Emma is hypothyroid!

Oh, believe me Jennie, I know what you are saying.  It's so frustrating to just be trying to manage symptoms and not know the cause.  At least now, you know what it is and can treat it. 

Hope Emma feels better once she starts her medication!!

Lori

jennie_c_d

I feel like a terrible dog owner, for being so HAPPY that something is wrong with my dog, LOL. She's been doing miserably, lately. She's getting FAT. Disgustingly fat, for a dog with joint issues, and I've cut her food back from 2 1/2 cups plus treats to 1 cup with no treats. Still a chub monster. She's been super achey, and VERY testy. She's also, as usual, itching like crazy. 

Absolutely NOT -- you're a *smart* owner/guardian because you KNOW that with the thyroid whacked out that's **why** you aren't getting results with any of the above. Hypothyroid is truly usually the BEST news evah ... now you can watch her get BETTER. 

 It's so exciting, when they find something wrong with her, LOL. It's not so much that I'm happy something's wrong, but I'm happy that they diagnosed something! On exam, the vet decided she was just achey, but bloodwork wasn't a bad idea, given her issues. I'm SO glad I did it. I've been giving her a low dose of NSAIDS, daily, to help her out. I'm doing as much joint health stuff as possible, but everything has to be started super slowly (no more than one new thing a week) because of her allergies. *shakes head*

You've gotta love a dog with issues!

well - as wierd as it feels to say - congrats!

I get what you're saying, it's frustrating to JUST treat the symptoms... we want/need to know WHY so we can better treat and manage.

Bugsy's allergy improvement wasn't immediate but wow is it better

His is the autoimmune type and even after 6-8 wks his numbers weren't in the normal range. I am going to get them checked in October, I considered doing it this month but he appears to be doing really well overall.

He didn't gain much weight but I was lowering his food to keep it that way. He is now back to eating stupid amounts (as before LOL) and has lost some this summer - which due to heat is usually when he had a tendency to gain

the other thing I notice is that he is dealing with the heat better than last summer which is when I started to see some changes

lastly I get my tablets online because my vet is so expensive. I am using Foster's and Smith and from them the 3 month supply is the same price as a week's supply from my vet

 Thanks for the Foster's and Smith tip. I might end up doing that. It's going to get expensive, between the three medications, prescription food, and supplements. *sigh*

I guess I'm going to have to do some reading. I didn't realize there were "types" of thyroid issues (though it makes sense). Will that be on the interpretation from MSU?

depending on the medication they want to put her on - some are pretty inexpensive, and come in large quantities.

 So glad you figured out what's been bugging her lately!

YAY!!!! That's great news!

jennie_c_d

I guess I'm going to have to do some reading. I didn't realize there were "types" of thyroid issues (though it makes sense). Will that be on the interpretation from MSU?

I went back to look it up - Bugsy's T4 numbers (and free T4) were on the low end of normal (the initial simple test was below the normal range)but his 'thyroglobulin autoantibodies' were off the chart high, that is what indicates the autoimmune thyroiditis.  I didn't use MSU I used Hemopet so not sure what your readout says.

I would definitely look into F&S for scripts or if the dose is .25 or .5 you will be able to get it from Walmart, Target, etc.  B's dose is not one that they can get for me, his tablets are like 9 or 11 cents each via F&S buying a 3 month supply.  They were over a dollar each from our vet.

Lastly I am going to move this to health

Very interesting! I just pulled out my Volhard book, and found the chapter on thyroids. Thyroids are complicated creatures! Whoa!

Welcome to the Hypothyroid club!!  We're getting our order from Fosters & Smith - but it's been a pain getting the vets to release the 'scripts.  Call your vet and ask for a hand-written one that you can pick up so you can mail it in directly.  My order (for G's soloxine and Patrick's Deramaxx) is finally shipping today.  The prices were better than 1-800-petmeds.  I'm hoping once the Rx is on file, it will be a lot easier to refill.

miranadobe

I'm hoping once the Rx is on file, it will be a lot easier to refill.

 I hope the thyroid meds make Emma feel better; good luck!!!!