Addisons disease is the common name for hypoadrenocorticism, a condition that is hard to diagnose initially as the symptoms are common to many ailments. For example:
The dog may simply appear off colour or depressed, may have vomiting & diarrhea, or show signs of weakness being unable to jump into the car. The condition is normally identified once the condition has progressed and the dog exhibits an Addisonian crisis.
Addisons disease is confirmed by checking electrolyte levels and carrying out an ACTH stimulation test, the latter being the only definitive test.
Dogs with Addisons disease will require medication and monitoring for their whole lives, but can lead normal lives.
The Health results search includes those dogs that have been reported as having been diagnosed with Addison’s disease
Affected dogs reported to the Finnish Club
There is a Facebook group for owners/breeders of Addison’s and other AI Disease affected dogs
The Southern Finnish Lapphund Society have funded investigation into Addison’s disease at the Royal Veterinary College, the project is looking at a full genome sequencing for two dogs affected with Addison’s and two control samples. This is to add to the single dog material already known from the “Give a Dog a Genome” project funded by the FLC of GB. The researcher have identified a susceptibility gene in Bearded Collies (Autoimmune Regulator; AIRE) but this does not seem to be the case in the Finnish Lapphunds – so further analysis is required to look elsewhere in the genome. It is likely that should the research move forward and be able to locate any potential gene match for the condition ,we would in fact be looking to identify other dogs unrelated to those currently in the research material to carry out further investigation.