by Monique LenczyckiOne of GRR's early experiences withhypothyroidism - PDF document

by Monique LenczyckiOne of GRR's early experiences withhypothyroidism was Brooke. When shearrived at GRR, we believed her to be anelderly female in very poor shape. She wasextremely lethargic (she wanted to sleep allday), had a terribly brittle coat, was crankywith other dogs in her foster home, andcould not walk many steps withoutstumbling in her hindquarters (initially we believed this to be from arthritis). Musclesshowed wasting all over her body. Aftertwo weeks in care, Brooke wasn't gettingany better and a quality of life decision wasin order. Several GRR volunteers met herand saw what looked to be a senior dogwith all kinds of problems, but the part thatdidn’t add up was her eyes. They remindedus of a younger dog and the look in hereyes did not tell us she’d given up. GRR 2GGold Ribbon Gazette SSeptember 2002 RR He hyroid Problems in Golden Retrievers of DogsCClinical Symp Also, watch the website and your mailboxfor information on the annual HolidayGathering, slated for December. As we geta larger events team we look forward toproviding more social & educationalopportunities for all. If you are interested inhelping with events in any capacity, pleasee-mail Shhaarroonn MMiillllssat Please also feel free to e-mail GRR with yourideas and suggestions for future events youwould enjoy. We are always looking fornew and creative ways to spread the wordabout GRR.We welcome your participation in GRR. Wealways need volunteers to serve in manydifferent capacities. We gladly provide allnecessary training for our operationsfunctions in both the dog and adoptionteams. We also have need foradministrative, fundraising and technicalexpertise in various areas. If you have alittle (or a lot) of time to help thesewonderful dogs in need, please e-mailfor moreinformation or to sign up for ourintroductory training session on September28, 2002 at 1:30pm.We bid a fond farewell to our Hotline Coordinator. She has done anoutstanding job scheduling and mentoringour hotline team. Jen is moving to CA andwe will miss her deeply. be taking Jen's place as HotlineCoordinator. Becky is a GRR adoptive andfoster home and has been on the adoptionteam for the last year. Please join us inwishing both of these ladies good luck intheir new endeavors.Lastly we would like to thank all of ourvolunteers and supporters. Without you,GRR would not exist. 445 dogs have beencared for by GRR in our 3½ years ofoperation. Over 400 families have beencompleted by the addition of a furrygolden into their midsts. Each and everyone of them thanks you from the bottomof their Golden hearts. 4-6 hours after the morning dosage.Correct therapeutic ranges after treatmentis begun should be at the top 1/3 to 25%above the upper limits of the lab referenceranges (except for geriatric dogs wheremid-range is adequate). Dosage should beadjusted accordingly to achieve optimumtherapeutic range. Thyroid hormones should always be giventwice daily to obtain the best response. It isnow known that the half-life of T4 in thedog is about 10-12 hours (much shorterthan in humans).Thus, about half of thehormone is used and eliminated from thebody within 12 hours, so twice daily dosingprovides the most consistent results.Dogs on thyroid therapy should bemonitored with complete panels on aregular basis (every 6-12 months).Once the long term dosage is determined,the medicine can be purchased in bulkquantities (250-1000 pills) to makemaintenance more cost effective. Oncetherapy is started the dog will need to beon treatment for the rest of its life.Ironically the initial thyroid test on Brookewas not a low as you’d have expected in adog that symptomatic. It was somewherejust below the test normal range. GRRdecided we had nothing to lose by tryingthyroid medication...and the results werefar beyond what we hoped for. Within sixweeks Brooke was bounding through theyard happily chasing balls with her fosterfamily. The crankiness went away, her coatand attitude improved, muscle functionbegan to rebuild in her hips and those eyeswere brighter than ever. Today, at 6½, sheromps on the beach and has a wonderfullife with her loving Dad.HYPOTHYROIDISM, Joe Bodewes, DVMVeterinary Services Department, Drs. Foster &http://www.peteducation.com/article_print.cfm?cls=2&articleid=449BEHAVIORAL CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITHTHYROID DYSFUNCTION IN DOGS, W. Jean Dodds,DVM and Linda P. Aronson, DVMhttp://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/behaviorandthyroid.htmAUTOIMMUNE THYROID DISEASE: COMMONPROBLEM OF PUREBRED DOGS, W. Jean Dodds,DVMhttp://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/ThyroidDisease.htm 3GGold Ribbon Gazette SSeptember 2002 Austin, TX 78767-0956Contact us—Board of Directors:Maura Phelan, Monique Lenczycki, Katie Harris, Tim Tierney, Beth Executive Advisors:Executive Director:Adoption Coordinator:Intake Director:Foster Director:Hotline Coordinator:Event Director:Boutique Coordinators:Foster Coordinators:Newsletter: GGRR Update ontinued hallenging times dictate creative opportunities