Anyone's dog have thyroid issues?

[marcerella02]

So Layla's vet thinks Layla might have a thyroid problem- as she is not loosing weight. She weighs somewhere around 7.2- and I think she is a perfect weight, but when we started with this vet- Layla was 6.2 so I think the vet only sees this as a weight gain. We've been with this vet since Layla was 2- and she will be 4 in March.

We are in Florida right now and every morning we go for a 30-60 min walk/run. I have a small scale I use to weigh her food and I weighed her today and according to this scale- no change I know it is isn't terribly exact, but I was hoping to see a 6 instead of a 7.

When we get back home in January we are going to go in for a weigh and I'm sure if her weight hasn't changed, we'll do blood work.

I think the thryoid thing is my fault. Layla was on a diet made by a nutrionist that lacked in salt. For the past month she is on a new diet that has been especially formulated for her and for weight loss. The vet said the low salt could have caused this- so needless to say- guilt overload.

ANYWAYS- she has NO other symptoms other than not being able to loose weight- other than over the past two years going from 6-7 lbs- she is not gaining weight.

Anyone have a dog with thryoid issues? From what i read it is not the end of the world, very common in dogs (although not in small breeds) and a pill will be the fix. Guess just looking for some reassurance- i feel just awful.

[marcerella02]

is it just us??

[dwerten]

my dee dee is hypothyroid and we see dr jean dodds Hemopet/Hemolife, HEMOPET a full animal blood bank, Diagnostic Laboratory, Adoption and Consultation she knows alot about hypothyroid. They only need to have one symptom to have hypothyroid and weight gain, hair loss, skin issues are the symptoms. She gets a 1/3 of soloxine in am and 1/3 .1mg of soloxine at night.

I have read that kelp raises the thyroid if you want to do it naturally but due to dd allergies we did not want to take that chance so if you want to look into a kelp supplement which is iodine naturally for dogs that may help.

First i would have a 6 panel thyroid done when you have your next blood work up on a 12 hr fast and have it sent to michigan state or Hemopet/Hemolife, HEMOPET a full animal blood bank, Diagnostic Laboratory, Adoption and Consultation for accuracy as those are the two best labs for thyroid testing.

My dd went from .78 to .30 in a year and vet was not going to test her even though dd lost all the hair on her neck and had a musky smell so i drove 1 1/2 hrs to see jean for the next blood draw as everything i read told me she is the best and sure enough i was right she was hypothyroid. Now my dex was gaining weight and i was worried as it runs in the breed so last blood panel i had him checked and his thyroid was normals as I was concerned as i read soy affects the thyroid and my boy yorkie and girl yorkie eat purina ha a hydrolized soy diet and dd being hypothyroid on soy i was concerned dex may have it to from the diet but he was fine.

Have it tested to rule it out but i cried when mine was diagnosed as she has atopic dermatitis, mvd, and then hypothyroid she has alot of issues so to get one more diagnosis was upsetting but jean said it is cheap and easy to treat and it is

I hope your girl does not have it but it really is not a big deal if she does I can think of much worse things ALLERGIES being the worst

[dwerten]

info by jean dodds on hypothyroid

SHOW DOG MAGAZINE, Commenets on HYPOTHYROIDISM by Dr. Jean Dodds

hypothyroid is an autoimmune disease like allergies and this breed has alot of autoimmune diseases in it due to inbreeding which affects the immune system

[marcerella02]

Originally Posted by dwerten

my dee dee is hypothyroid and we see dr jean dodds Hemopet/Hemolife, HEMOPET a full animal blood bank, Diagnostic Laboratory, Adoption and Consultation she knows alot about hypothyroid. They only need to have one symptom to have hypothyroid and weight gain, hair loss, skin issues are the symptoms. She gets a 1/3 of soloxine in am and 1/3 .1mg of soloxine at night.

I have read that kelp raises the thyroid if you want to do it naturally but due to dd allergies we did not want to take that chance so if you want to look into a kelp supplement which is iodine naturally for dogs that may help.

First i would have a 6 panel thyroid done when you have your next blood work up on a 12 hr fast and have it sent to michigan state or Hemopet/Hemolife, HEMOPET a full animal blood bank, Diagnostic Laboratory, Adoption and Consultation for accuracy as those are the two best labs for thyroid testing.

My dd went from .78 to .30 in a year and vet was not going to test her even though dd lost all the hair on her neck and had a musky smell so i drove 1 1/2 hrs to see jean for the next blood draw as everything i read told me she is the best and sure enough i was right she was hypothyroid. Now my dex was gaining weight and i was worried as it runs in the breed so last blood panel i had him checked and his thyroid was normals as I was concerned as i read soy affects the thyroid and my boy yorkie and girl yorkie eat purina ha a hydrolized soy diet and dd being hypothyroid on soy i was concerned dex may have it to from the diet but he was fine.

Have it tested to rule it out but i cried when mine was diagnosed as she has atopic dermatitis, mvd, and then hypothyroid she has alot of issues so to get one more diagnosis was upsetting but jean said it is cheap and easy to treat and it is

I hope your girl does not have it but it really is not a big deal if she does I can think of much worse things ALLERGIES being the worst

Thanks for writing

I feel the same way- Layla has pancreas issues- finally have that figured out and now- possibly this. I am going to ask her to send her blood work to a local Vet hospital to make sure the results are accurate- our vet's lab seems to have issues with running high.

I have kelp at home- I'm going to look into that further- thanks for the info.

[Tae1107]

One of mine has it..... have the test so you will have peace of mind... mine takes a pill 2xs a day....

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by marcerella02

Thanks for writing

I feel the same way- Layla has pancreas issues- finally have that figured out and now- possibly this. I am going to ask her to send her blood work to a local Vet hospital to make sure the results are accurate- our vet's lab seems to have issues with running high.

I have kelp at home- I'm going to look into that further- thanks for the info.

my boy yorkie dex almost died of pancreatitis and he was the one i thought had thyroid due to weight gain BUT it could be weight gain is because now your dog does not feel sick anymore and eating as dex has ibd in small intestines triggering the pancreas issue so maybe the same issue and once he was on a good diet he gained weight so this could be attributed to the weight gain in my opinion - are you working with susan davis? Who was the nutritionist that had you on low sodium? Not so sure i buy the low salt diet being the cause of thyroid and most vets do not know much about nutrition and low sodium is better on the kidneys anyway

[marcerella02]

Originally Posted by dwerten

my boy yorkie dex almost died of pancreatitis and he was the one i thought had thyroid due to weight gain BUT it could be weight gain is because now your dog does not feel sick anymore and eating as dex has ibd in small intestines triggering the pancreas issue so maybe the same issue and once he was on a good diet he gained weight so this could be attributed to the weight gain in my opinion - are you working with susan davis? Who was the nutritionist that had you on low sodium? Not so sure i buy the low salt diet being the cause of thyroid and most vets do not know much about nutrition and low sodium is better on the kidneys anyway

Well Layla NEVER had symptoms of pancreatitis- i just always do blood panels because I home cook. So the numbers came up high and we went from there- had an ultasound- all is well- she just has high numbers.

I WAS with Susan Davis. I am now with a local nutrionist Hillary Watson who's diets are AAFCO approved- which is not the case with Susan's diet that she gave us. Our vet showed our old diet to our new nutrionist and the low sodium thing was her conclusion...Layla's new diet now has the required sodium that she needs but is also low in fat for her pancreas.

[dwerten]

Originally Posted by marcerella02

Well Layla NEVER had symptoms of pancreatitis- i just always do blood panels because I home cook. So the numbers came up high and we went from there- had an ultasound- all is well- she just has high numbers.

I WAS with Susan Davis. I am now with a local nutrionist Hillary Watson who's diets are AAFCO approved- which is not the case with Susan's diet that she gave us. Our vet showed our old diet to our new nutrionist and the low sodium thing was her conclusion...Layla's new diet now has the required sodium that she needs but is also low in fat for her pancreas.

sounds great so i take it her amylase and lipase were high ? were her triglycerides high as my boy has high triglycerides on a 12 hr fast which is a good indicator. Also dogs with high amylase and lipase are known to have ibd so this could have caused her numbers to be high as well.

Glad you have a great nutritionist that is the reason i do not home cook as very nervous about it even though i know it would be best for my allergy baby

[dwerten]

I see you are in canada that is where Dr Jean Dodds is from

[dwerten]

is the nutritionist from Guelph University where Monica segal i believe came from ?

[Ellie May]

No thyroid problems here, but I'm sure Layla will be just fine.

Since there has been some questions about her thyroid lately, I would go ahead and do the bloodwork. She should have her thyroid checked yearly in a couple years anyway really.

Homecooking is not easy. We started out with an unbalanced diet too. Thankfully I think it was corrected in time, but sometimes I get upset with myself over that. Live and learn... You were trusting your nutritionist anyway, so you did what you thought was right. No reason to be gulty...

[marcerella02]

Yes Hillary is from Guelph- that is where our Teaching university is- Layla went there for her ultrasound- love it there.

Layla's triglycerides were checked- all ok!

[Wylie's Mom]

*Waves hand*

Thyroid issue over here . Wylie has Atypical Cushings (very, very complicated...oy!) and we found out at the same time we were diagnosing the Cushings that his circulating thyroid hormone was pretty much at ZERO. But Wylie being Wylie showed no weight gain, no pot belly (typical of Cushings), no loss of energy....so it was weird.

Anyway, I find the thyroid issue a breeze (not to be flippant though) - once you start synthetic thyroid pills, twice a day (needs to be twice, dogs metabolize it quicker than humans) - like thyroxine or similar - and titrate it according to a couple blood tests (ie, about 4 weeks after you start pill, then again if you adjust it, 4 wks later), you're good to go, pretty much. Wylie is at his right level now and won't need need his blood checked for thyroid for awhile.

Probably will check it again once we figure out more w/ his Cushings meds..which is still not titrated for him...such a slow process.

[Dame]

Originally Posted by marcerella02

I think the thryoid thing is my fault. Layla was on a diet made by a nutrionist that lacked in salt. For the past month she is on a new diet that has been especially formulated for her and for weight loss. The vet said the low salt could have caused this- so needless to say- guilt overload.

I am not a dog thyroid expert,... but I do know a huge amount about them from a people standpoint (I almost died from it about 8 years ago) and from my experiences with one of my dogs many years ago.

I have never heard of salt causing thyroid issues, but a lack of iodine (ie: iodized table salt) can cause goiters and lead to hypothyroidism. Its why table salt is commonly shipped and given to many of the small tribes in third world countries - as the lack of iodine causes they to grow incredbily large goiters and the salt is a cheap simple fix for preventing it. Unless your diet was seriously low in iodine you really don't have anything to feel guilty about, and your dog would have had to develop an actual goiter for that to even be an issue to begin with.

The salt blaming thing just seems odd to me... because if that's believed to be the issue a blood test and ultrasound should have been done (for the goiter question). Either way, don't let it get you down... thyroid is a breeze really (especially if you compare it to pancreatitis!)