"Suja" wrote in :

I've dropped off a urine sample this morning; we'll see what
turns up. I'm taking bets that it is either nothing or nothing that makes
any sense.

Here we go. This was a message left on the machine while I was at the dog
park, so this is the extent to which I know anything. Urinalysis turned up
no infection, no crystals and her urine is well concentrated. So, no UTI
and no Kidney problem. There is a little bit of protein, but it could be
normal for the dog, especially since the urine was concentrated, or
indicative of something; don't know yet. I'll talk to the vet on Monday,
when she gets in.

ATM, without talking to her, I'm leaning towards waiting for the Thyroid
re-test and at the same time doing a full blown tick panel and an endocrine
panel (if it wasn't part of the bloodwork already completed), maybe test for
T. gondii. If none of it turns anything up, we'll chalk it up to her being
a weird dog and leave it alone for now.

Suja

I use the lid of a jar that I have washed out and then put the urine into
the jar.

"Suja" wrote in message
news:IIzZg.12842$XX2.11446@dukeread04...

A while back, I posted about Pan's T4 coming back low. We redid the test,
and checked a couple of additional things - the T4, free T4 came back low,
TSH was borderline normal. On that basis, we started her on her Thyroid
supplements. We had the re-test a couple of days ago, and the test
results
came back clear as mud. T4 - 4.2 (on a scale where 1-4 is normal range),
Free T4 -14 (where normal is 12 - 39?), TSH normal, at 1. We had an
endocrinologist consult, and she's of the opinion that Pan's thyroid is
fine, and this is caused by 'something else'. Of course, finding that
something else appears to be more art than science, as there are many,
many,
many things that could cause suppressed Thyroid results.

First candidate was Lyme, but her Lyme results showed no active infection.
It could be kidneys (maybe liver too, I don't remember now), but her test
results on the geriatric panel were in normal ranges. It could be the
pancreas, gall bladder...pretty much anything except that damn thyroid, I
guess. Endocrinologist wants urinalysis, retest of the thyroid function,
X-rays and follow-through with ultrasound if anything looks even the least
bit abnormal. I'm thinking that this is a wild goose chase on a dog who
is
the picture of health.

For now, we're stopping the thyroid supplements. I haven't noticed any
changes in her, and the test results don't seem to support a thyroid
problem
anyway. We will do a urinalysis to see if there is a UTI (that shows NO
symptoms) or protein loss or something weird. A month later, we'll do a 6
panel thyroid, and this time I'm having it sent to MSU. Beyond that, I'm
just not willing to sedate her to X-ray her whole body to see what if
anything might be wrong. Any other suggestions?

I'll say this. This totally sucks. It seems like something might be
wrong,
but we have no indication of what that might be. With nothing to go on,
I'm
not going to subject her to procedures that seem completely unnecessary,
yet
it feels like I'm not doing enough (and I know I'll beat myself up if
something pops up at a later date, and it turns out that it could've been
caught earlier if I'd done this).

Anyway, a looong post to ask if anyone has suggestions for how to collect
urine from a girl dog without freaking her out. Vet suggested clean
gladware (or something similar); I'm supposed to do first catch (to see if
she's concentrating her urine properly), and get it to them in 3 hours.

Suja

P.S. In case anyone might have missed it, that buglady really knows her
stuff.

"Suja" wrote in message
news:8_c_g.13028$XX2.4108@dukeread04...
ATM, without talking to her, I'm leaning towards waiting for the Thyroid
re-test and at the same time doing a full blown tick panel

..........what was the tick test used - the new one (SNAP 3 I think)?


buglady
take out the dog before replying

On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 16:42:18 -0400, "Suja"
wrote:

Not enough clues to figure this out. Not even Sherlock Holmes could do it
at this point.

You need the House of vets, if there is one, and if he's not just a tv
character.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy,
so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay

"Paula" wrote in message:

You need the House of vets, if there is one, and if he's not just a tv
character.

I don't know about that. He always comes - - close to killing his
patients before figuring it all out. I'm perfectly okay where we are,
perplexed, but not in the ICU.

Suja

"Suja" wrote in message
news:R6v_g.13064$XX2.6584@dukeread04...
I don't know about that. He always comes - - close to killing his
patients before figuring it all out. I'm perfectly okay where we are,
perplexed, but not in the ICU.


...yeah really - he'd have cut open your dog by now - at least twice!

buglady
take out the dog before replying

on Fri, 20 Oct 2006 23:51:19 GMT, "Suja" wrote:


"Suja" wrote in :

I've dropped off a urine sample this morning; we'll see what
turns up. I'm taking bets that it is either nothing or nothing that
makes any sense.

Here we go. This was a message left on the machine while I was at the
dog park, so this is the extent to which I know anything. Urinalysis
turned up no infection, no crystals and her urine is well
concentrated. So, no UTI and no Kidney problem. There is a little
bit of protein, but it could be normal for the dog, especially since
the urine was concentrated, or indicative of something; don't know
yet. I'll talk to the vet on Monday, when she gets in.

ATM, without talking to her, I'm leaning towards waiting for the
Thyroid re-test and at the same time doing a full blown tick panel and
an endocrine panel (if it wasn't part of the bloodwork already
completed), maybe test for T. gondii. If none of it turns anything
up, we'll chalk it up to her being a weird dog and leave it alone for
now.

Suja

I just read this thread and the other one. A few (late but perhaps
helpful in the future) ideas -

I recommend cystocentisis for collecting urine. It's not as bad as it
may sound. My girl had it done recently and she didn't blink. Basically
they insert a needle into the bladder through the the abdomen, guided by
ultrasound and collect sterile urine. My regular vet wanted to
anesthesize her for this. I thought that was pretty extreme, so I called
our emergency hospital. They do this procedure all the time and said
they have only very rarely had to anesthesize a dog. It's very quick and
very accurate for cultures. Roxy was her normal bubbly self as soon as
she was off the table.

Was Toxoplasmosis ruled out? I had this and it made me very sick. For
many long months. I would think she would have some pretty severe gastro
symptoms if she had this bug. I got pretty sick of only being able to
eat bananas, rice, applesauce and toast.

I feel awful for you, Suja, I know how frustrating medical mysteries can
be... all too well. I hope you figure this out soon, but don't let it
drive you too crazy and don't borrow guilt for what may happen in the
future. It sounds like you are doing everything you should.

- Lynne