Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Dog health - Ask members * If your pet is vomiting-bleeding-diarrhea etc. Vet time!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old November 4th, 2010, 03:10 PM
JMK JMK is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Mesa, AZ
Posts: 3
Soloxine Expectations?

My 12 yr. old husky mix female has been on .8 mg soloxine twice a day for well over a year now. Her fur has come back to some degree but she still stinks under her neck and waist area. She still has some skin discoloration. She still has sores and bumps on her feet that won't heal. She still licks/chews areas, especially her waist and pee-pee. She still has little bumps on her waist that she chews. She has been given antifungal shampoos, prednisone, benadryl, hydroxyzine, and was on ketoconazole for 30 days. My current vet is extremely happy with how she is doing and that she able to maintain without prednisone and has some of her fur back.

*Please note, for over a year a former vet misdiagnosed her thyroid condition as allergies which she never had before. Now the vets agree it is hypothyroidism plus allergies.*

She's been off prednisone for a a few months now. Her scratching (?) improved somewhat but still flairs up almost on a day-by-day basis. Right now she gets fed Acana Pacifica, 7200 mgs fish oil/day, hydroxyzine 50 mgs 2/day, tramadol 50 mgs 2/day (for hip dysplasia), and .8 mgs soloxine.

I asked the vet about the Hemolife blood tests and she stated that a couple of her clients used them without much success and had disappointments in that they never spoke with the Dr. and were being sold "supplements". T4 seems to be the only measurement they are using and that has remained in the therapeutic range. I asked about increasing, but vet thought no because can cause aggression.

Can someone tell me if this is a normal result in treating a dog with hypothyroidism and allergies? I guess I was expecting more from the soloxine treatment. I have no idea what is causing the allergies, but should she still smell so bad? I keep thinking something else is going on.

I need to vent my disappointment with every vet I've had the past 14 years, and I've tried many over the years. Several misdiagnoses, filthy, selling me fish oil that costs $30/bottle, and telling me its something special, etc. So websites saying ask your vet, isn't always helpful. This could be an Arizona issue, because the vet that did diagnose her thyroid just by looking at her was a retired fill-in vet from the midwest. When I lived back there I loved my vet!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old November 4th, 2010, 11:01 PM
luckypenny's Avatar
luckypenny luckypenny is offline
Doggie Wench
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: St. Philippe-de-Laprairie, Qc
Posts: 11,812
Quote:
Originally Posted by JMK View Post
I asked the vet about the Hemolife blood tests and she stated that a couple of her clients used them without much success and had disappointments in that they never spoke with the Dr. and were being sold "supplements".
Wow, not our experience with Hemopet diagnostics at all. We have our dogs' blood sent to Hemopet (from Montreal to California) and, within days, Dr. Dodds goes over the results herself. She's easily accessible and you can consult with her personally to discuss the case. Hemopet is a laboratory (Hemolife a blood bank), they don't sell supplements, .

Here's an article by Dr. Jean Dodds on Thyroid disease. Hope it gives you some answers.

http://www.homevet.com/petcare/Dodds%20on%20thyroid.pdf
__________________
"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." -Will Durant
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old November 5th, 2010, 12:41 PM
loopoo loopoo is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: phoenix
Posts: 710
I have been exactly where you are with the skin condition thing for my older dog. It took a year and a half before we finally licked it. As far as her skin symptoms, this could be a combination of allergies, a fungal infection, and thyroid. I am glad she is off the steroids, I have found these personally to be the worst way to go, as they only suppress the symptoms in this case not treat the cause. I found with my girl, as when I rescued her, it took longer to treat as the underlying condition was neglected for so long.

First question here is, have they ever done a skin scraping? that would help identify any bacterial and fungal infection.
As far as allergies, I am curious as to what your dogs past history with diet is what food did they eat when this all came about
? How long have they been on the acana fish formula? It can take up to 12 weeks to see any difference with food allergies. We went through a few different food elimination tests, finally ended up doing the RAST allergy blood test on her, made a world of difference along with the thyroid meds, and the antifungal meds. The RAST test showed alot of food reactions, and even though we had switched foods, didnt realize there were a couple of ingredients that she had high sensitivity to. Once we found a brand that didnt have these, the last of her skin issues, all but under her neck disappeared. There may be other allergies as well, contact, or in the air that could be an issue too, without a blood or skin test no way or really knowing for sure.

Lastly are you giving your dog any probiotic and/or enzymes? These are especially good with allergies, skin conditions as they replace the good bacteria, which meds tend to erase, and help the dog digest and assimilate food alot better. For some dogs with skin issues, taking both of these daily has eliminated or reduced symptoms greatly. They can be added to food as a powder, and there are many good brands, that are not expensive that you do not need to buy at a vets office.
I hope you find the answers so that your baby feels better soon.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:00 AM.