Addisson’s Disease

Hi All! This past Monday was a hard one, definitely not something I wish upon even my worst enemy. A little background for starters. My eight year old chi weenie stopped eating Friday night. On Saturday she didn’t eat her breakfast or her dinner. I also realized I hadn’t seen her at the water bowl. I begin to panic as her not wanting to eat isn’t too big a deal. However, her not drinking water is a huge problem. It’s not always easy to completely come back from dehydration. This just progressively got worse as we moved through Sunday. Monday morning I finally was able to get her into a new doctor after many tears and pleading they can fit her in later in the day. Get us in a room, do bloodwork and X-rays. The vet comes back in with some concerning issues with regard with several of her numbers/blood values. Our vet comes back in and talks to us about thing’s they’ve managed to rule out but one thing has them stumped but they can’t rule out, is Addisons disease. Sadly it’s end of day and they are not equipped to take on overnight emergent boarding situation. They want to transfer our pup to an emergency vet clinic, NOW! Our vet fears our little 8 year old girl will not make it through the night. More panic sets in and away we go. Get to the ER vet and she is whisked out my arms. Within two hours she has positive test for addisons disease. Can someone tell me what causes this? I’ve never even heard of this disease before last Monday. I’m scared to death of losing her. If she was your pup what kinds of questions should I be asking at our next vet visit? Any and all suggestions welcomed.

Let me say this, it’s usually me offering suggestions and ideas to help someone out. My experience with dogs dates back 40 plus years and I think outside the box and think that’s what sets me apart but I’m stumped.