Around four in the morning, I heard a chirp. No, it wasn’t Kismet. About 20 seconds later, I heard it again. This constant intermittent chirping freaked me out. I started shivering. Where’s that “rough, tough terrier” that I’m supposed to be? Well, as some of you know, I have Addison’s disease where I don’t get enough of a necessary hormone-Cushing’s disease is where you get too much of the same hormone. Why am I telling your this? I think you should be aware of it so you know if it happens to you. It happens in Scotties, but also in other breeds and I personally know of a Beagle and a Rat Terrier who’ve had it. It first showed itself when I was about five or six. I simply started shutting down and if untreated, I would have died. JFK had Addison’s also, so humans get it. If I were in the wild like my distant ancestors, I’d be dead now. Since it shows itself after the time a dog has started to reproduce, Addison’s gets perpetuated. I have to take a shot every 25 days
It comes in this little bottle that contains 4cc of meds. The shot is 1cc so a bottle lasts 100 days. The packaging even has a picture of Kenzie on it! The price of the bottle keeps increasing and it’s now $213 and I hate to see what it will be next time. So if you find yourself slowing down and without energy, get your peeps to take you to the vet and think about testing for Addison’s.
One of the problems I still have because of Addison’s is I’m stressed easily. I take a Prednisone daily and if They know something stressful is going to happen (like grooming), I get a double dose that morning. This chirping had me stressed and shivering. Strokes from Them didn’t help. He found the culprit
See it way up on the ceiling. That’s how it looked to Him at four in the morning when he had to get out the ladder and remove the bad battery so we could get temporary relief. Now, I don’t want to hear any of this about changing the battery when the time changes in the spring and fall. He faithfully does that. The problem is that Arizona doesn’t go on daylight savings time and we never change the clocks. In the winter we’re on the same time as Denver and in the summer we’re in sync with San Francisco.
What is it with 4am and smoke detectors? In 2010, we took a trip to visit my relatives, Bandit and Digger (the dachshunds), in Montana. That’s from almost Mexico to almost Canada and back. We spent a night in Moab, Utah and at 4 in the morning, the hotel’s smoke alarm went off. We couldn’t use the elevator to evacuate, so we had to take the stairs with everyone else. Kenzie and I got carried by Them and once outside there was nobody to talk with-the rest of the hotel was crammed with a French tourist group and Their French isn’t THAT good (Easy, je suis navre). They always take us on trips-I’d be too stressed out without Them.
kylascott 
So sad that you have to suffer through the horrible disease but so glad that you are in such a good home, where they are making sure you are safe and medicated.
The meds beat the alternative.
Glad that chripping wasn’t coming from you or Kaci, now that would have stressed us out !
Your Pals
Susie & Bites
Me too!
Oh kyla, we are so sorry to hear of your illness. We have a smoke dectector, that sqreechez it’z head off when Humom sometimes cooks, Daddy takes the battery out. I am scared stiff of it, I run to my bed and I won’t come downstairs again for a least 2 hours. I’m a nervous reck 🙂 xx00xx
Mollie and Alfie
I know the humom cooking smoke for din-din also.
Kyla, we’re sending you tons of cyber licks, wags, and sniffs and we’ve been told that is very stress reducing for all our doggie cousins around the world. Max & Bella
AHHHHHHHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSS, it is!
I’m glad you have a good treatment and you can manage the addison’s disease. I knew a Samoyed-Shepherd-mix who had it (sadly he was pushy to other dogs, so every walk was the pure stress and dangerous for him ). The adventure from 2010 sounds horrible, hope it wasn’t the same hotel as in the hitchcock movie ;o)
Bates motel? Nope but it sure was LOUD
I am glad that you are OK and that they got rid of the chirping noise!!
wags
Jazzi and Addi
Thanks-now if I could only get them to replace the batteries now and then. Why do these things always happen on the coldest night of the year here at 4am?
Wow Kyla so sorry to hear!! I am very happy you have such a good mummy who takes good care of you! I must say I am surprised of the high cost of your medicine…
I’m a high-maintenance girl!
Yep somehow those smoke detectors always know when the middle of the night is! Once we search all over the house and it was the one in the far corner of the basement. Yep we know all about Cushings Lee’s last Scot had Cushings for seven years and the cost for his meds was $60 a month.
Sweet William The Scot
Hopefully you won’t have either-it’s over 60 a month.
You poor sweetheart. Glad they found the sound.
So are They. Very annoying.
Oh gurl, that sucks abouts the Addison’s…. sorry the it costs so much, too! I hopes it doesn’t put a dent in your treatie supply!
Why oh why does those ANNOYING smoke detectors ALWAYS go off in the middle of the night??? This happened to Ma once, and lets me tell you, she was all kinds of cranky abouts it! The woman FINALLY got a new one, and so far so good…..
Kisses,
Ruby
They’re supposed to protect us. So far all they’ve protected us from is my beauty sleep.
Oh sweet Kyla… I’m sorry you need medicine and stress easily. I know how it feels to stress easily. I got the stomach spots from that. Scruffy get the trembles if something scares her like say, the vacuum. It’s tough to be a terrier – we, terrier people too, are tough on the outside and some of us are very soft on the inside. Hope you sleep good tonight and none of those beeps happen again.
Alyssa, Mr. Fox & Scruffy
Thank you for your good wishes. Did this prod you to change your smoke alarm batteries?
There is nothing worse than having a bad night – we are sorry to hear that you had one Kyla. Thankfully you found out what the noise was & your peeps know how to help you out.
We hope you are feeling better.
Licks,
Wally & Sammy
Yeah, and I didn’t even have a good time before I felt bad like Sammy.
Oh Kyla. Uncle Fergus knows all about your stress. He has developed a lot of funny behaviours, like obsessive licking because of his Cushings. Hope you’re feeling better.
PEE.S. I’ll get back to you with his answer!
We’d average out to two good adrenal glands.
Looks like Kaci is getting ready for a big ‘ole ArrooOO rOOOOO in that picture!!!! She’s taking care of you my friend. Good for her. Because a world without Kyla would be like a world without sunshine.