Hi all, Thought it was about time i introduced myself and my 19 month old chocolate lab Poppy. I am also in need of advice if possible. Poppy already has a bit if a long medical history bless her. She had meningoencephalitis following her second puppy vaccination. The general consensus among the experts is that it was most likely due to the lepto part of the vaccine but as a result it means she is no longer vaccinated. She is still monitored by the referral vet and we havnt been allowed to get her spayed but apart from that she seems to have escaped long term symptoms (unless she is diagnosed with thyroid problems, although im guessing not a guaranteed link). Poppy is a big girl at 33kgs. Im not making excuses but she big before we even got her at 8 weeks old and we really are at our witts end as we have tried everything to get her weight down?! Her trainer and vet dont know what else to suggest? we took all her food into the vet for them to analyse and they were concerned that we were UNDER feeding her, we asked if we should up her exercise (she has an hour off lead in the meadows in the evening, free access to our garden and 40 minutes on lead in the morning) but they felt that we gave her more then necessary already and dont want her joints having extra strain. She goes back next week as they are worried her thyroid could be the issue but they said this would be really unusual in a dog so young. We have 5 other dogs who are all ideal weight and despite not being on a diet have lost weight whilst poppy has been on her diet. Just wondering if anyone else has had issues like this?
Re: thyroid problems Hi Sarah , lovely to see you here and welcome from me, Sam and Millie , I`m sorry that I dont know enough about thyoid probs in dogs, but hopefully someone else will be able to offer some advice soon x
Re: thyroid problems Hi there welcome to the forum! Can you vet do a blood test? I thought thyroid problems in dogs could be detected by a blood test?
Re: thyroid problems Thanks Kate, lovely to see a familiar name. Hugs to sam and millie from me and mine.x
Re: thyroid problems Hi Julie, Yes, its a blood test, they are going to do that next week but they have been putting it off because she went through quite a lot of testing previously and they were trying to avoid anything invasive as she was starting to get quite stressed by vet visits :-[
Re: thyroid problems Yes - a blood test will confirm it. My beautiful Boogie (who I name myself after) had thyroid problems. He was on thyroxine for years. In fact he had exactly the same tablets as my Dad! He lived to a happy and healthy 19 years
Re: thyroid problems wow- 19! thats brilliant. I love the name Boogie was Boogie diagnosed quite young?
Re: thyroid problems If your other have lost weight while Poppy is on her diet is it possible she has been indulging in a little self catering?
Re: thyroid problems lol, she hasnt but not for the want of trying, we have to watch her like a hawk during mealtimes though.x
Re: thyroid problems Hi there! Welcome to the forum. I guess the only way to know for sure is a blood test. It sounds like she is active enough! jac
Re: thyroid problems My first lab, Elsa, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism at 3. Her coat became really coarse and she had bald patches on her flanks. The vet thought she was quite young to have thyroid problems and ruled out lots of other things first, diabetes, skin mites, and allergies spring to mind. She eventually had blood tests and put onto thyroxine tablets. She lived a perfectly normal, happy long life.
Re: thyroid problems Hi and welcome to the forum! I don't have much experience of dogs with thyroid problems, although I had a friend whose Doberman was diagnosed with hypothyroidism after years of weight gain. He had to really push the vets to test for it as they were convinced the dog was just fat despite being underfed, massively exercised etc. A few months after starting treatment the weight started to disappear and he became healthy.
Re: thyroid problems [quote author=Pops link=topic=5927.msg76582#msg76582 date=1399923563] wow- 19! thats brilliant. I love the name Boogie was Boogie diagnosed quite young? [/quote] Yes - he was, but I can't remember just what age 6ish, I think.
Re: thyroid problems Thankyou all for the lovely welcomes and advice. I guess we will weight (sorry couldnt resist ) for them to do the blood test and go from there. If its not that i really have no idea what to do next.x
Re: thyroid problems Hello from me and another Poppy... Hope you find out the problem and are able to deal with it via appropriate medication.
Re: thyroid problems hi guys, sorry for the delay responding. Poppy had her bloods taken this week (£90?!) as the vets just cant quite fathom why shes not shifting weight. She has lost a kilo but in the time frame weve allowed that it barely anything. Results middle of the week, if they come back normal we are stumped ???
