Thyroid Question

[WinRock Sheltie]

I have an almost 7 year old spayed female Sheltie. A couple weeks ago, she had an odd episode: when I came home from work, I let her outside. Ten minutes later, I brought her in and she was acting very strange- whining, jumping up on me and quivering. I picked her up and noticed that her gums were VERY PALE- barely any pink to them. I wondered if she had slipped on the ice and injured herself. I wrapped her in a blanket and held her for several moments (since she was alert and responsive). The shaking stopped within 10 mintues. The gums began to pink back up, but were not normal in color until about an hour later. I monitored her closely that night. She ate fine, no vomiting or diarrhea and was alert. I noted over the next few days that her gums would be quite pale at times throughout the day, but not consistently. I took her to our vet and he ran a complete chemistry/cbc profile which showed a slightly low total protein and slightly low globulin levels as well as elevated platelets. He also did a baseline cortisol, which came back low. My vet was concerned about Addison's Disease, but an ACTH Stim test came back normal. I suggest we check her thyroid, because...well, she's a Sheltie...and she has had some very subtle behavior changes over the past 6 months or so: decreased attention/focus during training, cold intolerance, somewhat decreased playfulness. Here are her thyroid results:
TT4= 14 (11-60 nmol/L)
TT3= 1.6 (0.8-2.1 nmol/L)
FT4= 20 (9-39 pmol/L)
FT3= 4.3 (1.2-8.2 pmol/L)
T4AA= 11 (0-20)
T3AA= 5 (0-10)
TSH= 0.6 (H) (0-0.58 ng/mL)
TgAA= 5 (0-35)

The endocrinologist at MSU said this is not convincing evidence of hypothyroidism, but that the slight elevation of TSH indicates a possibility of pathologic changes underway in her thyroid gland. She had a previous panel drawn in August of 2013 and her TT4 then was 37, FT3 was 5 and her TSH then was normal.

I'm wondering if anyone on the forum thinks these results warrant a consult with Dr. Jean Dodds or a trial of thyroxine? TIA in any comments.

 

[take4roll10]

Hmmm your situation is a little similar to my dog. My dog had 3 recent episodes, which we now think might have been seizures. Her Bloodwork is normal, as well as her thyroid. I did sent her recent and past thyroid results to Dr. Dodds. My dogs ACTH test came back with normal cortisol, but had elevated sex hormones. She is being treated with Melatonin and Lignans. On her follow up ACTH test, everything returned to normal, but she still has fur & skin issues. In my dog's case, my vets do not believe it is a thyroid issue.

If you are concerned, it wouldn't hurt to send your test results to Dr. Dodds. She is great and very helpful. I did make a donation through her site as a courtesy.