Does Your Dog Have a Thyroid Problem?

Thyroid problems in canines can have many symptoms. Learn in this article what they are and what you as a dog owner can do to help your pet.

One of our dogs had puppies years ago and we kept one of them; her name is Lucky. She was a normal puppy who liked to play and exercise just like all of our other dogs. But as she got older, we noticed some pretty significant changes beginning to occur with her that were not positive for her. The following is all related to her thyroid condition which the vet later diagnosed with a blood test.

One of the first things we noticed changing was her coat. It was not a soft and nice to touch as the other dogs. It felt "oily and dirty" no matter if we bathed her or not. Also, her hair on her tail was very sparse. In fact, there were some bald spots on the upper part of her tail.

At this time we also noticed she was gaining weight. We attributed that to having her fixed. We fed her quite a lot less than the other dogs, but she continued gaining weight. This was very troublesome because it seemed she also was slowing down her exercising and playing with this added weight. This of course seemed to add even more weight since she did not run it off as much.

But one of the most troublesome aspects of this time was her change in personality. She was a happy and playful puppy, but she was turning into a very sad dog right before our eyes. We could not understand what was going on with her. She simply no longer wanted to play. Plus, even her expression looked very sad. Instead of playing as she often did, she then spent that time sleeping or just laying around all the time looking very sad.

Finally, we took her to the vet. He suggested we do a blood test on her which we did. A few days later he called and said her thyroid levels were not right. He prescribed some pills which we were to give her every day at meal time for her thyroid problem.

The first thing we noticed was her coat was improving and the bare spots on her tail were filling in with new hair. We also even saw her beginning to play sometimes with the other dogs. Within 3 or 4 months of beginning taking the pills, her weight was dropping too as she was also exercising more often.

She is still not "normal" as we would call it compared to our other dogs, but the thyroid medicine for canines that the vet gave her has helped a lot. If your dog has any of these symptoms, check with your vet and ask about a possible thyroid condition.

Learn more about dog health at Steve's site, Cactus Canyon.