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?
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?