06/28/2025
Meet Baxter!! He is one special guy as he has a condition called Addisonās disease (and adorable ears)! š„°
Addisonās disease, also called hypoadrenocorticism is usually caused when the body doesnāt make steroids naturally and when it doesnāt make hormones needed to regulate electrolytes. There is another type of Addisonās disease where the body just lacks the ability to make steroids naturally (but it eventually usually turns into the second type where electrolytes are abnormal).
Patients with this condition can develop symptoms quickly and go into shock or even die if not diagnosed and treated quickly. Unfortunately treatment is lifelong but luckily, once treated, does very well with medical management. Poodles are the most common breed that develop this disease.
This disease is called the āgreat pretenderā as it mimics all sorts of other illnesses. Symptoms can vary from patient to patient and include vomiting, diarrhea, collapse, lethargy, and weight loss plus some others.
Patients like Baxter with Addisonās disease need to take daily steroid oral medication and also need to come in approximately once a month for an injection of the hormone needed to regulate his electrolytes. We get to know these patients super well since they are such frequent visitors!
We love you (and your ears) Baxter! ā¤ļø
