Radley was just diagnosed with Addisons disease. Addisons, also called ‘the great pretender,’ is a terrible disease in which the adrenal glands stop working. Diagnosing a dog with Addisons is very difficult, and often occurs during adrenal crisis. Such crisis are life threatening; the dog quickly goes into shock and can die within a matter of hours. It is not known exactly what causes Addison’s. While it is thought to be inherited, it can be brought on by trauma. Radley’s Addisons disease was most likely triggered by trauma. Early in January, Lesley fractured her knee and could not walk (or work) for two months. During this time, a neighbour volunteered to walk Radley. Totally unprovoked, a passing dog attacked Radley and tore away his eyelid. Radley went through emergency surgery to have his eyelid reattached. The owner of the other dog did not offer to pay anything toward the surgery or follow up care. Radley’s health has not been the same since the attack. This week, Radley was finally diagnosed with Addison’s during an acute crisis, which brought him close to death. As Radley’s vet was away on holidays, Lesley first rushed Radley to an urgent care clinic in her home town and waited for them to open. They immediately made Radley their priority, and administered closely monitored IV fluids and steroid treatment. The vet was not sure if Radley would live through the next few hours. As that clinic was not open overnight, special arrangements were made for Lesley to drive Radley to a different 24 hour urgent care clinic in Guelph, Ontario, Canada; two hours away from home. It was still unsure if Radley would live. Lesley spent the night in her car outside the clinic, as she did not want to leave her baby boy, in case the unthinkable happened and he took a turn for the worse. Radley miraculously fought and pulled through that crisis and was released from the ER the following evening, but has since had relapses and has been re-hospitalized for fluids and bloodwork two more times - all of this in less than a week. Addison’s is not curable, but it is treatable. It is a tightrope of balancing medications. All of us who have pulled together for each others’ Airedales know how fast vet bills add up. Lesley has often donated auction items to various Airedale rescues, and to those of us in need of extra monetary help. Radley has had over $5 thousand dollars in vet bills just this week, and there are more coming as he is in the vet’s office today for subQ fluids and more bloodwork, which will need to continue throughout his life. The medications Radley will be on for the rest of his life to treat Addison’s are quite costly; starting at $2/3K per year, including medications and blood work. Radley is 7 yrs old. Hopefully, he will stabilize and he will live a long full life as many dogs with Addisons are able to do with the right care, attention, medications, and lots of love. As many of you know, Lesley is an incredible dog mom, and not just to Radley. She adopted twelve/thirteen year old Molly a few years ago. Molly is an Airedale with multiple medical problems (immune disorder, chronic pancreatitis and accompanying liver failure). Lesley opened her heart and home to Molly, who is now a thriving, trusting, sweet Airedale. Radley and Molly are completely bonded siblings. Lesley is a freelance artist (professional singer/actor/stage director) and voice clinician. She is in the process of rebuilding her career after covid, during which time all performances were canceled and she was forced to close down her studios. The past three years have brought overwhelming physical, emotional and financial stress for Lesley. Her fur and feather babies are her life. Everyone who meets Radley falls in love with him. He is a fighter and will do everything it takes to live a long life with his beloved sister, Molly, cousin Keet (the parrot) and his incredible mom, Lesley. Please consider helping Radley and Lesley during this most difficult time.
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