I phoned Boots Pharmacy in Arnison Retail Park Durham this afternoon and they have stock of the generic equivalent of Florinef (fludrocortisone Acetate 0.1mg) and can order more, didn't find out the price (sorry). Boots accept Veterinary prescriptions but you need
to ask your vet for a repeat prescription made out for fludrocortisone Acetate 0.1mg. The Pharmacy will not accept the prescription if it states Florinef. As mentioned before we use fludrocortisone Acetate to treat our dog.

If you are considering going to Zycortal and giving the injections at home search on YouTube for "Dog Injection" It will give you an idea of what is required and if you feel confident doing it, then speak to your Vet and ask to be shown properly.

My dog was diagnosed with Addisons, two years ago, as the price has jumped up to an unsustainable level we changed over to the injection, glad to say it works well with our dog  , however this is not suitable for everyone, ask your vet. The price is around £25 for the injection, also blood tests are required again around £25, I'm told the injection lasts between 25-30 days, hope this helps.

My Vet told me the company is no longer producing them. Charlie was great on them. The vets said the company had gone bust and they were'nt producing the tablets. They put him on steriods and then an injection.I was advised there would be a blood test 1 injection and steroid 1/2 tablet.  This wasnt the case 1 blood test injection steroids. Charlie is a mess. I love him but I feel the Vets are taking the micky to get more money and they arent bothered what suffering they are doing to the poor dogs. I'm I alone. Help me if you can

I have no direct experience but if u fell your vet isn't offering u the care ur dig needs I would change vets. Second opinion can be useful in any conditions or a specialist

Our dog Spike has had Addisons for 6 years and has been fine on the florineff which is now cost prohibititive and soon will no longer be available anyway.  He had his first Zycortal injection on Friday 02.09.16 and seemed ok at first but the following Wednesday was presenting with symptoms we put down to Addisons so gave him his usual quantity of florineff and within a few hours he was ok again.  Took him to the vet the next day (due to where we live, the vet trip is an 80 mile round trip).  Vet was going to do a blood test but decided against this as any results would have been skewed by the florineff we'd given him.  So she gave him another initial dose of the Zycordal.  Again, we was fine until today when he started presenting with unusual symptoms again - excessive thirst and peeing, lack of appetite, vomitting and diahorea, and generally lethargic.  Took him straight to the vet and they've taken bloods but not had results back yet.  On searching the Internet it seems that the symptoms he was presenting may have been side affects of Zycordal.  Has anyone experienced anything similar?  We just have to get our boy right again.

Judi, I would get the lytes asap if I were you. The symptoms you were seeing could have been due to too much Zycortal being given as this has happened to many dogs that are making the chamgeover, so giving more Zycortal could have been the wrong way for your vet to go. How much pred is he getting every day now ?

Pam

Hi Pam, thanks for responding.  He's due a blood test on Thursday and we too had figured that he's probably had too much Zycortal.  He's currently on 1mg of pred daily.  He seems a bit more himself now but is drinking about 4 times his normal consumption and consequently peeing an awful lot - which is a problem a night as you can imagine!  Look forward to hearing from you. Judi

Hi Judi
It sounds like his dose of Zycortal is too high. How much does he weigh ? Depending upon his weight, he might even cope better with a smaller dose of pred.

Do you have his latest electrolytes results ?

If you can join this fb group, you will find lots more people in a similar situation to you. I am am admin there. There is also information in the files there which will be of use to you, including the FAQs produced by Dechra  just over a month ago with some updated info for vets. Sadly, not all vets seem to be taking notcie of this.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/addisonsdiseaseindogs/?ref=bookmarks

I am sure I can help you to figure this out.

Pam

Hi,
How is your dog doing now ?

Lots of dogs have had problems when starting Zycortal due to the dose being too high for them. It is quite simple to fix IF the vet is willing to agree to a lower dose and dose according to the lytes results rather than just the weight guidelines.

This is a facebook group for the owners of dogs with Addison's where you will find lots of help, support and information in our files. I know we can help you.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/addisonsdiseaseindogs/?ref=bookmarks

Pam

Hi Pam
His last blood test showed his lytes at 53.6 - vet said they should be 5.3 but gave him another Zycortal injection anyway!!  They are giving Zycortal by weight, not by lytes so we need to educate them!  Spike is 13.5 kg.
Thanks so much for your help and input.  Wait to hear from you.
Judi

Hi Judy,
This doesn't really make sense. Do you mean his potassium was 5.3 ?
Have you got or can you ask for the actual values for the Na and K aswell as their reference ranges ? Then I can see what is going off.

How much pred does he have every day ?

Only the very first dose of Zycortal should be given by weight.

Is there a way I can send you the article I wrote for UK owners amd also a copy of the latest Dechra guidelines ?

Pam

Hi Pam
Thanks for your prompt response.  He's going to the vets for a blood test on Thursday so we'll try to get the values for his last test then.

He's on 1mg of pred a day.

Please could you send the article and guidelines to my email address: judi.dolton@googlemail.com

Look forward to hearing from you.
Judi

Hi Pam
Apologies for not coming back sooner but we have internet problems at home so am doing this from work.  Spike's had an addisonian crises but we hope he's on the mend now but still drinking a huge amount of water.  His Thursday blood test results were sodium 154, potassium 3.2, ratio 48.  So they haven't given him another injection as the ratio is supposed to be 24?  They have upped his pred to 5mg a day.  If you could come back to me today it would be appreciated as I won't have Internet at home tomorrow or Monday as I'm off work that day.  Are you able to email me the article and guidelines you mentioned?
Many thanks. Judi

Judi, sorry I didn t see this earlier. This isn't an Addisonian crisis, basically Spike has been given much too high a dose of Zycortal, which has clearly driven his potassium way too low. Has he been put on a potassium supplement ? He needs this now. It is really important for the vet not to give any more Zycortal until his K has risen to at least the middle of its reference range and that ratio is down to somewhere between 30 and 32. It could take many weeks before that happens. I have seen this happen a lot.

Sorry I haven't sent the documents. I will try to do that tomorrow, bit sorry if I forget, one of my dogs has to go for am MRI tomorrow, so my mind isn't quite focussed at the moment.

Pam

Hi Pam

Thanks for this info.  Spike has had another blood test today so we should have the results later on or first thing tomorrow.  He's not on a K supplement at present but we'll see what the bloods some back as.

Hope your dog's MRI went ok?

Judi

Our border terrier has been having zycortal injections for about 12 months following the increase in florineff price.  He’s doing ok on the injection - he has one about every 50 to 60 days.  However, about 10 days or so after his injection, he starts drinking huge amounts of water and therefore subsequently peeing a lot!  This is a side affect of zycortal and the drinking and peeing lasts for approx a couple of weeks.  It’s no too much of a problem during the day but night time is problematic.  Has anyone else experienced this issue with zycortal and got any suggestions on combating the drinking/peeing issue?  Many thanks. Judi