Dog thyroid problem?

[EmilyZA]

My vet just called me on Friday... my dog went in for his annual exam and the bloodwork indicates that he may have a thyroid issue (underactive.) Has anyone else's dog had this condition?

He's going back in a few weeks for dental work so they'll do a full thyroid test then. I'm really nervous though.

[boilermaker]

Our dog has an underactive thyroid. He was diagnosed with it a few years ago. I guess it is a common problem in Golden's, which is what I have.

Anyhow, it is really easy to deal with. He gets 2 pills a day that we feed him with his meals. It costs us about $25 a month.

The one clue we had was that his fur was thinning, esp on his tail. But when we put on the medication, it made such a difference in his energy level and weight. It was like he was a puppy all over again. And he dropped about 15 pounds in 2 weeks (he weighs about 70 lbs normally).

Don't worry about it though. It's a pretty common occurance in many dogs and really really easy to deal with.

[ejs]

My 5-year-old mutt has an underactive thyroid. He gets a pill with each meal and that's it. He gets blood work every few months.

My vet said thryroid problems aren't than uncommon, so I'm surprised that yours said age 5 is too young.

Ask your vet what type of blood test they did. There are different types of blood tests that can be done. There is one vet school in the country that runs a more elaborate, detailed test. That is the test that was done to diagnose our dog.

What made the vet test his thyroid was that our dog had a seizure.

[2kCougar]

My dog was just diagnosed this month. Her hair was thinning just like boilermaker's dog. She used to act like a throw rug and now she is very active. Her pills are $5 a month. It's probably less expensive b/c she weighs 20 lbs.
I was really glad that they found this problem b/c she is much more active and her coat is looking so much better.

[boilermaker]

To add on to ejs's post, my dog was diagnosed with his thyroid problem at 6 years...but looking back, he prob started showing signs of it 2 years prior. Our TX vet gave us all kinds of reasons why he wouldn't have a thyroid problem. When we moved to OH, our vet put him on medication the day he had his first check-up because it was so obvious to her (and his bloodwork confirmed it).

[colleenjoy]

my boxer, emma was just diagnoses a few months ago.

we thought she was just becoming mellow in her old age (she's 7-8). nope come to find out it was her thyroid. after just a few days on meds she back to her old(young) self, bouncing off walls just like when we got her.:D

Colleen