Living with a Pet with Addison’s Disease

My name is Dr. Lori Skrypnek and my pet Molly has Addison’s Disease. I adopted her after she had been diagnosed with Addisons disease and was on treatment for one year. She receives medication daily (prednisone) as her body is unable to make the cortisone (steroid) that she needs to function with the stresses of normal life. She also receives an injection once monthly of a mineralocorticoid. Her adrenal glands are shrunken and do not produce this mineralocorticoid that she needs to function normally.

Molly is a happy, healthy normal dog in every way. She does drink a bit more than a normal dog sometimes and therefore needs to be let outside every 6 hours or so. She goes for walks, plays with her toys and chases our cat. She does not tolerate stress very well so she doesn’t go to a kennel. She has had her teeth cleaned and just required extra prednisone before and after her dental procedure to handle the stress of this procedure.

Molly has given us many years of joy and is a normal dog as long as she stays on her medications. I hope that she will live to a nice old age as her life span is expected to be normal on medication.

Written by: Dr. Lori Skrypnek, Veterinarian