hypothroidism & soloxine

[sarahbin]

My sheltie has had hypothroidism for past 4 yrs & has been on soloxine since that time. Her hair continued to fall out & she had red blochy rashes all over her body. My vet told me that her hair would never grow back & that her thyroid level on the soloxine where normal. I showed him articles about shelties & how their thyroid levels needed to be slightly higher than normal. He agreed to put her on 2 tabs twice a day. Within 6 months her hair completely grew back & she occasionally has the rash on her belly which is taken care of with the medicated shampoo. Now my vet is refusing to keep her on the soloxine twice a day. He says her level is too high (4.1) & that is not the way he does business.

Please PM me if anyone knows of a vet in CT close to Fairfield (06824 zip)? Thanks.

[famous seamus]

My sheltie also has hypothyroidism. She is on soloxine, 1/2 tab a day. She has gone up and she has gone down and we finally after many months found her dosage. Harper weighs 18 lbs. and is nine years old. Her thyroid level is now at 2.4.

My vet gave me the same tired rhetoric about 1.8 being normal for dogs for thyroid. I gave him info, he read it and gave me the meds that my dog needed. If your vet can't or won't understand I hope you are able to find one who will.

Like your sheltie, Harper's hair was falling out and she had a rash and was constantly itching, itching, itching but not anymore. Hair is now beautiful and no more nasty itchies or rashes.

Illinois Sheltie Rescue is the best place for information on thyroid. They also recommend a sheltie to test in the upper levels between 2-4.

Is there a reason that your vet won't avail him or herself of the information that you tried to provide?

I do hope that you find a vet who will follow the guidelines set forth by the Illinois rescue site.

Keep us posted,

Kate

[BarbV]

My dog is on Thyro Tabs 0.2 mg twice per day. Its active drug is listed as levothyroxine

I think its that same as Soloxine (sure wish these phamaceuticals would stick to one name).

As you say, Bacca has been up and down over the last several years (he's only 4.5 years old), but I can tell when the meds are working. He is like a whole new dog (actually caught him chasing his tail a few days ago...just like a puppy!)

One thing I found is that I have to be super diligent about spacing the meds a full 12 hours apart and NEVER to miss a dose.

Bacca had a bad summer. He refused his meds and I found myself finally having to force them down his throat. At the beginning, I let him miss a few and his condition went downhill rapidly. He got really bad coat, skin funk, became lethargic, etc. As soon as I got firm about it, he rebounded.

When you refer to thyroid level of 4.1....what specific count are your referring to? T3, T4, Free T4, etc? or something else?

[famous seamus]

Originally Posted by BarbV

My dog is on Thyro Tabs 0.2 mg twice per day. Its active drug is listed as levothyroxine

I think its that same as Soloxine (sure wish these phamaceuticals would stick to one name).

As you say, Bacca has been up and down over the last several years (he's only 4.5 years old), but I can tell when the meds are working. He is like a whole new dog (actually caught him chasing his tail a few days ago...just like a puppy!)

One thing I found is that I have to be super diligent about spacing the meds a full 12 hours apart and NEVER to miss a dose.

Bacca had a bad summer. He refused his meds and I found myself finally having to force them down his throat. At the beginning, I let him miss a few and his condition went downhill rapidly. He got really bad coat, skin funk, became lethargic, etc. As soon as I got firm about it, he rebounded.

When you refer to thyroid level of 4.1....what specific count are your referring to? T3, T4, Free T4, etc? or something else?

I wish that the companies would stick to one name also. Sheesh. In fact my vet had pasted over the thyroxine label and put soloxine over that. Isn't that curious. When I asked he just said they are the same thing.

In case you were wondering about Harper's test, she had the t-4 test run.

Hugs,
Kate