thyroid boxer

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I read one of your replies about boxers and thyroid. Here is what we have been dealing with our three year old boxer. About three months ago he was not able to eat kibble. Regurgitation was common to the point of seeing a vet. After some xrays and blood tests we were told he had a scarred esophagus and stomach. He was put on a week worth of antibiotics..pepcid and sulcrate. He was always super thin but has gotten too thin. His head was caving and u can see ribs. He seemed to improve with me pureing his food. After a month things got bad again. More tests were done. His thyroid is low and his muscle numbers were extremely high. Vet suspected some sort of a bug. More blood work..for MG and other things. So far all is negative but we are waiting for one more result of the bug test. She said thyroid is low. She suggested antibiotic for four weeks and to keep pureing the food. He is back to normal as far as activity..still thin..but did put on a pound in five days. She said after the antibiotics we would look into the thyroid..can the low thyroid make him this thin and cause esophagus issues? If so what meds are prescibed...i am feeding him high end kibble called canine caviar..he eats two to three cups topped with fresh cooked chicken all pured
Any suggestions?

ANSWER: First, thyroid medicine should have been prescribed right away. Yes, thyroid (depending on hyperthyroid or hypothyroid) can cause either weight loss or weight gain...

I use Pala-Tech Chewables (tastes good) twice a day (my prescription is for 4mg for my girl)... You can buy them online and my online pharmacy sells them as cheap as 7 cents a pill and as many as I want to buy...

Second...I cannot imagine any vet allowing this to continue as he can become dehydrated and starve as well as continue serious damage.

Questions that should have been addressed is: what is causing the vomiting? What to do with preventing dehydration and loss of nutriments in meantime, etc.

Personally, I recommend having all his records and tests results transferred to a vet that will do something even if it means putting him in the hospital with an IVs for food and hydration...

This is a must at this pint.

I don't know anything about your brand of dog food, however, it needs to be one that is all natural with NO grains, NO byproducts and NO additives. I would puree this. I recommend reading this article and selecting a brand:  http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/best-dog-foods/best-grain-free-dog-foods/best-grai

Grains cause problems and some dogs (especially Boxers) are allergic to grains and corn and glutens, etc.

The vet should have told you to select one (or prescribe theirs) and add pumpkin to it for his stomach.

Whole plain yogurt is good to add to his food (no flavors) and to give him children's Pediolyte to prevent dehydration.

You can select one of the grain free foods, and I highly suggest one for sensitive stomachs and allergies, puree it with some whole plain yogurt and a little pumpkin.

I recommend another vet that will get to the bottom of this immediately and put him in the hospital on IVs to keep him alive while tests are done and prevent anymore damage to his esophagus which could end up permanent and not healing........

PLEASE get him into a hospital!


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your quick reply. I should add since he has been on antibiotics he has put on some weight as i stated and he is keeping all food down which is pured with water or homemade chicken broth. He is not dehydrated he pees regularly and his poop is fine. I am happy with the vet thus far she is not quick to jump to any conclusions and wants to rule things out first. Thus why all the bloodwork. She recommended we continue with our four feedings a day and the antibiotics twice as well as sulcrate and pepcid. Once that is done she suggested to look into the thyroid
We don't yet really know if its some sort of a bug that was the cause or the thyroid. She said thyroid can be low when a dog is ill. Thank you for your reply..but he is not so bad that hospitalization is necessary.

Answer
I still recommend a grain-free food which you can pick from the link I provided, adding whole plain yogurt in his diet (which is as good for dogs as it is for people in adding healthy bacteria in the digestive track) and Pediolyte (generic is fine but no flavors) once in awhile (once a day or so in order to maintain proper hydration especially during hotter weather months and due to being ill as well.............

I hope it is all resolved soon for him and for your own peace of mind.