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#1
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Excessive Thirst/hunger in Aging Greyhound
I adopted my 10 year old rescued greyhound 8 years ago. Recently he has
developed an excessive thirst and appetite. As a result, he has to relieve himself very frequently, and is having accidents in the house. He had geriatric bloodwork done as well as x-rays, and all is fine. He has been on thyroid meds since I adopted him, and his dosage has been upped twice in the past year. Can anyone offer suggestions or a possible remedy? Thanks! |
#2
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Excessive Thirst/hunger in Aging Greyhound
On 21 Dec 2005 08:28:16 -0800, "Cougar" wrote:
I adopted my 10 year old rescued greyhound 8 years ago. Recently he has developed an excessive thirst and appetite. As a result, he has to relieve himself very frequently, and is having accidents in the house. He had geriatric bloodwork done as well as x-rays, and all is fine. He has been on thyroid meds since I adopted him, and his dosage has been upped twice in the past year. Can anyone offer suggestions or a possible remedy? Thanks! This is the rescue group. You'd have a better chance of getting suggestions in rec.pets.dogs.health. What's his weight like - - is he on the thin side, or overweight? What's his activity level? Why has his thyroid med dosage been upped so much? Hypothyroidism is way overdiagnosed in ex-racing greyhounds, which normally have very low normal thyroid levels. Too much thyroid supplementation can cause problems too. Mustang Sally |
#3
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Excessive Thirst/hunger in Aging Greyhound
Max has always been on the thin side, and a light eater until recently.
He's up to 74 lbs. from 68 last spring. He was very active until the past year or so. As for the meds, he is tested every year (twice this year), and his vet is knowledgable regarding Greys. I have seen distinct mood changes (for the worse), and when his dosage was upped after testing, he was back to his old self. Right now he's at .6 mg of Thyrosin twice daily. I worry about the meds, but believe he's way better off on them. Without them, he's moody and almost "paranoid". I posted here because Greyhounds have special needs, i.e., the thyroid, and was hoping to get advice from someone with a Grey who has had a similar experience, but I will check rec.pets.dogs.health - Thanks. |
#4
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Excessive Thirst/hunger in Aging Greyhound
On 21 Dec 2005 20:00:14 -0800, "Cougar" wrote:
Max has always been on the thin side, and a light eater until recently. He's up to 74 lbs. from 68 last spring. He was very active until the past year or so. As for the meds, he is tested every year (twice this year), and his vet is knowledgable regarding Greys. I have seen distinct mood changes (for the worse), and when his dosage was upped after testing, he was back to his old self. Right now he's at .6 mg of Thyrosin twice daily. I worry about the meds, but believe he's way better off on them. Without them, he's moody and almost "paranoid". I posted here because Greyhounds have special needs, i.e., the thyroid, and was hoping to get advice from someone with a Grey who has had a similar experience, but I will check rec.pets.dogs.health - Thanks. I sincerely hope your vet is not upping his medication based on mood changes. A dog that is on the thin side and very active is pretty unlikely to be hypothyroid, and he shouldn't be supplemented based only on lab tests. I have two spook greyhounds living in my house and they have perfectly normal thyroid levels - for greyhounds. Greyhounds do *not* have special needs in terms of being particularly prone to hypothyroidism. What they have is a low normal thyroid level (just as they have a high normal red blood cell count, low normal white blood cell count, and a number of other laboratory anomalies). Many vets and, unfortunately, adoption groups, misunderstand this. One of our foster dogs with supposedly borderline thyroid levels was put on thyroid supplementation by a vet (not our vet), and he became aggressive. There aren't that many greyhound owners here or on .health. Try the Greyhound-L. Mustang Sally |
#5
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Excessive Thirst/hunger in Aging Greyhound
cacing
catcing We,el,done! |
#6
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Excessive Thirst/hunger in Aging Greyhound
To defend my vet, HE was the one who told me during our first visit
eight years ago exactly what you wrote, including what the adoption groups say regarding hypothyroid hounds. His tests at that time showed abnormally low T counts *even for a greyhound*. As for mood swings, they are my indication that something's not right and bloodwork is in order - I would never increase dosage without testing first! You indicate there is some other way than *based only on lab tests* to determine thyroid function - if so, please let me know and I'll pass it along to my vet! When my normally good-natured and friendly boy becomes aloof and even fearful, it tells me something's wrong, and sure enough - his counts went down again. So apparently some hounds DO need supplementation, and Max is one of them. Thanks for your comments. |
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