Addison's Disease

[kg84]

My 16yo senior kitty was diagnosed with Addison's disease recently. My vet told me that she is only the second kitty she's had with Addison's in her 30+ year career. I didn't realize how rare it is in cats until I started looking online for more information and didn't find much.

Looking back she was slightly sick for about a month prior to diagnosis. I noticed constipation being an issue and made a vet appointment. I did not think it was urgent at the time so I took the next available appt that they had which was a month away.

Suddenly she got very sick. The constipation switched over to diarrhea, she was very lethargic and refusing food and water. This happened over the course of 12 hours or so. I was able to get an emergency appt with my vet the same day and she was in such bad shape I really thought I might lose her that day.

The vet took blood work at that appointment and gave me some pain meds and nausea meds for her, and let me take her home. The pain and nausea meds made it so that she was eating again but she was still extremely lethargic.

Blood results came back with everything appearing normal except for high potassium levels and low sodium levels. The vet suspected Addison's. They admitted her to the office the next day and ran an ACTH stimulation test. The test results showed that she has Addison's.

She was started on prednisolone and florinef that day and has been taking both every day since. It's been about a week now. She will go back for more blood work in another week to see how her levels look. I assume we may adjust medication based on the results.

On the current medications she seems better. Her energy level has returned and she is absolutely starving. To the point that she is constantly emptying her food bowl and begging for more. She also appears a little restless. She used to have a predictable pattern of sleep (most of the day) and hours that she was awake. Now she is awake most of the day and pacing the house, getting into things, bothering the other cats. She does not seem in pain or bothered at all, she just doesn't want to sit still for long and seems bored. I don't know if this is a side effect of the meds and if so, which one.

Does anyone else here have a cat with Addison's?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I suspect the meds are causing her excessive appetite, as that is a possible side effect of both of them. I think that applies to restlessness as well. Maybe ask your vet if the dosages should be lowered at tad bit to see if that reduces her side effects? At a minimum call your vet and let them know how she is behaving.

Here is a link to previous posts from other members who have dealt with Addison's. Hopefully, there will be some helpful information in them, and I see there are a couple of members still active on this site, so I hope they will see your post and respond soon!
Search Results for Query: addison's | TheCatSite

 

[fionasmom]

I am glad that you were able to start your kitty on pred and fludrocortisone. Cushing's/ Addisons requires very careful dosing....not that you are doing anything wrong....but calculation by the vet or you will get side effects in either direction as you are describing. Increased activity and hunger point to one kind of dose and lack of appetite and lethargy to another.

In the other thread, I think I mentioned that you and your vet will work in close contact on this. Call the vet and report the symptoms and ask if this is common as a loading reaction or if this needs to be recalibrated. In order to work with these conditions, you will have to stay on top of testing. My dog has an ACTH stim test four times a year minimum.

It is possible that if your vet has only had two cases in more than 30 years, she is not really that experienced in the management of this condition. I mean that in the nicest possible way. My dog changed vets. The first one had him on 50 mgs of Vetoryl (dog med for Cushings) and the present vet has it reduced to 20 mgs....and for several years it was on 15 mgs per day.

 

[kg84]

I am back. After about three weeks on her medications, florinef and prednisolone, we went in for a lab check. Her results showed that her electrolytes had completely switched from the original low sodium/high potassium to now high sodium/low potassium. Despite these readings on her blood work I felt like she was in a good spot behavior wise and seemed much happier, although starving all of the time. Besides the excessive hunger she was back to her normal energy levels and mood.

The vet felt like maybe the florinef dose was too high and asked that we try halving it. We started the decreased dose one week ago. Now, we are seeing some bathroom issues popping up again ... constipation and diarrhea and she is visibly uncomfortable. Refusing food at times.

I'm going to speak with the vet again. I'm concerned about figuring out the correct medication for her and even trying to find a vet who has more experience with this disease in cats, but I don't even know where to start with that.

 

[fionasmom]

I am sorry that you are experiencing this. I have absolutely been there with my dog's years long treatment for Cushings. These meds are extremely hard to regulate and you will have more luck with a vet who either, for some reason, has treated this more than once or with an endocrine specialist. If none are available, I would try for an internal medicine vet at the least.

My experience with the vet we left was that she was prescribing way too high.

If you are not able get to find a specialist, see if there is some possibility of communication either through your vet or directly with you if you can send all test results...which you can because they are your property. You can ask your vet to work with a teaching hospital or specialty center.

Your vet may eventually figure this out, and it is not entirely her fault for not having handled much of this, but my solution was to find a vet who was more experienced.