Hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism

HYPOTHYROIDISM

Education is Half the Battle!

Learn it, know it, print it...treat it!

Please, please, please take the time to sit down and read it, print it, study and compare it to your dog. If you see any of the symptoms that are mentioned here, please get your dog to a knowledgeable vet.

Hypothyroidism is a problem in shelties. It is a very treatable disease that has many, many symptoms. If left untreated, more serious problems will surface. Just imagine how you would feel if you had it and it was left untreated. Just not feeling well would make you grumpy. So, why wouldn’t it do that to the dogs? We’ve even seen aggressive dogs become calm and manageable after finally being treated.

Please notice the photos to the right of this text. Click on each photo and watch what a difference was made in this dog’s quality of life just from getting the proper medical treatment and/or food. Instead of going into each case study here, I’ve set up this page so that if you click on the photo, you will get each dogs story and photos as it recovered/recovers.

People, let me tell you if you see any of the symptoms listed below, get the dog to a knowledgeable vet and check the T-4! The T-4 is an inexpensive test that will measure the proper levels of the T-4 hormone in the blood. In the lab we use, 1.0 – 4.0 is normal. Shelties have proven time and time again that they must have their T-4 in the upper portion of normal in order to maintain the proper levels for them.

This is where you may have to INSIST to your vet that you want to treat the dog. Try the medication (soloxine) for thirty - sixty days. It won’t hurt them. The difference you’ll see is like night and day. A lot of vets will contend that a 1.3 is normal. And, according to the chart, it is. However, it isn’t normal for a sheltie. A sheltie should be at a 2.3 or above for optimum health (on a scale of 1.0-4.0) or 3.1 or above (on a scale of 1.0-5.0).

For instance, if you have a dog that is losing hair or undercoat and the test results are 1.3 – TREAT THE DOG! A low dose of the soloxine may be all that the dog needs to get it up to the level that it needs. You have some space to work with there. You won’t hurt the dog by trying it. A simple dose of point 1 soloxine twice a day might take that test result up to 2.4 which is perfect in most cases.

I’ve found the best results are realized when the level is 2.3 and above. If it’s 2.0 and the dog has no symptoms, I don’t treat the dog. However, I do retest in six months. If it begins dropping, treat the dog. Start testing at the age of two. That's when the signs can begin to show if they haven't already.

Below are some of the symptoms that I’ve found in shelties. Keep in mind that this disease is treatable and shows itself in many ways. I know of two dogs that showed absolutely NO symptoms but on a routine health check it was discovered that neither dog had enough T-4 hormone to even register on the test. They are both being treated and responding well. They didn’t have to wait until they had no hair for someone to catch it!

1) Poor coat quality - dull, brittle, black coats may appear red

a) no undercoat

b) losing large amounts of hair at a time that they shouldn’t be (non-shedding season or shedding season never stopped!)

c) coat has turned into a thick cottony clump (hard to get a brush through and feels like a cotton ball)

d) coat brittle and short instead of long and flowing

2) Open sores or lesions on the skin (belly is most noticeable) – may look like pimples or a rash.

3) Lethargic - dog just doesn’t have the get up and go it once had

4) Drinking a lot of water – acts as if it can’t get enough

5) Eats like it is ravenously hungry

6) Chronic ear infections – one ear infection after another for no apparent reason

7) Sporadic vomiting – we had one dog that was turned in because he vomited every six to eight weeks…we tested, he was low, we treated and he hasn’t been sick since!

8) Sporadic bouts of diarrhea (sometimes to the point of bloody stools)

9) Aggression (unusual snapping at you or others, biting, etc.) If you didn’t feel good, you’d be testy too!

10) Tail has lost hair to the point of resembling a rat tail! (See Jako's photo)

These are by no means ALL the symptoms of hypothyroidism, they are just some of the more prominent ones. If you see any one or combination of these symptoms in your dog, I stress that you should get it to the vet for a T-4. Don’t wait until your dog is totally miserable or bald like some of these photos show. I have to wonder every time I get one in like this, at what point didn’t the owner or the vet notice there was a problem?

Don’t let your dog look like these!