# Thyroid issue?



## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Our standard, Jazz, is almost five years old. In the past three years, it's been usual for her to gain a couple or three pounds during the winter. With a small reduction in calories for a month or so and the increased activity as the weather improves, she's been back to a normal weight without difficulty. This year, though, we've cut back on her kibble twice (she's getting slightly less than half the recommended amount on the bag now) and spent more time outside, and she actually gained another pound. She weighs around 54.5 pounds, definitely too heavy, and she looks it. It may be my imagination, but I've also thought her coat seems a bit thinner in the past few months.

I take both dogs to a private training class at a vet clinic about an hour's drive from here, taught by the vet (who is not our regular doctor). I mentioned it to her, and she offered to draw blood for a senior panel and thyroid screen, to be faxed to our vet. She called me this afternoon with the results. Everything is perfectly normal...except that her thyroid screen is 1.6, in the lower range of normal, which is 1 to 5. She says it may be nothing, or it may be the beginning of a medical problem. I have an appointment with our vet next Tuesday to discuss it. Anyone out there have a dog with low thyroid? Anything I should be aware of, any specific questions I should ask?


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

Many years ago I had a Tibetian Terrier with low thyroid and after my suspicions (she displayed lethargy and heat seeking behaviors ie; she slept a lot in the sun,had no energy and was fat!) Treatment was simple......an inexpensive tiny pill twice a day!

Dr Dodds suggests it is a genetic condition that she believes all breeding animals should be tested for.

Thyroid Disease And Autoimmune Thyroiditis by Dr Dodds GOOGLE IT! (Not able to link it for some reason!) A VERY interesting article!!!!


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Thanks, Molly. That's basically what the vet who drew the blood said, that it is one of the easiest medical conditions to treat, you just give a pill twice a day. She said there are two options, with Jazz's results. One would be to draw more blood and send it out of state for further testing. The other would be to wait six months and repeat the screening test. I'll discuss it with our regular vet next week, but at this point, I'm inclined to follow up with more specific tests. She really doesn't have symptoms other than the weight gain and maybe thinning hair, but six months is a long time to ignore it. You were a vet tech, weren't you? What do you think?


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

According to the article I mention, sometimes thyroid is connected to Addison's so I think if it were me I'd freak and go for more testing..............simple hypothyroidism is easy but it seems that Spoos are one of the breeds mentioned that can be predisposed and I would perhaps talk to your Vet.... and maybe refer him to the article for reference? See the paragraph called 'Polyglandular Autoimmunity'..............maybe I just worry too much?!!!!


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## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

My dogs don't have thyroid issues but I do. Molly's description is the same treatment with people. It is inexpensive to treat but you must monitor their blood and body weight. Having hypothyroidism slows down your whole body's metabolism so you have more issues like vision impairment, hair loss, dry skin, and memory problems. People with iron deficiencies often have low iron so I also take thyroid supplements with lots of vitamin Bs and iron. They must make that for dogs.


ETA: I am currently having thyroid memory issues. People with hypothyroidism have iron deficiencies is what i meant to say lol.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Just finished the article. Thanks for the link. A bit scary, especially the reference to Schmidt’s syndrome. The author mentioned behavioral changes, too, which raised another red flag for me. Without going into detail, two weeks ago, Jazz took exception to a sign in her rally class and was almost panicked, so we skipped that one, but she wouldn't finish the course, acted very anxious and uneasy. Same thing on the second run-through. When we went to class this week, she was fine on the sidelines but again absolutely refused to do the course. She's sometimes a bit anxious, but this was a fairly marked change in her class behavior. I wonder... 

I'm pretty well convinced that I want additional testing now. No reason to wait for her to look like a sausage and work on bad behaviors before we do anything. In fact, I'll call to see if the vet is in tomorrow morning, rather than waiting until next Tuesday.

Snow 0160, I've gained quite a bit of weight in the past year. When I went in for my yearly physical I was very hopeful that my thyroid results would be abnormal, so I could pop a pill and lose weight. Sadly, it was not to be.


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## snow0160 (Sep 20, 2016)

It totally makes you moody and hyperthyroidism is associated with extreme anxiety but hypo with depression. I did want to say with people TSH of around 2 is now the norm. When you get your labs back people seem to think TSH of 4.5 is okay but this is considered hypo by many endocrinologists. I am very careful of any adrenal issues because it goes hand in hand with thyroid. We should revive weight loss thread LOL.


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

I remember two Goldens that were low thyroid. To be honest, at first, since we only saw them once a week, we thought they were just not very bright. After they had been on thyroid meds for about a month, they grew beautiful luscious coats. The best thing was that it was like a light bulb got turned on in their heads. These dogs "woke up" and were so much more animated in their movements. What a difference taking that tiny pill made for these dogs!


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Not sure I want Jazzie to be more animated than she already is (I haven't posted to the threads about bouncing and pouncing, but my girl is good at that), but the more I read and think about it, the more convinced I am that this is her problem. We'll see. Thanks for the responses.


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Just a follow-up. We saw our regular vet, who agreed we should do further testing now. We did, got the results back a few days ago. Jazz's definitive blood work was okay, in the lower ranges of normal, but certainly not at treatment levels. The vet wants to repeat in a year, unless symptoms require it sooner. I'm not exactly disappointed, of course, but...she's still pretty plump, and we aren't going to be able to medicate that away. Rats!


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## Verve (Oct 31, 2016)

Some human endocrinologists will go ahead and start thyroid supplements in low-normal patients, although this is somewhat controversial. Were there thyroid autoantibodies detected? 

Something else you could do now if you wanted is pay for an email/phone consultation with Jean Dodds (send her the results).


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## JudyD (Feb 3, 2013)

Verve said:


> Some human endocrinologists will go ahead and start thyroid supplements in low-normal patients, although this is somewhat controversial. Were there thyroid autoantibodies detected?
> 
> Something else you could do now if you wanted is pay for an email/phone consultation with Jean Dodds (send her the results).


I haven't seen the results yet myself, just talked to the vet Friday afternoon. I'll call the office in the morning to ask them to send me a copy. What test is done for thyroid autoantibodies? I'm reluctant to treat her without a clear clinical indication, but I hadn't thought about consulting with Dr. Dodds. Let me look at the results and think about this. Thanks, Verve.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I am sorry you seem to have a problem with Jazz and her thyroid function, but it is good you are catching it early. I am sure she will just fine thanks to your astute observation of her departure from her normal metabolism and routines.


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## Verve (Oct 31, 2016)

There is a separate test that is part of a thyroid panel that detects the presence of thyroid antibodies. As I recall, in humans it isn't always specific, but it can be another piece of a larger picture of thyroid disease, since a lot of hypothyroidism is due to autoimmune disease. 

What comprehensive panel was done? The most thorough two that I am aware of are the OFA thyroid panel done by Michigan State, and the Hemopet Dodds panel. I'm attaching a screenshot of Phoebe's OFA results so you can see what is included.


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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

snow0160 said:


> My dogs don't have thyroid issues but I do. Molly's description is the same treatment with people. It is inexpensive to treat but you must monitor their blood and body weight. Having hypothyroidism slows down your whole body's metabolism so you have more issues like vision impairment, hair loss, dry skin, and memory problems. People with iron deficiencies often have low iron so I also take thyroid supplements with lots of vitamin Bs and iron. They must make that for dogs.
> 
> 
> ETA: I am currently having thyroid memory issues. People with hypothyroidism have iron deficiencies is what i meant to say lol.


Ohad the same problem and agree with this 100%


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