Nyx: The Service Dog with Addison's

Walking into your house and being greeted by your pet is one of the most rewarding things in my day. But what happens when you wake up, and that is no longer there?

This past week had to by one of my families worst weeks in the world. I have a service dog names Nyx. One day, she stopped eating, then she became lethargic, and playing wasn't happening. Then she would eat a little, and then it would stop. Every time I was going to schedule a vet visit, she would come back and show signs of life. Then, she became hypothermic. I cried and began calling every emergency vet hospital in the area until I found one accepting patients an hour and a half away. I held my baby while my partner drove us to the hospital. They ran blood work and x-rays. That's when the doc gave us the news...

Your dog may have Addison's Disease...

"What is that?" I find myself screaming through the tears. The doctor explained it, and I found myself calming down a little. For whatever reason, her body was attacking her adrenal gland, causing it to stop producing necessary steroids and hormones in the body. My girl was in an Addisonian Crisis, and she was in kidney failure. But her potassium being high, and her salt being low showed the vet there was something more as the potassium would be low in true kidney failure. The vet's assured me she would be fine and would make it, but it she would need intensive hospital care, and medicine the rest of her life.

Moving to 2 days in, I am allowed to bring my girl home. Her levels were almost back to normal. Now the true work begins. She will need an injection every 28 days. Until her recheck on the 8th, she will be on 5mg of prednisone every 12 hours, and then we could drop it. She is slowly getting back to herself.

What they don't tell you about this experience? The mental tole it takes on the owner. I found myself losing sleep, having nightmares that I would lose her, panic attacks at all hours of the day. I became irritable, I became depressed, and I began showing classic signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Every time she pooped, I was out there making sure it was good. If it wasn't, I was on the internet and googling if she needed to go back. Every wobble was her going back into kidney failure. Every time she turned her nose up to food, she was sick and dying again. The tole it takes on the dog is life threatening, and the tole it takes on the owner is traumatic as well.

There was another hiccup along the week, and something had occurred. She had 3 accidents, 2 of which were caked in blood. The vet was called, and the appointment was moved. The vet wasn't concerned as it wasn't super uncommon for some blood in the stool. Some Forti flora, a bland diet of chicken, beef, and rice, and a lot of TLC, the blood stopped. Right after, almost like a miracle, she seemed to bounce back to life. Her poo became solid, her energy perked back up, and she was bouncy on her toes. Not even a week from release, and she was beaming with life that we thought would be over just 6 days earlier. The nerves dissipated, the fear washed away, and a new feeling of joy replaced a lot of the worry from the week prior.

She has her next appointment on the 8th. I am nervous, and I am ready to being this journey with my girl. Please, follow my blog for more on Nyx: The Service Dog with Addison's. Here, I will provide tips for Addison's dogs, what it's like every day with an Addison's dog, and her journey from kidney failure to her coming back and fighting her way to be with her family.