[Gee]

Merrick just recalled treats due to a high amount of thyroid hormones. (Naturally occurring). My corgi seems to pant a lot and that was one symptom of ingesting these thyroid hormones. He’s almost a year, vet checked, no heart issues. Vet “guessed” it could be stress.
My question is this–these thyroid hormones found in beef , wouldn’t that affect all beef products for dogs? My dog prefers beef flavors so I’m wondering if that might be a factor in his panting. Anyone have insight?

[anonymous]

Excessive panting in a dog usually indicates pain or anxiety.

Or, the dog is hot.

[pitlove]

Hi Gee-

We just had a Westie come in to my clinic yesterday that one of the main concerns the owner had was excessive panting. She ended up having a splenic tumor which we had to remove. Have you had an ultrasound done or only chest x-rays? Also is your dog overweight? I’ve seen more overweight Corgis than fit Corgis unfortunetly and being overweight for that breed (any breed though) is extremely dangerous. The panting could be caused by that as well.

Also how long have you been giving the Merrick treats and did the panting occur around the time you got the last effected batch or way before then?

[Gee]

Sorry, I wasn’t very clear–I haven’t feed him Merrick treats but after finding out the reason for the recall, wondered if all beef products are a risk, due to it being a naturally occurring hormone. He’s very fit, just under 1 year old. He does have anxiety at the vet, maybe it is stress-related….

[Gee]

And how do I add a pick to my profile? 🤓

[pitlove]

Oh I see. Do you feed him other beef products? Yes beef products can all be at risk for this if the manufactuerer is using poor quality cuts of meat that contain the thyroid gland. But you won’t know until there is a recall.

As far as the anxiety/panting goes, yes dogs can certainly have anxiety, but many dogs are anxious because they are not being properly fullfilled in their life. Corgis are a herding breed and have strong drive and desire to work. Is he allowed to do any herding or does he do any sports were his mind is being challenged? Even something in your backyard like having him hunt for things or many Corgi owners commonly use whats called a “Jolly Ball” to teach their Corgis how to herd. You can buy these at most pet stores. If he’s given a job and a purpose you may find that he is more well adjusted. You could even walk him and allow him to wear a backpack to carry items of yours (not too heavy, but approrpiate for his size). If I do not exercise my dogs, especially my 4 year old, I notice they are a lot worse behaved and destructive. The same can be true for anxious dogs.

[pitlove]

You add a profile picture with gravatar.com

[anonymous]

I had a corgi that lived to be a little over 9 1/2 years old. Hemangiosarcoma ended her life (it’s genetic).
Who knows, regarding beef?
I stay with a fish based kibble and add a little chopped boiled chicken, chicken broth or water, scrambled egg, tuna fish. I consider kibble to be the base.
My chicken broth recipe /forums/topic/grain-free-2/#post-109751

Boil a chicken once a month, dogs love chicken 🙂
Still give them cooked red meat once in a while, but not that often. Not sure about it, gave it up myself, decades ago.

PS: I had to walk that corgi 5 miles a day and feed measured amounts of food twice a day, no treats, to keep her weight within normal limits.
She did not tolerate heat well, panted if it was over 68 degrees.
She shedded a lot too.

[Charles B]

Our Aussie would pant a lot. We ended up switching her to neutral/cooling proteins and she got significantly better. But herding dogs need jobs. Our two Golden’s are lazy or playful out in the yard. But the Aussie will fetch until she collapses.

[Gee]

Thanks everyone. All helpful.

[Debbie D]

I went to gravatar, signed up with my gmail/wordpress account but Gravatar is not clear how you are to use the service, no instructions.
What does one do once the gravatar is created?
Note, DogFoodAdvisor also has no instructions for using this service.

[Author]

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