CROSS POSTED W PERMISSION...MESSAGE FOLLOWS.
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Layle Griffioen, DVM requested that this be cross posted:
From: Layle Griffioen
Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2009 2:00 PM
Hi all,
I have just returned from the Tufts Breeding and Genetics Seminar and
there are so many things that I am excited about, but wanted to share
this one as quickly as I could since I think it will help so many folks
right away!
As many already know, the IGCA currently recommends thyroid testing at
ages 2, 3, and 4, and then every 2 years thereafter. This is expensive
and kind of a pain since you have to haul the dogs to the vet to have
blood drawn for the full profile.
When we are looking at young dogs, it is the thyroglobulin autoantibody
(TGAA) we are testing for. The presence of this autoantibody in the blood
is direct evidence that the dog's immune sytem is attacking and
destroying the thyroid. It isn't until some time in the future (months to
many years) that the dog becomes clinically hypothyroid.
Oxford Labs in Michigan provides the materials for Michigan State to run
their TGAA assays. I spoke with Dr. Nachreiner from Michigan State - Mr.
autoimmune thyroiditis - at the conference and he gave his seal of
approval on testing young dogs (2,3,4) ONLY for TGAA as a screening test.
He tried to get OFA to accept only the TGAA for young dogs but they did
not want to; I am not sure why. But if Dr. Nachreiner says it's okay to
test just for TGAA in the younger dogs than that is good enough for me!
For older dogs or dogs that are exhibiting signs of hypothyroidism, you
will still need to run the full profile through your vet.
So the good news: Oxford Labs has a home test kit for TGAA. They send you
the kit in the mail and all you need is a few drops of blood from
whichever dogs you want to test. Basically it is a piece of blood
absorbant paper and you fill the little circles on the paper with blood,
let it dry, then send it in an envelope to the lab. You can clip a
toenail short or have the vet draw the blood for you. The best part: Cost
is $27 for one kit, $130 for 6 kits, $260 for twelve, plus 10 dollars
shipping and handling.
How incredible that we can now do this at home with just a few drops of
blood and for so little money!
Oxford labs website: www.oxfordlabs.com
phone number: 1-800-266-9477
The test we need to ask for is VT 20, the TGAA test.
I will be writing an article for the IG magazine about this but wanted to
get the info out ASAP so folks can start using it. Feel free to
cross-post. This isn't just for iggies.
Layle