Thyroidism - Its too much for Piper!

[rottie40]

Well I really cant believe it!! last week my beloved Piper was diagnosed with an inoperable tumour on her spine for which she has to take LOADS of meds and now all the results from bloods, CTA MRI spinal tap etc have come through she has thyroidism too and will need soloxine.
Has anyone out there had experience of this in there dogs??
I have boarding kennels so have some experience of it but not with all Pipers other added complications
Can anyone help?? with experience in any of the above??

[observer]

Do you mean she is hypothyroid and has to take supplemental medication? If so, given what else she's already facing, that's nothing. Missy has been hypothyroid for over three years. My Annie was hypothyroid too. It's very common, actually. The medication is fairly cheap, and will make Piper feel better, as it can affect metabolism, disposition, etc, (although sadly, "better" for her, given the other issue, will not be so noticeable).

[observer]

Sorry duplicate post.

[Nishasmom]

My "family" dog (a pointer) had hypothyroidism; it was easily managed by a daily dose of medication. I am sorry about the spine tumor ; I will keep her in my thoughts.

[fostermom]

Kenya has been on thyroid medication for about three years now...there are no side effects to the medication, and it is pretty inexpensive. Every six months, I get her thyroid levels rechecked to see if we need to change her dose...btw, Sam's Club or Walmart have generic form of her medication (levothyroxin...soloxine appears to be a brand name) which I can get for $4.00 for a 30 day supply!!! I am very sorry about Piper's other medical problems...but fixing hypothyroidism is a simple one.

[rottie40]

Yeh Observer, hypothyroid, the odd thing is she is showing non of the usual signs? She is under weight as opposed to over weight and her skin and coat are fine. She drank no more than normal until she went on the steroids
Many thanks for your concern and comments
It is much appreciated

[rottie40]

Thanks Nisha's mom,
I think I was just being a little irrational, having a bad day, some days are worse than others and |I think yesterday was bad because she got SOooo upset with the boots I got for her to try and protect her feet, all I could think was MORE pills on top of the 3 lots she is already taking for her tumour
Sorry to be such a pain

[rottie40]

fostermom thanks for your reply.
Piper has been on Forthyron ( the new name for Soloxine I think?) for a couple of days now. the odd thing is nothing has changed because she didnt really show any signs??
I dont think I will be able to have a blood test to ascertain her thyroid levels because she is taking steroids?? (again dont really know?) But we have to take one day at a time with her. God willing she will still be here with us in 6 months and we will worry about that then
Sleep well ..... goodnight

[fostermom]

Sorry...I'm a bit confused...if your vet didn't do any thyroid testing, and she isn't showing any signs, why did he decide she needed to be on supplimentation???? Kenya's values were a bit low (nothing horrible)...she wasn't showing any signs either, but given her geriatric age, I asked for the test...so the meds keep her from developing any of the hypothyroid issues.
I hadn't been aware that steroids affect thyroid values....my one boy has been on pred since he was 10 months old (and he's 4 now) so this really caught my interest.
In searching, one thing that came up is that thyroid values are commonly abnormal in severely sick animals, dehydration also affects them. And yes, prednisone suppresses thyroid suppression hormone (TSH) values (wow, who knew!!! love what I learn on this site)..BUT free t4 (FT4) values can be used to determine thyroid function.
Best wishes that your gal continues to do ok.

[ChristyM]

our boy Kodi is on pred as well and he developed a thyroid issue also; low levels but noting horrible. A low dose fixed thing rather fast.

[rottie40]

It was a neurological specialsit who took Pipers bloods when we had the MRI and CT scan and as far as I know it was then that they realised her values were very low?? I thought the specialist had said it was a good job we had the blood test done before going onto Pred because it wouldnt show up!! But I may have got that wrong - remember I had just been told that my beloved companion had an inoperable tumour on her spinal cord!! So quite frankly I could have got it wrong???
If you say FT4 values can be used to determine thyroid function then maybe I misunderstood?? What are FT4 values please? Sorry to be such a thicko?? Anyway the good news is she has been at the vet today and all seems okay apart from her weight which is causing me concern she seems to be losing it EVEN on the steroids?? Now that is quite unusual, isnt it?
Thankyou for your input fostermum, anything that makes me think is a good thing

[rottie40]

ChristyM , thankyou for your comments. If you dont mind me asking why is Kodi on pred?
Piper was very low at the front and now has come a bit more upright since being on the pred my vet thinks the pred has reduced the swelling on her spine and therefore she is not compensating in the same way

[fostermom]

This is the article where I found the info on pred lowering TSH values..it gets confusing because we usually think of low values as indicative of low function but with TSH, it's actually reverse...higher levels of TSH (remember this is thyroid STIMULATING hormone) means low thyroid function as the body is having to produce more TSH to kickstart production of the other thyroid hormones and keep everything in balance.
See if this helps explain things:
Learn to answer troublesome questions about thyroid tests. - Medical Laboratory Observer | Encyclopedia.com

[rottie40]

ok will give it a go flo haha
Watch this space
Have to go and do some dog walking first though..... got to get your priorities right lol

[ChristyM]

Kodi is on the pred. for ple. He has been on it for a about 10 month and his thyroid levels changed soon after(maybe a month or two) We first noticed that his fur wasn't growing back in the area from an ultrasound nearly two months after the shaving he still had little to no fur. Then he began to loose hair rapidly over his entire body. A few weeks on the thyroxine and he had most of the fur return on his belly.