Thyroid Issue?

[Wonder]

Diamond has a bald butt, no hair at all.

I emailed the group asking if they normally do a thyroid test and they don't so now I'm wondering what other symptoms would there be for a thyroid issue? If he has any other symptoms, I might ask that he get tested.

 

Thanks

[Batmom]

Lethargy and weight gain on very little food are the primary signs. If he's just got a bald butt, I wouldn't bother. Joseph was really bald when he came home and it took him a looooooooooooooooooooong time to get even a little fuzzy back there.

[Wonder]

Lethargy- nope

 

 

[Scooby172]

Behavioral changes, that's what tipped me off to my hypothyroid girl.

Linda, VAlor, Keeva and Bella

[greysmom]

Sometimes they can have a sudden behavioral change, usually they become quite shy and anxious. Other symptoms: sleeping a lot, depression, unusual weight gain, dry itchy flaky skin, hair loss on other parts of the body. Thyroid in greys is notoriously hard to diagnose due to there metabolism - a normal thyroid test just can't pin it down. If he's doing fine otherwise then I wouldn't bother with a test.

 

You might try adding a good quality fish oil, or other source of omega-3's to encourage his hair growth, but many greys just have bald spots.

 

Good luck

greysmom

[seeh2o]

It is different for EVERY dog and, based on my experience with my boy Carl, you can never be too cautious.

 

Carl came to me in August '07 with a bald butt and chest and he had dry skin. When I took him in for his first routine exam they included thyroid in it, it was 100% normal. Over the next several months his hair started to grow in. In May '08 he blew his coat, as normal, but it kept blowing and he kept getting balder, much moreso than when I brought him home. I had him into the vet for his eyes (May '08) and they did a blood test at the time which included a thyroid test, still normal as it was in August '07.

 

At the same time he also developed faint white rings on the edges of his corneas which I thought and was misdiagnosed as Pannus. He had no behavioral at all, in fact, as he continued to come out of his shell he was even more energetic. He also had no weight gain other than the few extra pounds over his racing weight that I made sure went on him. Over the summer he continued to become more bald as I tried to find out what was going on with his eyes, I was focused on that. Based on what I read here I put him on Omega 3 fish oil, then on Grizzly Salmon oil, nothing other than what coat he did have was incredibly shiny. Finally, in November '08 I went to a different vet (my other dog's vet), she did a thyroid panel and lo and behold, it was low.

 

His thyroid was rechecked last month, the thyroid level is now perfect. Last month I requested we switch him from the generic thyroid she started him on in November to Soloxine. He now has a slightly fuzzy butt! I took him to the ophthalmologist last Friday, they feel his eyes are improving. His skin is much better than it was even when I brought him home in '07, but I never considered that to be a "problem".

 

If I were you and you can afford it, I'd have the thyroid checked - just in case. It sends me a chill to think what might have happened with his vision if I hadn't requested the thyroid test.

Edited March 30, 2009 by ckruzan

[Remolacha]

Fletcher showed none of the traditional symptoms, and had in fact been tested several years ago. He had an off again/on again limp.

X-rays were clear, VF negative, but my vet said his thyroid was lower than it had been, and thyroid problems can cause neurological problems, so we started him on the meds. It seems to have helped.

 

All that said, if he has no other issues than a bald butt, I probably wouldn't bother.

[nancy14]

I just had June Bug tested again as she is over weight and doesn't eat that much. They did a panel and sent it to Michigan and it came back normal. I was almost wishing that thyroid was the problem because it is so easy to correct with one pill a day.

 

My first grey, K.C., had a bald butt and had a definite thyroid problem. It was funny to see the hair start to grow. It came in as fuzz. But, again, one pill a day and she was fine.

 

It never hurts to have the test. I think the panel they did for Michigan was $125 if I remember correctly.

[seeh2o]

Here is a link to where my vet recommends the thyroid test be run. The bonus is the price AND you get Dr. Jean Dodds interpretation and recommendation. She's great! She'll even email you back if you have questions, no charge, and she's FAST. Here's her email:

 

hemopet at hotmail dot com

[Batmom]

MSU is pretty much the gold standard for thyroid testing in companion animals.

[seeh2o]

We all have different preferences and they are ultimately probably comparable, but my personal gold standard is Jean Dodds.

[CaliforniaGreys]

We all have different preferences and they are ultimately probably comparable, but my personal gold standard is Jean Dodds.

 

I have to agree here.

My vet not very long ago explained to me the testing done at MSU and at Antech.My understanding was it's the same. Antech does the balance test as well. I think it's called something different and I can't remember the exact term.

I still would prefer Jean to do my guys

Edited March 30, 2009 by cbudshome

[Batmom]

I'm sure Dr. Dodds runs a good lab, but Hemopet's tests don't include TSH, only TGAA. I'm also not sure how the lab does fT4 -- isn't clear that they use the most accurate method, equilibrium dialysis. I'm assuming they don't, since they do the T3AA and T4AA, which you don't really need to evaluate T4 with e.d.

 

I would not accept a profile for a greyhound without TSH.

Edited March 31, 2009 by Batmom

[brandimom]

Here is a link to where my vet recommends the thyroid test be run. The bonus is the price AND you get Dr. Jean Dodds interpretation and recommendation. She's great! She'll even email you back if you have questions, no charge, and she's FAST. Here's her email:

 

hemopet at hotmail dot com

Thanks for the link. I am definitely going this route next time for my grey and afghan's.

 

[seeh2o]

Out of curiosity, I emailed Dr. Dodds some of the questions posted (and some I had), I had a very quick response from her, please see below:

 

What type of free T 4 test do you run?

Since Dec 2008, we run our own novel method, which is equivalent to the freeT4 run by equilibrium dialysis [FT4ED] or by the Diasorin 2-S -- either of these methods are accepted as equivalent by the OFA Thyroid Registry.

 

And why is it that you don't run a TSH test as part of your panel?

Because it has a high rate of discordancy [both false positive and false negative] , so we don't feel comfortable charging for a diagnostic test with this relatively poor degree of specificity -- see text from document below.

 

The final question is, how does your thyroid panel differ from that of MSU's?

Our profile has been and is basically equivalent, except that we are the only veterinary diagnostic lab in the world using our own patented age- and

breed- and activity-specific interpretive comments. These are based on my cumulative data base of over 20 years.

 

Text of the document she attached:

Recombinant Thyrotropin (TSH): Standard for the Next Generation of Canine TSH Immunoassays with Improved Sensitivity

 

Researcher: Duncan Ferguson, DVM, PhD, University of Georgia

 

Hypothyroidism, a failure of the thyroid gland, is the most common hormonal abnormality in dogs, causing a variety of medical problems in many breeds, including hair loss and skin infections.

 

The measurement of serum levels of the pituitary hormone thyrotropin (TSH) has been used as a reliable and sensitive screening test for thyroid glandular insufficiency in human medicine for many years, but the "first generation" assays for canine TSH (cTSH) are missing as many as 1 out of 4 cases of hypothyroidism, resulting in no improvement in diagnostic sensitivity compared to total T4 measurement. Furthermore, the available assays have not been sensitive enough to distinguish low values of cTSH from those in the normal range. Towards the goal of improving current and future immunoassay sensitivity based upon a pure recombinant canine TSH (cTSH) hormone standard, our laboratory has succeeded in cloning and sequencing the two peptide subunits of canine TSH and have expressed them in small quantities. Using techniques recently developed in our parallel work on equine TSH, we plan to express and purify recombinant canine TSH in high quantities and validate its use as a pure immunoassay standard to facilitate its worldwide use.

 

 

 

Other References

 

 

● Dixon RM, Graham PA, Mooney CT. Serum thyrotropin concentrations: a new diagnostic test for canine hypothyroidism. Vet Rec 138: 594-595, 1996.

● Iverson L, Jensen AL, Høier R, et al. Biological variation of canine serum thyrotropin (TSH) concentration. Vet Clin Pathol 28:16-19, 1999.

● Jensen AL, Iversen L, Høier R, et al. Evaluation of an immunoradiometric assay for thyrotropin in serum and plasma samples of dogs with primary hypothyroidism. J Comp Pathol 114: 339-346, 1996.

● Diaz Espineira MM, J.A. Mol JA, Peeters ME, Pollak YWEA, Iversen L,van Dijk JE, Rijnberk A, Kooistra HS. Assessment of thyroid function in dogs with low plasma thyroxine concentration. J Vet Intern Med 21:25–32, 2007.

 

Link she sent me.

 

[JerseyGirlInOz]

And why is it that you don't run a TSH test as part of your panel?

Because it has a high rate of discordancy [both false positive and false negative] , so we don't feel comfortable charging for a diagnostic test with this relatively poor degree of specificity -- see text from document below.

 

That makes sense---TSH tests are highly unreliable in humans as well, and have resulted in a lot of un/misdiagnosed thyroid disorders in several people I know.

 

[Batmom]

I respectfully disagree, as does Michigan State, whose endocrinologists have been studying canine thyroid for years. I'm also not aware of any test that's generally regarded as equivalent to equilibrium dialysis except equilibrium dialysis. That's why MSU and Antech use it. Those two tests -- fT4ed and TSH -- together mean much less subjective interpretation is needed to determine whether the dog is hypothyroid. Particularly in a greyhound, whose fT4 can be zero and normal.

 

BTW, the MSU endocrinologists provide comments and consultation as well.

Edited March 31, 2009 by Batmom

[Batmom]

P.S. For those wanting to learn more about thyroid function and thyroid testing in dogs, here is a nice article: http://www.hcvma.org/notes/SpeakerNotesDavidPanciera.pdf

 

and here are MSU's FAQ's: http://www.animalhealth.msu.edu/FAQ/Endocr...roid_Canine.php

 

and OFA requirements / certified labs: http://www.offa.org/thyappbw.pdf

Edited March 31, 2009 by Batmom

[greysandmollie]

Kari....Dylan's butt is still fairly bald and he has been with me almost a year now....

[Batmom]

An early view of Joseph's butt:

 

 

 

 

[Batmom]

Here's a view after about 18 months at home:

 

 

Joseph doesn't even come up low on a plain old T4.

[Wonder]

So I'm guessing I need to get a huge ball for Diamond to play with and his butt hair will grow in?