So about a year ago my beloved pup was diagnosed with Addisons by our brilliant vet in a Hail Mary situation. She was incredibly thirsty, and yet also lethargic and not eating. She was older than the usual presentation and mixed breed so it's fairly unusual for her type, the vet figured it out possibly hours before she could have died and sent us to a pet hospital, she had to get liters of fluid, steroids, and stay overnight, so if your dog suddenly turns into a tired water monster, ask about Addisons because the diagnostic test is way less expensive than the Addison's crisis emergency treatment.
She weighs about 95 lbs (a healthy weight for her frame) and is now nine. (And is also happily snoring like a chainsaw about two feet away.)
She's on two medications- an every other day prednisone pill that costs us peanuts because my husband works for a pharmacy and his company will honor our vet prescription, so that I'm not worried about.
(Incidentally, here's the tip- anyone in a similar situation may want to check with local pharmacies to see if they will honor vet prescriptions- countries may vary but in ours it's up to the discretion/supply of the company.)
The other one though, is Zycortal, which is only available through veterinary supply pharmacies, it's a once-a-month shot that costs us about $145 USD from Allivet that basically helps her adrenal gland to not quit. (We give her the shot ourselves, which my vet trained me on and makes her way less nervous about it.) We try to keep the extra .5ml from each vial after her 3.5ml shot but it tends to dry up in the fridge.
We also have to get her blood tested every three months which costs us about $90 each time, basically to make sure the drugs aren't making her worse. (I am hugely simplifying this, because anyone with a dog with this condition probably knows all the details.)
I'm not trying to cheap out on taking care of my girl, she means the world to me and she's happy and as healthy as can be expected right now. If this is what we gotta do we're on board, but I'm wondering if anyone has experience with this, and knows of a cheaper place to get the Zycortal, or how to stop it from drying up in the vial after using a needle to extract the regular dose?
(I've looked into pet insurance but with a prexisting condition like this I've gotten five quotes that are like $200 a month, which seems crazy to me so maybe I'm looking in the wrong places.)
Thank you for any help!
November 07, 2018 at 03:23AM
