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Old February 23rd, 2004, 12:08 AM
Rocky Rocky is offline
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Boxer Losing and Gaining weight

have a 5-year-old Boxer that is losing fur on the top of his back. The Vet thought he had a thyroid problem, but his blood work checks out good. The blood work did show high calcium. The vet was not sure or could not diagnosis him. He was neutered one year ago and has gains almost 15 pound. My Boxer gets plenty of exercise and could actually have too much. If anyone has any suggestion or opinion it would get greatly appreciated.
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Old February 23rd, 2004, 01:02 AM
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Carina Carina is offline
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Disclaimer - I'm not a vet - but seems I've read about high calcium levels indicating cancer in some circumstances? But that would be a very high calcium level, I think...sometimes a dog can be a little out of the range & there's no big deal.

I'd DEFINITELY get another opinion in a heartbeat. Anytime a vet can't figure something out, no harm in seeing another. Also I believe there are two different types of thyroid tests; one being more accurate than the other.

Does he chew his skin, like it's itchy? Any chance it's something as simple as flea allergy, or mites, mange, etc?

Is his weight fluctuating, or has he just steadily gained the 15lbs? Keeping up with the exercise & cutting back the food - plus going to a better type of food if you feed grocery store stuff, will get that under control.
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Old February 23rd, 2004, 11:56 AM
Rocky Rocky is offline
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My dog gets walked at his pace for 20 minutes in the morning. Then I take him to work in my warehouse for the whole day. Thats playing and running for most of the day. God forbids grocery store food. He eats Nutro lamb or Califoria Natural as his steady diet until I noticed the weight gains so I switch to chicken for senior dogs. His weight gain continued. I first thought the weight gains were from his neutering, but last with his hair loss now I know there is something wrong. Just to give a background on Rocky. He was very fit before the neutering. His body was rock solid. You could actually see his cuts or lines of his muscles. You could say he looked like a body builder but in a dogs body. Add 15 pound to him and now you get abit over weight boxer. Any opinion would be helpful. Thank you!
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Old February 23rd, 2004, 12:29 PM
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Carina Carina is offline
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Well he certainly sounds like a lucky dog!

Hmm...I guess all I can think of is to get another vet opinion...and maybe try another type of thyroid testing. Here's a rundown of the different tests:
http://siriusdog.com/thyroid.htm

Did the hair loss start before the change in food? Maybe a food allergy...? Check & compare ingredients to see if you are adding a different grain or protein. Corn & soy are pretty common allergens for dogs.
Hair loss is a pretty common symptom of allergies; & a dog can become allergic to something he was OK with before, too. Maybe that can correlate with hormonal changes due to neutering?

I'm just throwing out ideas here...
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Old February 23rd, 2004, 01:12 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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The weight gain and hair loss DO sound like symptoms of thyroid probs!

If Rocky is getting all that exercise, then the neutering has nothing to do with this.

Boxers are very prone to cancer and high calcium levels are often present during the latter stages, but Rocky sounds otherwise healthy, so I would definitely get a blood test done for Thyroid, etc.
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Old February 23rd, 2004, 03:12 PM
Rocky Rocky is offline
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Something I notice since he was a pup, is that his appatite was never too good, his fur is very coarse for a boxer, semi faul order, and he drinks alot of water. These all are symtoms of a thyroid problem my vet claims. I going to wait a day or two to see if my vet can get more information and if she doen't a second opinion is in order. Thanks for the help!
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