Low Thyroid

[Guest SacreeNoir]

Help please.

 

My Scooby's blood tests came back saying he has a low thyroid. The vet think this is why he had problems with the nerves in his back legs. I'm worried because Scooby seems to have trouble keeping weight on. I know Greyhounds are usually thin, but I can count most of his ribs from across the room. Most of the time he eats well but some times he'll go for a day or two with out wanting to eat. He's 10 yrs old now and doesn't seem to have any other major problems except a bit of arthritis. Has anyone else had experience with this and can you give me some advice? Our vet seems to be a large animal specialist not a pet expert.

 

Thanks so much,

Sac

[OwnedBySummer]

Firstly, I'd want a vet who at least is a dog expert. And I'd give him information on greyhound thyroid levels so you don't get an incorrect diagnosis. Here are the results for GREYHOUNDS for the thyroid tests, as per Dr. Dodds at Hemopets:

 

T3 should be 130 +-SD (standard deviation) 36

T4 should be 1.3 +-SD 0.5

Free T4 should be 0.70 +-SD 0.3

 

As to the eating... assuming his teeth are good... you can always put stuff on his kibble to entice him to eat it. I make a recipe that I got from this site and Summer loves it! Today, I also picked up a shaker container of hand-made "liver sprinkles" from a dog bakery/boutique that I can use for a change.

 

Here's the information on the recipe, if you're interested:

 

Here's a recipe from another member, Becky_R. I have made this recipe for Summer and she gobbles up her kibble now, no problem. I only used half the amount of yogurt by stirring it into the full recipe, THEN divided it up and froze most of it in double servings. BTW, I use Blue Buffalo kibble.

 

Puppie gruel recipe

 

Thoroughly mix 1 pound of lean ground beef with 3 cups of water.

Bring to a boil, and add 2/3 cup brown rice.

Turn the heat back down to a simmer and cook 15 minutes.

Add 2/3 cup red lentils and cook another 15 minutes, or until the rice is soft.

Check periodically, and add more water if needed.

Let this mixture cool, then freeze half of it and use it later.

Take the other half and mix with a two pound container of plain, low fat yogurt.

Serve a dollop of this mixture tossed with your dog's kibble.

 

 

Becky_R's notes: If you can't find lean ground beef, brown it first and drain off the fat. I was surprised at how little fiber was in brown rice, so that was why I added the lintels. They are high in fiber and protein. Red lentils cook quickly, which is whay I add them toward the end. If you can't find them, use another type of lentil, but add it to the pot earlier when you add the rice. I was tired of adding hamburger and rice, plus yogurt separately to the food bowls, so this is how the gruel recipe was born. Maybe you can suggest a better name for this recipe.

Edited September 21, 2010 by OwnedBySummer

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

T4 (Thyroid)

 

Greyhound: 0.5 - 3.6 (mean 1.47 +/- 0.63)

Other dogs: 1.52 - 3.60

These figures are from a University of Florida study of thyroid function in 221 Greyhounds 97 racers, 99 broods, and 25 studs so it included both racers and retired. While Greyhound thyroid levels are a whole chapter unto themselves, a good rule of thumb is that Greyhound T4s run about half that of other breeds.

 

This is a cut and paste from a greyhound adoption group website. If your vet does not have specific experience with greyhounds I would strongly suggest you find a vet that does work with greyhounds as they have many differences in blood work than other breeds. Also, do you know if a full T-4 panel was done (meaning the blood work had to be sent to MSU, or one of a few places in the US that process full panels), or if they just ran a "titer" check? Don't allow this vet to push thyroid meds on your hound, it is probably non needed.

 

this is one of many sites that gives greyhound values specifically:

http://www.recycledracers.org/FAQ/greyhound-blood-values.html

 

Additionally greyhounds are VERY sensitive to anesthesia, so you have to be sure the vet doing any surgery on your hound is aware of this fact. From what I have been told, the amount of anesthesia needed for an 80lb greyhound is equivalent to a 15lb cat! Be careful about your vet choice.

Edited September 21, 2010 by Greyt_dog_lover

[mychip1]

Good luck...But as others have indicated, low thyroid on a greyhound is not unusual - and certainly treatable if the vet has the breed knowledge!

[Guest mcsheltie]

Don't medicate on the basis of free T4 alone. That is the standard test most vets perform in house. You need a complete panel run to diagnosis a GH properly. TSH needs to be done and the panel needs to be evaluated keeping the breed in mind.

 

MSU is the gold standard for thyroid testing.

[Guest KennelMom]

Don't medicate on the basis of free T4 alone. That is the standard test most vets perform in house. You need a complete panel run to diagnosis a GH properly. TSH needs to be done and the panel needs to be evaluated keeping the breed in mind.

 

MSU is the gold standard for thyroid testing.

 

this.

Edited September 22, 2010 by KennelMom

[PatricksMom]

The low weight makes me think something else is going on, usually low thyroid levels cause weight gain. And I wouldn't necessarily medicate based on blood levels alone, even the better tests, unless you're seeing symptoms too.

[greyhead]

Weight gain doesn't always occur with hypothyroidism. Sometimes the presentation is more typical of what you'd see with hyper-thyroidism. Just thought I'd mention that.

[GeorgeofNE]

I'm not sure how your vet came to the conclusion that possible nerve problems were related to a thyroid issue?

 

Your dog may have lumbar sacral stenosis if he is having problems in the hind end. (My dog has it, FYI.)

 

Sounds like you might look into a new vet; LSS is not a condition limited to Greyhounds. A good dog vet would know how to check for that quite easily, and would follow up with x-rays.

 

According to Dr. Couto (Greyhound expert), low thyroid is the most over-diagnosed condition in Greyhounds. Unless your vet is familiar with the breed, a reading that's normal for your dog would lead him to believe there was a problem.

[greyhead]

Do you live outside the U.S.? It's easier for folks on GT to help with vet recommendations if you're in the States, because most of us are. But there are certainly others outside the U.S., and maybe one or more of them could help if we knew at least generally where you are.

Hope your pup is doing well! Good luck with this.

 

 

[Guest SacreeNoir]

Thanks everyone for all your help. I wish I had more of a choice in vets. I live in the US, but there are only 2 vets to choose from here. He also hates the car so getting him to the vet is a real chore.

[OwnedBySummer]

If you PM me your email address, I will send you a .pdf file from Dr. Dodds at Hemopets, showing the correct blood values that a greyhound's full blood chemistry should have. This should really help your vet.

[Guest SacreeNoir]

I would love to have the info, but I don't have enough posts to use the PM system yet. Unless they changed that since the thread was posted in the help forum. I'm really new here and still trying to figure out how everything works.

[greyhead]

Here's the link to Dr. Dodd's .pdf on thyroid values.

 

Oops, that wasn't right. I'll keep looking.

 

ETA; Nevermind! I'm sorry, but I can't get anywhere with Dr. Dodds' website. I'm sure someone else will produce something helpful about thyroid testing in greyhounds, though.

Edited September 27, 2010 by greyhead

[OwnedBySummer]

Well, here's a temporary email address you can use for this. Just email me at it and I'll email the documents back to you. Use "rainbrighton@hotmail.com".