Very low cortisol level

Hormonal Filly

Hormonal Filly

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My 7yo WCS lost me on a walk for 15 minutes a couple of weeks ago, it was terrifying and has never happened before. He wasn't lame after, but panting a lot. Day after, seemed ok. Day after that, very lethargic. Didn't want to go for a walk, walking head low, very slowly. Not visibly lame, happier in the house. He has been like this a couple of times before but not recently. He does pee a lot, but being a entire male it might be him. He often gets loose stools, despite being fed the same as the others.

He went to the vet a few days after, as soon as they could get him in, they couldn't find anything noticeable so took full panel of bloods Inc. cortisol. His baseline cortisol came back very low (and urea slightly high, but raw fed which could explain it - rest of bloods normal) so he went back in for a ACTH test as the lab/vet were convinced it would be Addison's Disease.

The results have just come back from that rest as totally normal. His baseline cortisol was up to 46 nmol/L (almost 3x what it was) and after ACTH 257 nmol/L.

For the last week he's been back to his normal self, going on long walks, no issues. He isn't visibly stiff but he does have 'bent' front legs so I do worry about his elbows.

Any thoughts, has anyone else experienced similar with low cortisol? It would explain why he was so low.
 
maisie06 said:
Get his prostrate checked, a friend had a similar issue with a spaniel, vets checked for Addisons - came back negative so she asked for prostrate to be scanned, sure enough it was enlarged and he went on medication and now back to his normal exuberant self.
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That's really helpful. He does get UTI/penis infections every so often, he had one start of last year and had a scan of his bladder/prostate but everything was normal. He had another infection (believed to to the sheath or prostate) in December, the vet felt his prostate and did say it was slightly enlarged. He had a week of antibiotics and metacam. He went back to normal and stopped licking it.

He's back to his normal self now, stools normal etc but if it happens again will go down that route, thank you.
 
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