Boosting the immune system

Willow takes a senior Pet Tab daily too.  There are other pet vitamins if you don't like that brand.  Did the vet say you should boost her immune system?  I'm just coming from the perspective that my dog had an immune disease which was her immune system was overactive and it caused a life threatening issue. 

Lori brings an important point -- altho you are coming from a unique position that this dog also is a demodex dog.

The immune system is funny.  We always say 'boost' the immune system, but the real trick is that the immune system should go 'on' and 'off' -- On to deal with a problem, but then it should go 'off' when the threat is past.

But also the immune system will get lazy and if you do the same thing over and it will ignore that thing.

So you do things sort of in short bursts and you don't do the same thing forever. 

1.  If you've been using salmon oil for a while do something else.  I give mine a sardine a day, then I might give ground flax for a while.  As far as omega 3's I switch it up.  Sometimes I put whitefish in their food instead.

2.  Do a ***short*** course of zinc.  Not much -- maybe 10 mg (you'll probably have to break a pill) a day for two weeks. THAT IS ALL. Then stop.  (zinc is a mineral -- it doesn't wash out of the body)

3.  Switch up and do a different vitamin for a while. 

However - further than all that.

If your vet simply sent a thyroid panel in thru Antech or a lab, I'd suggest sending a thyroid/blood panel either to Hemopet (Dr. Jean Dodds) or even to Michigan State if that's easier.  Dr. Dodds set up Michigan's lab -- both use her protocols for breed-specific thyroid testing.  You will get a FAR FAR more accurate reading.

Frankly?  I would do it soon.  Simply because as low as that was, it's likely to actually be lower than that.  AND once you've begun to supplement you'll find you will need to test it again (and always send it back to either Hemopet or Michigan State - where you got the original accurate diagnosis) after being on supplementation for a month or two.

AND -- and this is CRITICAL -- once you supplement and go to test again, you have to have the blood drawn about 4-6 hours post pill -- you want the supplement to be digested and "active" in the body to give an accurate response.  And most vets don't realize to do that.  (That's a Dr. Dodds requirement but it WORKS).

Getting Billy diagnosed as low thyroid changed his life.  I had FOUR (yes, I mean uno, dos, tres, quatro) thyroid tests done on him  -- he was so TYPICALLY hypothyroid -- overweight that wouldn't budge, crappy skin, crappy coat, sleepy and inactive -- and I was virtually in tears because it would come back kinda low but not "truly low" enough to be supplemented.

Sent it for breed-specific testing and WOW -- it **WAS** low.  Not horribly bottomed out ... but definitely within range to be supplemented.

BUT ... even more interesting, he has wound up on quite a large dose of thyroid supplement.  One would have thought that he wasn't very low it wouldn't take much to supplement him?  Nope -- that's very individual as well. 

But the question begs an answer -- what tells you that THIS dog is severely immune deficient?  Are you seeing demodex still/yet/again?

Or are you thinking because she just got bordatella?  I'd give homeopathic Ledum if it was an injection (rather than the intranasal) to help detox, and homeopathic Thuja as well (that's always an excellent thing to give for 3-4 days after any vax -- 3 times a day about 3-4 pellets.  (not with food -- crush them in a folded piece of paper and just pour in the mouth -- it's sweet they won't mind it.)   Both Thuja and Ledum are found in a health store -- the Boiron display (little blue tubes).

 The vet said nothing about boosting her immune system. That was just my thinking to try and avoid hypothyroid..

As far as I know it was an in-house test. They drew blood and gave me results within an hour. How do I have them send it off? Just ask them? I did notice a sign posted while I was paying about the follow-up test needing to be done 4-6 hrs post pill.

Sadly, we truly don't know what breeds Tina has in her. She's overweight, eager to play but wears out super quick, sleeps whenever she can, sheds like crazy.

I'm not seeing the demodex thankfully. Just an overall feeling that something's not right and it can't be written off to 'she just needs to lose some weight'. 

It was the bordatella vaccine she went into the vet for. It was earlier this year that she was treated for lyme.

Our vet just sent her blood to Michigan state on her own.  I was happy to hear that it was such a good choice.  You could just ask your vet to do it for you.  It does take a week or so to get the results back.  Willow had hers drawn on a Monday and we didn't get the results back until the following Wednesday. 

Also, you might want to ask about having her tested for Cushings if the thyroid is still close to range after the next test.  That was the next step that we took. 

3girls

That was just my thinking to try and avoid hypothyroid..

Oh man, don't *avoid* hypothyroid.  That is NOT a bad diagnosis - it can be an awesome one.  Simply because treating it can resolve SO MANY issues that just plain won't resolve any other way (like weight that just won't come off and a dog who tires easily and has little real energy).   and I could go on about poor coat, etc.

It's honestly NOT a bad thing at all -- it's not at all life-threatening and it's an easy med that's not expensive. 

Michigan State is a vet school.  Or you can refer the vet to http://www.hemopet.org -(there are forms on the website and their staff is UBER helpful to suggest what to do and what needs to be done) - but in either case, tell them to send extra vials of blood -- way more than they'd normally take (particularly if you send it to Hemopet -- she does some really exhaustive testing -- and since you know little about Tina's background, honestly that's probably where I'd send it). 

Draw the blood on Monday or Tuesday so it can get to California by Friday (so you don't get hemolysis from the blood getting 'old'. ;).  The vet will know how to package it to send it.

I'ld have to agree to have the blood sent to Hemopet or Michigan St.  I've sent my dog Tessy's blood to Dr. Dodds on several occasions to have her thyroid levels checked.  Wasn't cheap either...having to send it from Canada!

Here's an interesting article on Dr. Dodds and how she analyzes and explains the results....

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/HowtoAnayzeYourDogsThyroidTestResults.pdf

Johnny & Tessy

   Jessie was about four pounds overweight for years; we tried feeding her less of her regular diet but that didn't help. When she was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis this spring I put her on a low fat diet (about 5% fat).  She lost the extra weight even though she was getting the same amount of calories, and stabilized nicely at her ideal weight. You may want to try a prescription food for weight loss to see if it helps. California Natural has a food that's 8% fat.

  About adding extra zinc; Monica Segal advises against doing so except under the guidance of a veterinarian. Zinc is important in immune system function but it can interfere with the absorption of iron. Companies formulating commercial foods take mineral interactions into account and have the right balance of minerals.

 Get her tested via Hemopet the thyroid 5 panel I think its called.  I will stick my neck out and bet she has autoimmune hypothyroid.  Bugsy was a demodex pup, has severe allergies and when I had to significantly reduce his food to stay level, he started to have permanent dandruff and then he started to lick his forearms I sent blood off to Hemopet and the indicator for the autoimmune hypothyroid was through the roof.  Within a couple of weeks on the thyroid supplement his skin cleared and has never been an issue since.  His actually T4/T3 and free T4 levels were low normal.

They are much better now.  And the tablets are ridiculously cheap.  depending on the dosage you can even get them at Walmart and others on their $4 a month generic plan.  Unfortunately B's dosage is in between two human dosages.  We get ours from Foster and Smith and it is very reasonable.

kpwlee

 Get her tested via Hemopet the thyroid 5 panel I think its called.  I will stick my neck out and bet she has autoimmune hypothyroid. 

I was thinking that but I don't really know a whole lot on the subject.  I was going to add this one the other day but didn't.  It's an article by Dr. Dodds.

http://www.apubasenjis.com/OVMAProc1.htm

I usually get the Profile 7200 but htis also includes the Thyroid 5.  Here's some info from her site...

http://www.hemopet.org/files/Test%20Request%20Form%202009%2009%2001%20newaddress.pdf

 Hope this helps.

Johnny & Tessy

 Tina broke a nail off this weekend. So I've printed the forms and am going to try and get her in to the vet tomorrow to get the nail looked at and have her blood drawn and sent off.

Wish me luck!!

Oh, hope her nail is OK.  Willow's done that with before too, LOL!  They usually just wrap it up and that's about that. 

Good luck with the blood work!!