My Nell is a very rare working Border Collie
Not in a good way......
Nell has always been a bit slow at eating; she would eat some when her food was put in her crate and she might finish her food by noon. About 4 weeks ago she was eating less and less of her food and then stopped and started vomiting. She wasn't acting sick; she just seemed a bit off (no wonder since she wasn't eating). She was always ready for working. After 2 days of not eating and vomiting she was taken to the vet and was diagnosed with Addison's disease (abnormally high potassium and low sodium levels and cortisol well below the normal range).
I had never heard of a working bred Border Collie with Addison's so I checked with other members of our Health & Genetics Committee who indicated they only have heard of 2 to 4 in the past 20 years. The AKC Border Collie club posted a health survey with 1 out of 800+ dogs had been reported as having Addison's. From what I can tell the rate in Border Collies is <0.1% (abount the rate in the general dog population).
Nell will now require injections of desoxycorticosterone pivalate every 25 days to replace the aldosterone that her adrenal gland no longer is producing to control the sodium and potassium levels. She will also need low levels of prednisone to replace cortisol normally produced by the adrenal gland to help Nell deal with stress.
For a working Border Collie the loss of cortisol may lead to the end of its working career, if the stress cannot be managed by oral dosing of prednisone. One of the previously known working Border Collies diagnosed with Addison's was competing at the national level had to be retired due to the stress of competing.
Nell has been a new dog since treatment was started. What we thought was Nell maturing was in reality the slow changes due to the progression of Addison's. I now have the dog I had 3 or 4 years ago; Nell is more puppy like in her attitude. She is now wrestling again with her litter sister. Her work has been just as good as before the diagnosis with more speed and quickness in response to directional changes.
This weekend is a big test for us. We will be going to our first competition since starting treatment and it will be a stressful event. Three days (three runs) on large courses (400+ yard outruns) on commercial sheep (sheep not used for training dogs). This will test how well we can manage her stress by my handling of her while working and with the prednisone doses. We should know after this weekend if Nell will be retired from competition.
Mark
Nell has always been a bit slow at eating; she would eat some when her food was put in her crate and she might finish her food by noon. About 4 weeks ago she was eating less and less of her food and then stopped and started vomiting. She wasn't acting sick; she just seemed a bit off (no wonder since she wasn't eating). She was always ready for working. After 2 days of not eating and vomiting she was taken to the vet and was diagnosed with Addison's disease (abnormally high potassium and low sodium levels and cortisol well below the normal range).
I had never heard of a working bred Border Collie with Addison's so I checked with other members of our Health & Genetics Committee who indicated they only have heard of 2 to 4 in the past 20 years. The AKC Border Collie club posted a health survey with 1 out of 800+ dogs had been reported as having Addison's. From what I can tell the rate in Border Collies is <0.1% (abount the rate in the general dog population).
Nell will now require injections of desoxycorticosterone pivalate every 25 days to replace the aldosterone that her adrenal gland no longer is producing to control the sodium and potassium levels. She will also need low levels of prednisone to replace cortisol normally produced by the adrenal gland to help Nell deal with stress.
For a working Border Collie the loss of cortisol may lead to the end of its working career, if the stress cannot be managed by oral dosing of prednisone. One of the previously known working Border Collies diagnosed with Addison's was competing at the national level had to be retired due to the stress of competing.
Nell has been a new dog since treatment was started. What we thought was Nell maturing was in reality the slow changes due to the progression of Addison's. I now have the dog I had 3 or 4 years ago; Nell is more puppy like in her attitude. She is now wrestling again with her litter sister. Her work has been just as good as before the diagnosis with more speed and quickness in response to directional changes.
This weekend is a big test for us. We will be going to our first competition since starting treatment and it will be a stressful event. Three days (three runs) on large courses (400+ yard outruns) on commercial sheep (sheep not used for training dogs). This will test how well we can manage her stress by my handling of her while working and with the prednisone doses. We should know after this weekend if Nell will be retired from competition.
Mark
