I have been researching for some time to try and determine what could be causing Henry´s health and behavioral problems and the diagnosis that keeps coming up is hypothyroidism. The problem is that the thyroid tests never show a problem--he looks perfect on paper. In real life he is losing most of his hair, his hair is dry but his skin feels greasy, he has no appetite, constant diarrhea and now seems to have an irregular heartbeat. Anybody have any ideas on what I can do if the tests continue to show everything is normal? I have been to three (and now four) vets and none of them seem to want to help me beyond doing the tests and looking at the results. It would also explain why my sweet little baby suddenly turned crazy a few months ago. I am almost certain that it is hypothyroidism but how can I get someone else to see that and what do I do next?

Those are some major issues and tests SHOULD show some thyroid hormones disbalance.. Did you do only thyroid tests or did you do a complete blood work..? Urine culture..?

You need to find a vet that is ready to (to a point) ignore test results and have an open mind for an owner´s instinct that´s usually correct.

Henry is still a very young dog and if you are right about what´s causing his problems the best thing to do would be a thyrotomy i.e. complete extraction of thyroid gland- he´d have to take one pill a day for the rest of his life, but he´d be his old self again..

Best of luck from me and Frida.

We have done complete blood panels and urinalysis and they showed nothing. I found research from the International Symposium on Canine Hypothyroidism and Henry matches their description of the hypothyroid dog to a t--it even says that signs exhibit between 1 and 3 years usually--Henry started all this just before he turned 2. Heading to the vets now and hoping that this will be better than the last three!

I´ll keep my fingers crossed.. Maybe you should also find some kind of a contact (email/phone #) from that research you read, I´m sure as specialists they´d be more open to your problem than a vet who gets overloaded with various cases daily.

Had you told to the vet that you think is Hypothyroidism?

This link may help you: http://www.thepetcenter.com/gen/hypot.html
You can contact them, at the bottom of tha page is the e-mail

Thanks ale123--I´ll check that out.
Nikana--I thought of that--we ordered a whole battery of tests today so we´re hoping that some of them turn up some explanation--once I have the results I may start consulting specialists because I know they are going to want numbers and levels and such.

Thank you to everyone who has emailed about Henry. We have seen a significant decrease in Henry´s health and quality of life. We are still waiting on the bloodwork results but I am almost certain that it is his thyroid. In addition to everything else he has lost 8 pounds since he was last at the vet and he´s down to eating about one-half to one-fourth of a cup of food each day (and that´s sometimes a struggle). The vets are fighting me on the thyroid diagnosis because he´s not overweight but I found this article about dogs who are underweight, hyperactive and have hypothyroidism (http://www.animalfriend.co.uk/PDF/THYROID%20AND%20BEHAVIOUR%20BY%20JEAN%20DODDS.pdf) . This article describes Henry perfectly--I just hope that we find something soon so that we can get him healthy--he´s so sleepy and lethargic now it just makes me cry. I´ll keep you updated.

Henry at the end of January (1/29/08 ) This was just after the first fight with Bear--now that I look at it I see that his hair on his back legs looks thin even then


Henry Today (7/8/08 ) (and these don´t show how bad he is--the camera flash makes his coat look healthier than it is)



The rash on his chest close up

oh dear poor henry you can see how much weight he has lost i hope the vets find out what the cause is very soon so they can make him better

Hi Cookie...our dog, Mambo, had hypothyroidism...his levels were nonexistent by the time he was tested. He showed no symptoms except for aggression so it was a fluke that we found out. I´m assuming the vet did a full panel thyroid screen? (There should be 7 results for that, if my memory is correct). Most vets just do the regular screening which only gives partial results. I, too, diagnosed him myself...we were close to having him put down as he became 160lbs of aggression, but I was determined to try...to think we came so close to losing him and all it took was 2 little pills 2X a day for the rest of his life.
Keep us updated...our thoughts are with you....

I know you said they did complete blood/urine testing...they didn´t come across Cushings or diabetes or something like that? Some symptoms are quite similar...just a thought.

DDBcrazy--we did full bllodwork, tested for diabetes (bllod and urine) and a full thyroid panel (the small one that they did in office said he was fine but the study that I posted the link for says that the test is completely unreliable). He hadn´t been fasted before the testing though so if it shows nothing then I may fast him and retest everything. I thought about Cushings, although the symptoms don´t match exactly but diabetes mellitus (sp?) closely mimics thyroid so I think it may be worth another test, just in case.

Henry, too, first presented with aggression and no other signs--well I find out now that his sudden, extreme fear of thunderstorms was a warning sign since he had never been scared of them at all until just before the first incident with Bear--I just thought that he was scared because he had stayed with my in-laws and their boxer is scared of storms and that´s when he first started it. Apparently many cases of adult thyroidism show that thunderstorm fear. I think that the study above might be interesting to you as well--I was reading it and getting chills because it´s Henry exactly--right down to us joking about him having AD/HD. Hopefully we will know something later today.

Most endocrine disorders are treatable. Diabetes, hypothyroidism and Cushing´s Disease are malfunctions of the endocrine glands. I do hope and pray that Henry´s condition would be diagnosed correctly very soon so he could recover and get well very soon.

Yes dob--I´m actually hoping that it is one of those (actually I´m hoping it is hypothyroidism) because we´ve been through the treatment before and the dog was perfectly normal (and loved his "treats" twice a day) but I´m very concerned that they don´t seem to be taking this as seriously as I am because he still looks "ok". Well he looks lousy if you know what a beauty Henry normally is! Sorry--I´m quite agitated with the vet community right now. Still no word back from the tests.

i know what u are going thru cookie. my room mate is having the same problem, except with her cat. Cats apparently NEVER get hypo thyroidism, they only ever get hyper thyroidism.... but we are both convinced that the cat is HYPO, and the vets dont take us seriously ( both of us work at a vets office too....) His fur falls out in clumps, he keeps gaining weight even tho he is on such a strict diet and gets exercised regularly. Test results came back LOW too - which indicates hypothyroidism. But they say its not low enough, no big deal , oh well. I guess my point is that we are just going to keep trying. Nothing else u could do. U know ur animal better than anyone else, and if somethings not right then dont give up

The vet just called and said that the lab that does the thyroid and hormone testing for them has called and that Henry´s results are "questionable" so they are re-running the test and we will know something this afternoon. The vet tech that I spoke to said that it could mean that they feel something went wrong during the process, that they had forgotten Henry and are now making excuses or that they found something odd and are rechecking to see what is going on. I´m going to have a nervous breakdown before this is over.

Hiya Sis.
So sad to hear things are getting so frustrating for you and Henry. Have you suggested to your vet that you put him on synthroid anyway for a period of time?
If it something like Cushings this would require an ACTH stim test with blood levels taken several times over the course of a day or couple of days.
The guidelines on thyroid levels are really just that "guidelines" so what may be normal for one dog may not be for another, that is why there is a range of numbers in the guidelines. He could be one of those dogs that sits outside the normal range for the average dog.

I also wanted to ask, has he been tested for Lyme disease? There are aggression aspects to active lyme as well.....

I hope you get news soon.

Maggi and Cracker

Hooplady--we haven´t tested for lyme. We don´t see it very commonly this far south so I hadn´t thought of it. I´ll mention it to the vet--couldn´t hurt after all.
The vet we are currently with is against trying him on the thyroid meds without "proof" that he is deficient. I have found a vet that I believe will be willing to try the therapy for a few weeks to see if there is an improvement--we are just waiting for the numbers to come back from the lab--even for the trial they need to know where we are now so they can adjust doses and such. I just hate waiting!
I think our next step may be the ACTH testing, although I hate the thoughts of having to leave him for a couple of days (which is what our vet prefers). I know they would take good care of him--I´m just an overprotective mother who´s feeling a little threatened right now. Hopefully I will have an update soon!

Henry ate almost 5 cups of food tonight!! I mixed two eggs up with it to give him a nudge but still he ate something more than half a cup!! The vet never called me back--I´ll start harrassing them again in the morning I suppose.

Are there any other vets Henry could see? Time is most essential. Your vets dilly-dallying could be costly.

Henry has an appointment to see another vet on Saturday--the one who put my husband´s boxer on thyroid meds to see if it would help (it did) even though the bloodwork seemed normal. They do want to see the results though so that they have a baseline level to work from--a retest would take until Monday or Tuesday.

Has anyone experienced side effects similar to his from amitriptyline? I have some research that says humans experience some of these strange side effects (appetite loss, etc) but not all of them. I´m thinking of asking them to change him to another mood stabilizer altogether--depending on how that would impact him if we do the thyroid meds.

Also, am I just being paranoid because I´m too close to him? The vets and most of my family think that he has just turned agressive, is challenging Bear for pack leadership--and that I can´t see that because I´m too close. I´m trying to be objective but it is hard--and deep in my heart I don´t believe that´s it. What do you guys think?

The vet called, Henry´s thyroid levels are low and they think we should try him on a synthetic thyroid hormone--they even said "wow it´s a good thing we tested him." :: glares ::

But at least we have an answer to what is going on. :: does a happy dance ::