My Mutt's Medical Malaise

My sweet little dog Indy continues to have new developments in dealing with her Addison's Syndrome.  I've blogged about this in previous entries dating back to March.  Addison's is a condition in which the adrenal gland shuts down and can be deadly if not treated properly.  In her case, she goes to the vet once a month for a shot, and we give her the sterioid Prednizone twice a day.  Both of these medications make up for chemicals that the adrenal gland should be making.

One of the effects of too much Prednizone is incontinence, and poor little Indy has had several bouts with that, and in the past week she's had several a day.  We've tried cutting back on the Prednizone before, but that led to serious issues and frantic trips to the vet, so we didn't want to do that again.  So Janis took her in to the vet again today to see what can be done about it  The answer was a bit surprising and encouraging.  Turns out that when female dogs are spayed, their uterus and ovaries are removed, and that means they don't make estrogen.  The adrenal glands also make a bit of estrogen.  And estrogen plays a big role in keeping the smooth muscle fiber strong, which is what the bladder sphincter is made of.  The vet gave Janis some pills that strengthen the smooth muscle, which should help Indy's problem.  We'll know in a week whether it works.  Since it has a 90% success rate, I'm pretty confident.

That smart little dog, by the way, has figured out what telephone rings mean.  If Janis leaves her cell phone somewhere and it rings, Indy will go find Janis and get her attention.  And if Janis is taking a nap, Indy will lick her face until she wakes up and answers the phone!  What a dog, my sweet little Indy.