Symptoms of Thyroid Condition/diagnosis/treatment - Page 1

Could someone with knowledge describe symptoms of a thyroid condition in gsd. Is it genetic? How is this diagnosed? What are treatment options and prognosis? Is this something that is reversable or just manageable?

Symptoms in dog I see are overweight and will eat anytime offered food, grazes leftovers from other dogs, shows food aggression with other dogs and is generally dog aggressive with any dog outside its home environment ,  she is a young female 1 1/2 years of age. She has no aggression what-so-ever with humans/children/cats.  Someone had suggested "thyroid" issues because of these symptoms.

Person I spoke with about her immediately thought Thyroid issues, she is a long time shepherd owner and not a vet but has stated the symptoms were similar to one of her females and she put her on "raw thyroid" and symptoms cleared up rapidly.

Any information would be appreciated.

My father-in-law has an Airedale that has recently been diagnosed with a thyroid problem.  Thank goodness they finally figured out what was going on.  She's been suffering from that for a while now. 

I don't know if the symptoms manifest the same in a GSD as they do in an Airedale, but here's what we've seen with Allie... she started gaining weight till she was badly obese, despite getting only 2 cups of food a day and no snacks.  She has very little energy.  Her skin is covered with small sores, like pimples.  My father-in-law bathes her twice a week with a medicated shampoo to help relieve the symptoms.  She has just started taking meds for he thyroid about a week ago, too soon to say what the final outcome will be.

Sorry I can't help you more, but this has been my only personal experience with a dog with a poor thyroid funciton.

I hope that your vet can help you with correct diagnosis and treatment.

Yvette

I should add that she has no skin/coat conditions at all. She has plenty of energy and runs and swims daily  getting a lot of exercise. She probably runs at least 2 miles a day and on some days swims 1/8 to 1/4 mile as well as running.

The food she eats is a "natural" line with no corn, fillers, etc. and is good level protein and fat ratio with human grade meat as first ingredient. She gets anywhere from 3-4 cups a day of this food.  She is not offered any food treats at all.

Thyroid tests are not always conclusive, especially in younger dogs. Only a blood test will tell. However, a dog may have normal looking test results but symptoms and when the symptoms are treated the dog responds positively to the treatment.

The symptoms you describe are too vague. She sounds like she is overweight because she eats too much. Are you sure she cannot get into anything? Horsefeed? Friendly neighbor? Spouse/kids sneaking treats and not telling you? A hypothyroid dog will be overweight with very little food. Aggression in the young dog can be an indicator of hypothyroidism, but it can also just be a behavioural situation that you let her get away with. From your description I would almost pick the second option because thyroid related aggression is usually not specific to other dogs but elevated aggression in general, including towards the owner. What are you feeding? Does the food contain soy? Corn is not the culprit. What is the coat quality? Poor coat, lethargy, seeking warmth and weight gain usually appear in the more mature dogs. From our experience hypothyroid dogs will be very energectic, aggressive and hard to keep weight on as young dogs, and coat can still be good in a young dog in most cases, but the dog will start to display the typical hypothyroid symptoms once it is fully mature.

This sounds like it could be just behaviour issues. Put her on a good diet (http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/SP_Natural.html), limit her food to that diet only and get her weight under control. A dog is an opportunist and will eat what is in front of it, whether that is given or taken. If excessive food is the culprit for excessive weight, that is easy to control. If you do not provide any excess, or let her get to it, you control the intake. 3 cups may be all she needs, or even less. What does the dog food label say? As an opportunist a dog will also take advantage of everything else in its environment, including other dogs. Address her behavioural issues. If that does not produce the desired success you may consider medical issues, then you need to bring her in to the vet for tests.

Unexplained weight gain, lack of energy, heat seeker, poor coat and skin, brittle toenails, personality changes, slow and/or irregular heart beat. (sounds like ME!!). If it goes a long time without treatment, most dogs will develop what vets term a "tragic expression" where they look very, very sad due to their developing a "fat pocket" above their eyes. Intact bitches will have irregular seasons and seldom have normal sized litters. There are many different signalments that a dog might be hypothyroid and these are just a few of the more common ones.

1 1/2 is pretty young to have the problem, but it's not unheard of at that age. Meds usually control it well. Many vets think it is genetic.

It is common for dogs with thyroid issues to develop overly yeasty ears that are prone to infection too.

Blitzen has explained 100% what my old dog showed regarding symptoms....... Very easy to solve with the use of Soloxine. The dog should not be bred if she has Thyroid..

Tina

Thanks for all the info.

D.H. I think you are correct that this is more of a food/behavioural issue.  She doesn't seem to have any of the other mentioned symptoms.  I will make sure "I" am the only one to feed her so I know "exactly"how much she gets and not allow her to eat with the other dogs at meal time. Her food is 14 % fat and contains no soy.  I'd like her to lose 5-8 pounds right now.

Behavior wise she is the youngest and is trying to establish herself in the ranks so can be a bully at times and was from puppyhood the most fiesty in the group. She clearly needs a firmer hand than some of my other dogs.

I have lined up a trainer familiar with gsd and dog aggressive behavior to work with me in the next few weeks. This trainer has 20 years experience with gsd and trains and titles many including working with a Schutzhund group so I feel I am in good hands with her assistance.