My Rant for today...

Just want to start off by saying that I have tremendous respect for Vets and all they do. I so appreciate the care my Vet gives my furkids...
Anyone that knows me or that has read my blog knows I have a dog (Raider) with Addison's disease  (hypoadrenocorticism). I volunteer on the Yahoo Group Addison Dogs helping people with their newly diagnosed dogs.. Yes I am one of those dreaded online people who give suggestions on Canine Addison's ..

I am not a Vet and I make sure to tell people that, and I also tell people not to make changes to their dogs medications without talking to their Vets.
But I do know how to manage a dog with Addison's disease.

We have vets who join our list to get information or who have their own Addison's dogs and want help. We generally have the latest treatment info, and often more up to date than many GP Vets have.
We see everything from people who will do everything they can for their dogs to ones who put their dogs down when they get the diagnosis.
We see people who have great Vets and the dogs get the best care. We also see people who have Vets that either don't care or slept through Veterinary school or at least endocrinology. Now I realize that Addison's in not a common disease and it is often misdiagnosed, it is called "The Great Pretender" as it mimics lots of other things including Kidney disease. Vets certainly don't see this everyday. But can't they look it up... for crying out loud.

One of the best drugs out there to treat Addison's is Percorten V  (desoxycorticosterone pivalate). But it is not available everywhere so many parts of the world they must use Florinef. I have used that drug as well but hope to never have to go back to it for my boy.

As I said we see the good and the bad in both owners and Vets..
My rant today is on the Vets who could use some education on Addison's disease, so if anyone has suggestions on how to get the message out I would appreciate it because educating one Vet at a time is slow..

For example today we get a Vet who tells us that he is fine with reducing the percorten dose but he does it by reducing 25% at a time but he doesn't test the lytes ( electrolytes, specifically the sodium, potassium and chloride )because and I quote, " I am not a fan of  testing the lytes because they are inaccurate and questionable" ... I'm sorry but WTF... so instead he reduces the dose and if the dog is fine in a month he reduces it again.. great way to put the dog in Addison's crisis I'd say. The lytes test/BUN are the most important tools when dosing to effect..

Or the vet who reruns the ACTH test monthly to see how much pred to give the dog... another WTF ... The ACTH test if done correctly the first time is a diagnostic test for Addison's, not a management tool, there is no reason with Addison's disease to do it again unless this was a Cushing's dog turned Addisonian and you want to be sure it is not returning to a Cushing's state.

Then there is the Vet who reruns the ACTH test to make sure the dog is getting enough Percorten V... again WTF.. it measures cortisol not Aldosterone. So again a waste of money.

Or the vet who refuses to lower the percorten dose even though the dogs K is 3.8 ( 3.4 - 5.8 ) at day 28 and just gives another full dose of percorten or increases the dose because the dog gained 3 lbs... another WTF, that's like giving more insulin to a diabetic dog whose blood sugar is already too low.
Don't these vets know anything about 'dosing to effect" or using the lowest effective dose..???

Then there are the vets who have the dogs on prednisone for a week before they run the ACTH test. Prednisone interferes with the test and can cause a false positive for Addison's. Dexamethazone can be used in the short term and it doesn't have any real effect on the ACTH test other than to sometimes reduce the pre stim result a bit. But the post stim test is the biggie anyway and it has no effect on that.
We see on average a couple of dogs a month who are misdiagnosed with Addison's because of a false postive on the ACTH test because of pred being used before the ACTH test. When they are taken off of it and supported on dex until the pred clears their system they pass the test.

Or the dog who fails the ACTH test but has perfectly normal lytes but the Vet puts them on either percorten or florinef anyway. These dogs only need a steroid replacement.. They don't need the other meds.
Now I realize they can transition to Typical Addison's but that happens in less than 20% of cases.. so no need to put them on it until they actually do need it.

I don't expect a Vet to know everything but I do expect that if they don't know something that they would try and find it out..
So any advice or suggestions on how you would talk to a Vet who does some of these things?

You know it's not a good sign for the Dog when...

A post the other day by LittleVet , Negative Prognostic Indicators got me thinking.

I am a Moderator on the Yahoo Group Addison Dogs. It's a large group with about 30 new members a week. We try to educate owners on the different treatment options for their Addisonian dogs. We help them find ways to get their medications cheaper and in many more cases than I care to admit we help them educate their Vets on the proper diagnosis and treatment of an Addisonian ( no offense meant to the vets out there who already do a great job with their Addisonians). I digress though that is the topic for a whole other post.

As I said we get new members all the time and we know it's not good for the dog when:

1. In the membership application they tell you twice how concerned they are about the cost of medication but never mention that they care about their dog. ( these are the ones who rarely get lytes done and and the dog is always on the edge of crisis )

2. In their first intro post to the group they tell you three times they spent $2500 on diagnosis alone but never once tell you they love the dog.

3. They tell you the dog just got out of the ER that day and they ask how to get the dog to stop pi**ing ( their word not mine) on the carpet because they can't take much more. ( this dog is making it's last trip to the vet real soon)

4. The dog has been home for 48 hrs but drinking and peeing so much they know it is suffering and they can't bear to watch it any longer and they can't see spending all this money on a dog who is suffering. ( dead dog walking )

5. They ask what happens if they just stop treating the dog.. ( we beg them to rehome or at the very least take the dog to their Vet for euthanization rather than let it suffer such a death)

6. They tell you their Vet suggests they euthanize because the dog will never be the same ( this after they find out the medication is for life )..

7. They tell you they are expecting a baby and they tell you how much they really love the dog.. ( the dog is history, although they may ask for help rehoming )

Why do I do this... oh yeah I love Addisonian's like Buddy, Ben, Vita, Becky, TJ, Taz, Millie, Tess, Riley, JJ, Tallie, Rudy and oh yes my boy Raider...