Lovely dog turned very agressive since on drugs for Addisons

[Worrried]

Last summer our cockerpoo was diagnosed with Addisons, we've not been able to get her drugs right since, and she has not maintained stable levels very well. She is now on a pretty high dosage, which seems to manage the condition but she has gotten increasingly angitated and difficult in the past few months, she wees and messes in the house if ever left in for more than two hours and now has snapped at me (I gave benefit of doubt and thought some how I had hurt her unknowingly as it was so out of character), and tonight really went for my 7 yr old, when he came to cuddle me (she was asleep before at my feet). He slid over on the sofa up to me and she jumped up and went for him. There was no way he hurt her in any way - his feet were on the sofa and she was on the floor. We have never, ever had anything like this behaviour until these two incidents. I'm not sure where to turn now, but I know tonight has crossed a serious line. Has anyone experienced addisons, and/or experienced anything like this?

[moosemama]

Not Addisons, but when my boy was on very high dose Of prednisolone for an autoimmune condition he was very edgy and went for our lovely old lad over food. It only happened once, partially because we upped our vigilance and kept them separate and ultimately because the meds were gradually tapered to a more manageable level over time, which I suppose is not an option with Addisons.

I’m not sure what we would have done if he’d gone for one of the dcs. It was scary enough when he went for our other dog and so out of character.

I would contact your vet asap and discuss it with them. Have you looked on FB for any groups specifically for dogs with Addisons? The biggest source of help and knowledge for my dog came from a closed group specifically for his condition on FB.

[BiteyShark]

I don't have any experience with Addisons but my dog did have a real change of behaviour when on a very high dose of steroids ( fortunately not aggression but very anxious ).

I would phone your vet ASAP and get advice or maybe a urgent referral if your vet isn't a specialist in that area.

[moosemama]

BiteyShark makes a good point actually. If you’re not already under an Internal Medicine Specialist, at a specialist vet hospital, I would highly recommend it. They are the experts and although they tend to be quite a bit more expensive, it’s well worth it initially, while you get a complex condition under control, especially if she isn’t responding typically to the meds.

My boy was under the specialist for a few months, then transferred back to our vets with access to the specialist for advice as and when needed.

[Worrried]

Thanks Moosemama but given the current Covid situation, we've just lost one income and I've been asked to take a paycut... I really don't know how we'd cover additional treatment. Her vet bills are huge and the insurance won't cover it as it is. I look into a specialist but worried about the costs! :-(

[Lougle]

Why won't the insurance cover it? That's so hard. Are there any charities that might help with the cost?

[Worrried]

We had a basic insurance, they covered her first 'epsiode' but wouldn't then cover her lifelong treatment.

[Lougle]

Oh dear. Yes, that's a common problem with the basic insurances.

[Jj2431]

I could have written your post (and did) a couple years ago. I had a rescue dog who had addisons and he was the most amazing dog but he was continuously going down hill with the disease. When we got him he was on tablets and they just did nothing for him. He was constantly shaking, lethargic and sick etc. He was always at the vet on drips and eventually he was changed to the injection, however, with the injection he also had steroids and his behaviour changed. He snapped at my sons face out of the blue, he snapped at me numerous times and bit my husband. He was still also taking turns for the worse more than we would have hoped, the dose was changed so many times but nothing. He slept most of the time, was not happy, couldn't walk for very long and became aggesssive off and on as stated. We kept giving it time because he was only 5 but in the end we thought it was in his best interests to put to sleep. Sorry you're having to go through the same thing. No one believed me when I said nothing was making my dog better but only making him worse and lots told me that Addisons was a less serious disease, which made me feel confused and question my own judgement but ultimately I know I was right and although I miss him, I don't regret our decision. I hope things improve. :(

[moosemama]

@Worrried, I’m so sorry you are in that situation. Some pet insurance companies and policies can be like that, it really needs to be better regulated.

It’s worth knowing, re meds, that if you ask for prescription, there will usually be a £8-10.00 charge for issuing it, but then you can source meds online much cheaper than buying them via the vets. One prescription will usually cover up to 6 months of renewals, so you don’t pay the £8-10 monthly. One of my boy’s meds was over £400 a fortnight through the vets, but I could get it for less than half that online. (I used petprescription.co.uk, but you can shop around on a few pet med sites eg Animed direct or similar to find the cheapest deal.)

I was wondering about charities as well. Is there a PDSA or Blue Cross near you? They will help if you are in receipt of any benefits from this list:

Pension credit (not the standard state retirement pension)
Housing benefit
Income support
Working tax credit
Council tax benefit (not 25 per cent single person discount)
Income based jobseeker’s allowance
Income based employment and support allowance
Universal credit
Child tax credit

[Worrried]

@Jj2431

I could have written your post (and did) a couple years ago. I had a rescue dog who had addisons and he was the most amazing dog but he was continuously going down hill with the disease. When we got him he was on tablets and they just did nothing for him. He was constantly shaking, lethargic and sick etc. He was always at the vet on drips and eventually he was changed to the injection, however, with the injection he also had steroids and his behaviour changed. He snapped at my sons face out of the blue, he snapped at me numerous times and bit my husband. He was still also taking turns for the worse more than we would have hoped, the dose was changed so many times but nothing. He slept most of the time, was not happy, couldn't walk for very long and became aggesssive off and on as stated. We kept giving it time because he was only 5 but in the end we thought it was in his best interests to put to sleep. Sorry you're having to go through the same thing. No one believed me when I said nothing was making my dog better but only making him worse and lots told me that Addisons was a less serious disease, which made me feel confused and question my own judgement but ultimately I know I was right and although I miss him, I don't regret our decision. I hope things improve. :(

Thank you for this, and I am so sorry you had this experience. Given the last year we've had with her, we have had a lot more bad days than good, so I often think we are on the same path... we will keep trying but also realistic that we will probably have to make some difficult decisions in the future.