Ben's Vet Visit

[Zoolady]

Ben's heartbeat was irregular two weekends ago so we brought him to the vet. Ben had been very lethargic the past few weeks, doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning and showing no interest in the couch at night which really wigged me out. He is always the first one to want to be on the couch with us to watch tv at night. The vet talked about tests that could be done but also said that in "stamina" dogs, it could be normal. He first wanted to do bloodwork which came back fine except for thyroid. He wasn't too concerned about the heart rate.

 

I don't know what much of this means but the print out they faxed says, "T4 (which I think is thyroid) Reference Range 1.0 - 4.0" and his came back

<0.2 ug/dL L". "Verified by repeat analysis." The vet had us bring him back for another blood draw that was sent last week to a university, I think in Michigan.

 

Ben also has hookworms so we checked the other two and they were negative. How does that happen? They're all on the same heartworm/worm medicine, we haven't been to the dog park in months, and when they go for walks we keep them on the road, not in grass. We're very careful nobody spits our their monthly dosage. Any ideas?

 

 

[Guest Energy11]

Curfew's T4 came back low also. Per my former vet/employer, AND OSU, I had my vet run a FREE T4 (the lab should still have enough serum). That is the deciding factor. Curfew's free T4 came back low, so, now, he is on thyroid supplementation. RE: the hookworms???? I have seen many people on here with this problem. I, too use a heartworm preventative that covers ALL worms, mine, even tapes, so really, I'd ask the vet about that.

 

Good Luck, but it does sound like a Free T4 is in order.

[Guest Energy11]

http://www.dr-dan.com/hookworm.htm

 

VERY interesting!