Health and Medical Issues

Hypothyroidism?? UPDATE

Started by Stella. Last reply by Nancy, Ned, and Clancy yesterday. 14 Replies 0 Favorites

UPDATE: So the vet called with the bloodwork results today and they are inconclusive. T3 was 1.2 (normal range 0.9 - 2.1) Total T4 was 18.3 (normal 13 ?? I was writing fast & may have this wrong!!) TSH was 0.3 (normal 0 - 0.6) Free T4 was 26 (normal 9 - 47) Thyroglobulin Autoantibodies were Borderline So, the vet wasn't too sure. She is going to do some research. She said we could start a trial of thyroid meds. But she was concerned that the thyroglobulin autoantibodies were related to autoimmune thyroiditis, and that maybe Prednisone would be better??? I really don't want to have to go down the steroid route unless it is absolutely essential. My gut is to ask for a trial period on thyroid meds and see what happens - if there is a change to his coat and / or behaviour. Her concern is that there is nothing objectively abnormal in the test results to measure improvement against. ..... I just want to get to the bottom of all this and get him feeling better!!! Any experts out these with advice??? Original Post: Does anyone here have a dog with thyroid issues?? What were the signs and symptoms? How did you get your dog diagnosed? Has the treatment been effective?? We are still struggling with Chases coat and skin, and our agility teacher recently commented on an apparent increase in his anxiety levels and deterioration in his ability to focus over the last few months. We had basic bloodwork done earlier this year, but it did not include the full thyroid panel. I was doing some reading, and a lot of the following applies to Chase. "The typical history starts out with a quite, well-mannered and sweet-natured puppy or young adult dog. The animal was outgoing, attended training classes for obedience, working, or dog show events, and came from a reputable breeder whose kennel has had no prior history of producing animals with behavioral problems. At the onset of puberty or thereafter, however, sudden changes in personality are observed. Typical signs can be incessant…Continue

Eye problem

Started by Jenna Perry. Last reply by Nancy, Ned, and Clancy on Wednesday. 4 Replies 0 Favorites

Hello Everyone,My fiance and I just got our goldendoodle, Hank, 2 weeks ago and it has been a great experience. We bought him from a kennel so we don't know anything about his parents except that his mom is a golden retriever and dad a standard poodle. We took him to the vet for a routine check and she saw something on his right eye. She described it as a black speck that looks attached to the cornea. It's at the 12 o'clock position right were the pupil meets the white of the eye. It doesn't bother him as far as we know. We have just noticed a little extra tearing of that eye compared to the left. She said she had never seen anything like it before and has referred us to a eye specialist. I'm just curious if anyone else out there has had a similar problem. We see the eye specialist on Thursday but any thoughts or ideas would be great! Thanks!Continue

Thoughts on Spaying/Neutering Pup at 7-8 weeks of age

Started by Adrienne. Last reply by Adrienne May 16. 13 Replies 0 Favorites

I have a friend who has a Golden Doodle and when I mentioned that my pup would arrive, already spayed/neutered, she was horrified.  She indicated that spaying/neutering pups when they are 7-8 weeks of age causes all types of health problems and gender confusion, i.e. male dogs squatting to urinate (that was the example given...).  It had never crossed my mind prior to this conversation because almost all breeders that I researched had the procedure done during the early puppy stage.  I wanted to get feedback from others in this group regarding this matter--What are your thoughts???Continue

Prescription prices

Started by Andy&Sharon BoomerShaynaMariner. Last reply by Karen & Jackdoodle May 11. 4 Replies 0 Favorites

Mariner needed a prescription for cephalexin 500 mg - 20 pills.  I had the vet call it in to our pharmacy (an independant pharmacy), the same pharmacy that we get his phenobarb and levothyroxin.  We were charged $30.  I don't remember the cost of the levothyroxin but do remember thinking it was more expensive than in the past.  I checked on line and CVS would have been somewhere under $10 for the cephalexin.  I think I will switch all of the dogs medicines to CVS. I will keep our human meds at this pharmacy as my out of pocket would be the same no matter what pharmacy I use.  (And they do stock certain meds Sharon takes, that are special orders at other pharmacies.) Continue

Bile and more bile

Started by Amy, Cubbie & Ollie. Last reply by Karen & Jackdoodle May 8. 20 Replies 0 Favorites

Over the past several months, Ollie has begun to frequently vomit bile.  He typically got a heaping ½ cup of kibble in the morning around 5:30 or 6am and a heaping ½ cup of kibble in the evening around 5:30 or 6pm.  Then he started to vomit bile sometime between the time the dog walker left the house (between 11 and 2) and when I returned from work between 5 and 5:30.  I asked the dog walker to give him a biscuit or 2 before she left but that didn’t really make much of a difference.  Then Karen suggested that I give him 1 ranitidine (generic Zantac) and that seemed to help for a bit but then I was back to coming home to vomit (and wet paw prints from them walking through it).  Then Ollie started vomiting up bile during the late night/early morning hours (usually between 1 and 2am).  I started giving him only a level half cup of food for both of his regular meals but then added in an extra ¼ of food for a snack between 8:30 and 9pm but I’m not sure that it made much of a difference.  I really wish that I had kept track of the vomiting so that I might be able to see some type of pattern, but I didn’t realize that it had become that frequent until recently.  He would have bad weeks where he would vomit 3 times in one week but then we would got 2 or 3 weeks without an episode and I thought that he had gotten over whatever it was that was.  Lately I seem to be consistently cleaning up bile at least 2 or 3 times a week.  Usually he throws up once and then wants to play or eat.  He hadn’t really seemed to be bothered by it.  His activity levels were normal, his appetite was as big as ever, and there were no poop issues (he is typically my good pooper lol).  But then twice in the last 3 weeks he had episodes where he vomited multiple times and didn’t immediately bounce back to his normal playful self.  The most recent episode was last Thursday night/Friday morning around 2am.  I woke up to “that sound” and managed to get him into the bathroom so the bile would end up on…Continue

Tags: stomach, bile, vomit

New Drug for Incontinence

Started by Sandy, Hattie & Theo. Last reply by Karen & Jackdoodle May 4. 21 Replies 0 Favorites

Last night, (while James visited-could that have had anything to do with it I wonder?) Hattie had a major breakthrough for urinary incontinence. She was soaked, with her tail wet and leaking profusely, and then in turn licking profusely. She has never done this before. Whenever she has had breakthroughs, she has been dampish and get's little blisters that I treat by keeping the area clean and dry with powder. She currently takes 1/4 of a 50 mg Proin twice daily. So I gave her another half pill last night before bed. This morning she was dry as a bone and seemed fine. I gave her extra Proin again though.I called the vet and he told me it was more than likely time to up her dosage barring no UTI, but said a new drug was approved in October 2012, specifically for incontinence in dogs. Here is the link for the med. It is a new type of hormone that works specially on the bladder so dogs don't have false heats and reduces the risk of bone cancer. It is produced by Merck and named Incurin which is an esterol.The vet votes for Incurin over Proin because he says it actually replaces what she is lacking versus Proin being a former diet drug and antihistimine.http://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/products/130-59930-4/productdetails_130_163463.aspxhttp://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/news/2012-10-1.aspxBecause it was only approved in October there isn't much on the web about it, except I found one post where it had been prescribed six years ago in the UK I think.Theo has an appointment in the morning for his last Parvo shot so if Hattie is leaking again I will take her in as well. But do you think it would be wise to change to Incurin or just up the Proin dosage???Continue

Keeping a double doodle calm after spay?

Started by jeanne & Lilly. Last reply by Alex & Mattie Apr 28. 3 Replies 0 Favorites

Lilly was spayed 4 days ago and is doing well. Still sleeping a lot. But when she's up, she sometimes gets crazy, puppy crazy. One second she's standing next to me the next she's standing on the back of the sofa ( we put the cushions up so she wouldn't climb up ). She does that in a single leap.So the question is, did you really keep your doodle calm? Off the furniture? Stairs?If so, we're you able to without drugging her?Continue

Diarrhea problems since December!

Started by Laura Bogar. Last reply by Jill & Woody Apr 23. 92 Replies 0 Favorites

Hi! My 11 month old doodle has had off and on explosive diarrhea since december. The vet did the parasite test many times and never found anything significant. She has also done blood work and had some test for her pancreas.... we still do not know whats wrong. She has been on metrozidizole 5 times and possibly another antibiotic also. They aslo gave her a de wormer as a precation. As of tonight she is on tylosin but it is the powder form and hard to get her to eat. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks! p.s.- Im losing my mind not knowing whats wrong with her! Continue

Mucus in urine

Started by jeanne & Lilly. Last reply by Karen & Jackdoodle Apr 16. 7 Replies 0 Favorites

This afternoon I noticed a long stringy mucus hanging from Lilly's bottom after she urinated.I suspect vaginitis, before running to the vet any thoughts on something else it might be? And any suggestions for a homeopathic remedy? I hate to put her on antibiotics, yet again.Otherwise she is eating drinking and playing normally.ThanksContinue

Bad Urinalysis results!

Started by Adrianne Matzkin. Last reply by Adrianne Matzkin Apr 14. 23 Replies 0 Favorites

Samantha had 2 UtIs, 1 in November and again in February. When I took her to the vet for her back issue on Monday I had another urinalysis done. The vet feels there may be a link between her kidney infection and the back problem she is having. She still does that Thumper imitation when touching any part of her back lower than her front shoulders. She has no problem running, walking up steps or jumping on the bed and sofa. She is taking rimadyl for that. The lab results are:pH - highProtein - highBlood - highwbc -  highrbc -  highbacteria, crystals, glucose, keyton,  bilirubin are all negativeShe is on 2 weeks of clavomax and cranberry pills, then another urinalysis. He believes is is now a kidney infection. Needless to say I am beside myself and feeling guilty. I should have brought her back last month when we got home from Florida. Since guilt won't help I am concentrating on what to do to help her.They are eating Wellness Simple Turkey and Potato. Should she be eating a kibble lower in protein?Is there something else I can do help her? thanks for any input!!Continue

Tags: kidney, kidney infection