Addison Disease testing in diabetic cat?

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tollandjun

Member Since 2014
I was here awhile ago about Jun, and then my computer broke and I was offline for so long.

His sugar is still all over the board and he is showing many other symptoms of late that have me concerned & lost.

There is a possibility of a problem with his adrenal glands (hypoadrenocorticism). We want to have him tested
and the vet isn't really familiar with this in cats (apparently it is rather rare).

Has anyone had testing for this done? All I find online suggests the ACTH test, while the vet wants to
do some low dose dexa test - which from all I can find won't show hypo, only hyper. This is not my usual vet,
as he left the practice over a month ago.

Can anyone give advice?

Thank you.
 
I have also heard that Addison's is very rare in cats, but I did have a dog with typical Addison's. He had symptoms of lethargy and inappetance, so the vet ran a regular blood panel which showed his potassium was high and sodium was low. That was the first clue of Addison's. Then they did the ACTH stim test to get the definitive diagnosis. The ACTH stim test is the only test to correctly diagnosis Addison's. Hope that helps!
 
cindyh said:
I have also heard that Addison's is very rare in cats, but I did have a dog with typical Addison's. He had symptoms of lethargy and inappetance, so the vet ran a regular blood panel which showed his potassium was high and sodium was low. That was the first clue of Addison's. Then they did the ACTH stim test to get the definitive diagnosis. The ACTH stim test is the only test to correctly diagnosis Addison's. Hope that helps!
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Thank you. May I ask how they treat Addison's? Can it be managed well? I take Jun on Monday when they said they'll do the low dex test, but I see now that is pointless and hope they will agree with me wanting the ACTH. I don't want to waste time on something that won't help him and delay care of another illness.

Since Jan., Jun has been losing weight (was around 14 pounds, now around 10.4). He is a long time diabetic and was well controlled, but since Jan. His sugar will be high one day, drop low over night and stay low for days, then shoot high with some days of normal. It is almost like his pancreas is working time to time. He will almost always drop to a totally normal sugar range around 4-6 am, at which point it will then start to raise. His blood sugar level isn't directly tied to his lack of appetite.

We've tried adjusting insulin, diet, etc. He even had a treatment for his IBD (probiotic and anitibiotic) and acupuncture, and he did so-so after. He often is lethargic, and has no interest in food - yet some days he is always looking for food and can eat well. Something just isn't right and we can't figure it out, and it seems he has more bad days compared to good days anymore. Some days he seems like his old self, many days, he'll just lay in the kitchen or on his nap pad.

Jun turned 10 years on the 16th of this month, and has IBD, EPI, previous acute pancreaitis, mega-colon, lumps on his thyroid, reverted from diabetes twice, and had a mast cell skin tumor removed in Jan. It was since then he seemed to start to decline.

Perhaps I'm grasping at straws, but I just feel there has to be something else that is making his diabetes un-managable anymore. My gut is telling me something isn't right and I want to do all I can to figure out what is wrong.
 
BJM said:
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/116467-treatment (human medicine; much carryover) Site is free; you may have to register.

Humans are given hydrocortisone if in crisis, then aldosterone replacement such as 9-alpha-fludrocortisone.
If they can treat it in humans, chances are good they may be able to treat it in cats.I'll do some more searching.

This looks promising.
Http://vetbook.org/wiki/cat/index.php/Addison's_Disease
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Thank you. You read my mind. I was actually going to ask if anyone had some links, as I'd like to print some pages to take to the vet with me.

I don't think he is in crisis as it seems it is very obvious and very fast downhill, so my hope is to catch it before there are serious complications if this is what is wrong with Jun.

EDIT: Oddly, the second link for vetbook.org didn't work, but I use safari and sometimes it is problematic.
 
The preferred treatment in dogs is a monthly shot of Percorten (DOCP) along with a very small daily dose of prednisone. Fludrocortisone is sometimes not metabolized very well in dogs and results in an unstabilized patient. Dogs on Percorten do great, mine had it for over 10 years and lived to 15 years old. I have no idea how either of these drugs would be metabolized by a cat, but I'm sure some of the links in the previous messages might address that.

In the canine Addison's group I belonged to I do remember seeing a number of dogs with both diabetes and Addison's, so maybe there is some link between them.
 
cindyh said:
The preferred treatment in dogs is a monthly shot of Percorten (DOCP) along with a very small daily dose of prednisone. Fludrocortisone is sometimes not metabolized very well in dogs and results in an unstabilized patient. Dogs on Percorten do great, mine had it for over 10 years and lived to 15 years old. I have no idea how either of these drugs would be metabolized by a cat, but I'm sure some of the links in the previous messages might address that.

In the canine Addison's group I belonged to I do remember seeing a number of dogs with both diabetes and Addison's, so maybe there is some link between them.
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I wanted to ask this yesterday, but computer troubles.

With the diabetic dogs - do you recall if there was any concern with the testing & the diabetes? I plan to give Jun food & his insulin as usual tomorrow morning prior to going in. Thanks. I'm hoping they can do the ACTH testing, in stead of the other.
 
I believe the only thing that can cause problems with the ACTH stim test is steroids. Good luck getting the test!
 
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