Overweight Hypothyroid Dog

[Guest FreddyGirl]

As per Dr. Jean Dodds, her levels are now in the average range on 0.4 mg soloxine 2x/day. having said that, she has gone from 65 to 71 pounds in @3 months. I have switched her to Chicken Soup reduced calorie food. I am giving her @ 2.5 cups /day with one serving spoon wet food at each meal. So, why is she still gaining weight? she used to eat the same with TOTW Roasted fowl. I call her my brindle lab,that is what she is shaped like now.

Am I not feeding her enough that her body is holding onto food, starvation mode?

Suggestions?

Nancy

Edited March 21, 2010 by FreddyGirl

[Guest IrskasMom]

Nancy I have no Advice.My Irska was about 10 lbs Overweight and everybody would look at me,like I have commited the biggest Crime. Well,I am sorry he ate 2 Cups of Kibbles a Day with a little bit of warm Water ,that was it. Here and there he would get a Smoked Pigsear but nothing else and that Boy was always hungry. Hopefully somebody else comes up with a Suggestion that will help you. .

[seeh2o]

Is it .4mg 2x per day for a total of .8mg per day, or .4mg split in half with .2mg given twice a day for a total of .4mg per day? Dr. Dodds has Carl on .7mg per day, so I split the pill in half. He gets half of .7mg (.035mg?) in the am and the other half in the pm.

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Yes, for a total of 0.8/day.

[Batmom]

How long have you been feeding her the light food?

 

What do her levels test at?

 

How does she seem to feel?

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Light food, about 3 weeks.

She is more outgoing and rambunctious,.

Tested 2/28/10:

Free T4- 18

T4- 0.9

Edited March 21, 2010 by FreddyGirl

[seeh2o]

Did you have problems getting her thyroid readings in the right place at lower dosages? If not, I'm wondering if there was a misunderstanding and she's getting too much medication. Carl weighs about 72lbs. and only gets .7mg total per day. You may want to email Jean and see what she has to say. From what someone posted recently, I believe she usually prescribes .1mg per every 10lbs., but every dog is, of course, different.

 

Edited to add, that by no means am I a medical person, but the amount of medication she is on seems a bit high for as small as she is/was. I don't know what happens when dogs are on a higher than needed dose of thyroid medication. I'd ask the vet and Jean as well.

Edited March 21, 2010 by ckruzan

[Guest MnMDogs]

I don't have any real advice, but can share my experience with Mork. After being on thyroid meds for weeks, he had gained 5 - 6 pounds also and tipped the scales at 90 pounds!!! After 6 months hes at about 82 again. I have no idea why the huge weight gain, but he did get more and more energetic as the months wore on, so we were able to walk him more. Can you up her activity at all?

[Guest FreddyGirl]

I have been working with Dr, Dodds on the adjustment, reduction in her meds. This is what she prescribed.

[Batmom]

What meds was she getting before, what were her levels then, what prompted the change?

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Freddy was way up with meds, as per my vet.I don't remember the exact dosage. After reading what people have written on this site, I was concerned at the high levels she was at. So, I emailed Jean and hve followed her protocol since then. My vet also concurs that her levels are fine but wants to monitor her weight, as well as recheck blood in 3 months. I will do that.

 

Having said that, I posted for suggestions on food, perhaps your experiences, thank you to MnMdogs. Will it take longer for her to lose weight? Should I be feeding her 3 cups because she is not getting enough minerls and nutrients? this is what I need help with.

[Guest Energy11]

I have only one with hypothyriod (Curfew), but my greys are pretty huge, IF I don't watch what they eat. They get ONLY two cups a day, 1 a.m., 1 p.m. and it is a mixture of Canidae Platinum, and Chicken Soup Lite. In the food, there is pumpkin, green beans, and/or spinach, and yogurt (p.m.). Their treats are all LOW fat, too, and so far, so good. They look GREAT! Staggerlee weighed in at 78.9 pounds at his vet visit last week, the lowest he's been for a while. This feeding is working, and they look good.

 

Good Luck with your "Brindle Lab!"

[Batmom]

If she was doing well before, I'm not seeing why her meds were changed unless her thyroid levels on test were way out of line or she was exhibiting hyperthyroid symptoms. Different dogs need different medication levels -- the dog's size/weight is only a guideline. The medication isn't processed the same way by every dog's metabolism so it really isn't possible to say, for example, 1.2mg/day is too much for a dog her size. Some dogs simply don't absorb the medication well and so need more than others.

 

What you're feeding should be sufficient if she is greyhound-lazy, but I wouldn't want to see her get less.

 

All that said, as long as she's acting like she feels well, I'd probably keep things as they are now and reweigh in @ 3 weeks. If she is still gaining, I'd reassess at that time.

 

Hugs and best luck!

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Contacted Jean because Freddy was acting lifeless, no spunk to her anymore. Jean reviewed her levels and dosage and told me she was being overmedicated, thus bringing us to today. So, I will continue with the 2.5 cups a day but will add in tuna in water, RobinM's suggestion. It will be lower in calories than the canned food. Also, I will start walking them again. The problem being that Bobbi can not walk the distance anymore due to compressed discs in neck, recuperating nicely. so, I went out in 2 shifts:) Actually,

Freddy and I could use the exercise. She went twice with me with today each time with a different dog. Ended with a VERY short walk to the end of the block for Bobbi.

 

Thanks for the advice Batmom.

Edited March 21, 2010 by FreddyGirl

[Batmom]

Well, that makes some sense .

 

I was trying to think of little activities that she could do without going for a walk but all the stuff I can think of involves neck action. A short walk is probably better for her.

[RobinM]

Having seen the drastic and immediate gain in her weight, I too was concerned. However, she is back. Freddy was always a very happy social girl. On the high doses of meds, there was no life to her at all. It was sad.

 

But now it's just scary to see how big she is getting. Everytime I see her she is bigger and I see her @ least 2x a month.

 

Here's hoping thaqt she will continue to be happy and start to lose a little weight.

Edited March 21, 2010 by RobinM

[GeorgeofNE]

That's more food than George gets!

 

He's 65 pounds, and I feed him one cup at breakfast and one cup at dinner. He does get a few treats throughout the day, but every dog is different. If she's not losing on 2.5 cups plus wet food, then it's more calories than she needs!

[Batmom]

She's feeding a very low calorie food. If dog continues gaining on that amount of calories, something else is wrong. In that case, abdominal ultrasound would be a good idea.

[Chicocat]

As per Dr. Jean Dodds, her levels are now in the average range on 0.4 mg soloxine 2x/day. having said that, she has gone from 65 to 71 pounds in @3 months. I have switched her to Chicken Soup reduced calorie food. I am giving her @ 2.5 cups /day with one serving spoon wet food at each meal. So, why is she still gaining weight? she used to eat the same with TOTW Roasted fowl. I call her my brindle lab,that is what she is shaped like now.

Am I not feeding her enough that her body is holding onto food, starvation mode?

Suggestions?

Nancy

 

You are feeding 2.5 cups of food TWICE a day? If that is the case it sounds like a lot of food.

I looked on their website and their feeding recommendations are:

 

40 - 60 2 1/2 - 3 1/2

60 - 80 3 1/2 - 4 1/3

 

You may want to reduce the amount and target what you want her weight to be - If they recommend 3 1/2 to 4 total cups for where her weight is now, I would cut her intake to 1 1/2 cups in the morning and 2 cups at night and see what happens. You can add green beans as a filler if she seems hungry.

 

By reducing her Soloxine she could have a greater tendancy to gain weight on 5 cups of food a day, even if it is a reduced calorie food.

[Guest FreddyGirl]

No, it is a total of 2.5 cups a day. I shudder to think what she would look like on 5 cups per day!!!!!

[Chicocat]

No, it is a total of 2.5 cups a day. I shudder to think what she would look like on 5 cups per day!!!!!

 

It painted quite the picture.

[Chicocat]

No, it is a total of 2.5 cups a day. I shudder to think what she would look like on 5 cups per day!!!!!

 

I meant to add yesterday... That does sound like the right amount of food with the notation that not every dog is alike. I have always noticed that when one of my dogs has gone on Soloxine I had to add a little additional food - just a little - to maintain their weight. So that doesn't make her gain make much sense to me.

 

I think Jey gave you good council....as she always does.

[TheFullHouse]

I think Jey has a good idea. I checked the fat content of both foods, the Chicken Soup is 6% and TOTW is 15% so she definitely should be losing weight. I know with Gee, once she started on thyroid meds, I had to up her food a little because she started losing weight, not gaining.

[Guest FreddyGirl]

Now I'm really confused Judy and Chicocat, not sure of your first name, sorry. Do I now increase her food? HELP

 

Totally baffled in Melville..............

[Batmom]

If she's gaining weight, you wouldn't want to increase. Chicocat's and Judy's experience was that their dogs were losing weight on same amount of food after starting meds; that's why they increased.