his vacation to let him know what was happening and to make sure we got the necessary consent.

With permission, Jasper took Priya to our vet who took blood for tests in hopes of getting to the root of the problem. She was also put on an IV and had to stay overnight at the vet clinic.

The vet who did the initial exam had a hunch about what it might be. “Addison’s disease, or something,” Jasper explained to me when he returned. I thought he must have gotten the name wrong, because it was a human disease, right?

When I did a search, it was actually a rare autoimmune disease of the adrenal glands that affects about 9,000 people a year. However, it is also seen in dogs and when I looked up the symptoms, I found the right answer: lethargy, lack of appetite, and “not being yourself.” Other symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea, increased thirst, and weakness in the limbs. Symptoms can also come and go, but they do get progressively worse, so it is important not to delay getting a dog checked out. Although quite rare in humans, Addison’s disease is quite common in dogs.

The blood test results came back the next day and confirmed that Priya had the disease. It is caused by the adrenal glands ceasing to produce two essential steroid hormones, cortisol and aldosterone, both of which are essential for life. It can affect any dog, but is more common in certain purebred breeds between the ages of four and six, such as the Standard Poodle, West Highland White Terrier, Great Dane and St. Bernard. If left untreated, the condition is fatal.

From now on, Priya will have to take a steroid pill every day for the rest of her life to replace the cortisol and will also need an injection once a month to replace the aldosterone. She recovered quickly and is back to normal.

(Image: Sarah Walker)

If you have pet insurance that you purchased before symptoms appeared, then you should be covered. Otherwise, I fear that a diagnosis of Addison’s disease will be a rather expensive affair!

• Do you have any thoughts, memories or ideas to share with me? Contact me via my website countrymansdaughter.com, or by email dst@nne.co.uk.