[Dori]

Has anyone had experience with a dog with Hypothyroidism and the medication Soloxine. One of my dogs was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism by a traditional vet a number of years ago and was put on Soloxine. She’s been on it ever since diagnosed. I have to admit that I was very uninformed on nutrition and dogs until a couple of years ago when I discovered this site and have since learned a wealth of information. I’ve gotten a fabulous “free” education from the posters like Shawna, Patty Vaughn, HDM and others. My dogs have since made the transition to 5 star kibbles and as of about three months ago totally transitioned to raw feeding. Presently I rotate commercial frozen raw by proteins and brands and I add a few fruits and veggies. They are now at the point that I can rotate their proteins and brands with each meal (twice a day) and no loose stools or problems whatsoever. The change in their skin, hair, demeanor, food intolerances, etc. has been nothing short of a miracle. Now to my question. Does anyone feel that my having changed their nutrition completely my one dog would still need soloxine for hypothyroidism. Is it even possible that she no longer has it so that there is no need to medicate her? She is a 14 year old Maltese. She now acts as if she’s 14 months old. From reading on this site I’ve learned that so many illnesses and problems with dogs has been due to poor nutrition, and let’s face it, all the crap in commercial kibble, and have done a 180 on proper nutrition and good proper supplements. I’m very sad to say that I was one of the ignorant pet owners that was very proud to say that she never ever fed her dogs “people” food. In fact, it was bad for them. I bought into the kibble marketing as well as vets advise that kibble was what to feed and if you found a kibble that worked never change it. What an idiot I was. Now they get no kibble whatsoever and happy to say that to all the dog owners that I know that I gave erroneous information to mea culpa, mea culpa and have sent the to this site.

[theBCnut]

Hi dchassett

I haven’t had a dog that is hypothyroid, but I am. Changing the diet can have a dramatic effect on the need for thyroid replacement, especially if your dogs old diet was not offering enough iodine, i.e. seaweed. Do not just stop her meds though. It is unlikely that the change completely took care of the thyroid issue, however she very well may need her dosage lowered. You’ll have to have a thyroid panel done to determine if this is the case. Her TSH levels will tell whether she is making more of her own thyroid hormones or not.

[Dori]

Thanks so much Patty. I can always count on you to answer pretty quickly. I’m sorry to hear that you have hypothyroid. I will continue her meds and take her to her vet next week for a TSH level test. She’s done such a turn around that I guess I was hoping against hope that she’d be done with meds. I’ve had a devil of a time finding a holistic vet in my area. You would think that it would be easy living in a big city like Atlanta but, alas, not so simple. I’m going to continue the search. Dog Food Advisor and Dr. Karen Beck’s posts on Mercola are my go to sites. Thanks again.

[weezerweeks]

My yorkie is hypothyroid and on soloxine. My vet checked his blood and sent off for a complete thyroid panel after he had been on it 3 months to make sure the t3 and tsh was working and to see if the dosage was right. My vet sent the blood to Michigan State but Hemopet with Dr. Jean dobbs is also a good place to send it.usually dogs that are truly hypothyroid have to be on the medicine for life but the dosage can change. Make sure you have the blood drawn 3 or 4 hours after her/his morning pill.also do not give the pill with food give it 1hour before eating or 3 hours after eating. I am reading the canine thyroid epidemic by Dr. Jean Dobbs and learning a lot. I recommend it for anyone who has a hypothyroid dog.

[Dori]

Wow. Thanks for your post. My vet has always told me to add it to her food. Once again, there I go listening to the vet. Jeesh. I never take nutrition advice from my vet but I certainly did think that medicine and meds were her area of expertise and now I find she doesn’t even know the correct way to administer this medication that for years she has had me adding to her food. She told me that given on an empty stomach would upset her gut. Again, I say Jeesh! Is the Canine Thyroid Epidemic a book I can purchase or is it a posting? Thanks for your input. I also read somewhere that it was very very rare for a small or toy canine to have hypothyroidism (may Dr. Becker’s post) so I was thinking it might be something else she actually had like an adrenal issue (an in Dr. Becker’s post) and not a thyroid problem. My names Dori, by the way. dchassett is beginning to sound to me like a fictitious poster made up name. I’m Dori C Hassett. Maybe I should change it but then I don’t really know how to do that. It took me months to figure out how to get a pic by my name.

[Dori]

LOL. I don’t mean change my name in the courts or anything, just meant change my i.d. name here.

[Dori]

Just looked at Hannah’s soloxine prescription bottle and it says give with food. Well, I’m taking her next week to get her levels checked and insist they send them to either Hemopet or Michigan State and also to find out why she’s having them type to give with food when that it not the best way for her body to utilize this med. Honestly, it’s getting to the point that you can’t trust them with anything, not food certainly, and now I have to question how to give her meds and is she sure. Crazy, and for what they charge the moment you walk through the door you’d at least think they knew how to prescribe meds. Though I have to say my pharmacist has caught mistakes some times on what my doctor has prescribed to me that are contraindicated in other meds I take (have an autoimmune illness) and my doctor knows every med I take so go figure??

[weezerweeks]

Don’t fill bad my vet who is also my good friend told me to give it with food but I told him what Dr. Dobbs said. She suggest giving it to them with a little peanut butter or marshmallow not cheese or meat. It has something to do with the calcium.I bought Dr. Dobbs book on Amazon. She is an expert on thyroids. I’m giving my vet the book to read when I finish.

[Dori]

Thanks weezerweeks. I’ll go on the Amazon site right now and order.

[theBCnut]

Here’s the thing with giving it with food. There are several different things that affect how the body takes up the thyroid replacement, calcium, amount and strength of acid in the stomach, amount of food taken with it, certain vitamins and minerals. You can give it with food, but it needs to be the same food in the same amount, every single time. And thyroid levels need to be tested under those circumstances. Any changes affect the amount of thyroid hormone that makes it into the system. My mom has to take her thyroid replacement with food, because she has other health issue that mean she can’t wait an hour to eat. I take mine, then go do chores on the farm, and an hour later I’m ready for breakfast. Either way is ok as long as you always do it the same way, and the blood tests reflect the way you take it. That’s the only way to know that you’re giving the right dose.

[Dori]

Since my dogs are on constant rotation of food be it protein or brands I will start giving it to her either one hour before or three hours after her evening meal. I’d never get away with making her wait an hour for breakfast she definitely would think I’d lost my mind. In the a.m. after walk she flys past me and literally throws herself into her kitchen crate and waits not patiently at all for her breakfast (all three girls eat in their crates a.m. and p.m. only way I know that they are each getting their full share). By the way, thanks so much for your posts on feeding dogs, through your posts I’ve been able to get all three of my dogs to eat raw rotating foods proteins and brands and any given time or whatever is in the freezer or fridge in a relatively short time (three months) and not one single digestive problem whatsoever. I just know to avoid poultry altogether because one of my girls is highly allergic to anything with feathers. She is also the poop eater so whatever she eats they eat too. For a while I was feeding her different from the others and couldn’t wrap my brain why she was still such a mess (itchy, gas, bad breath) then realized OMG! of course, she eats their poop. LOL. Lightning bolt hit me. As some said somewhere you and HDM should seriously get some time together and write a book. I have learned so much from you Shawna and HDM I feel like to ladies should be sending me bills for my education here on this site.

[theBCnut]

We all love to help people with their pets.

[aimee]

Hi Dori,
I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that your vet “doesn’t even know the correct way to administer this medication”. If Dr. Dodds recommends to give the meds one hour before or three hours after a meal to avoid interference with food an assumption is being made that the stomach is indeed empty/near empty at those times. Is that assumption valid? I don’t see that it is as stomach emptying in the dog and cat can be very prolonged, well over 12 hours.

The drug label reads “Soloxine tablets may be administered orally or placed in the food.” I think this idea of giving replacement on an empty stomach is more of a human thing and may not be all that clinically relevant to the dog.

Certainly if the dog doesn’t seem to be absorbing the meds well, based T4 levels measured after taking the pill, it is reasonable to try giving the meds after a 12 hour fast and seeing if that makes a difference.

TSH measurement isn’t used much in dogs for monitoring treatment. I don’t think the test is as accurate/valid as it is in people. I don’t think there is any real value in running it.

[Dori]

Thanks Aimee. You may be right. I think I freaked out thinking I’ve been doing some harm, or at least not any good, to Hannah by not administering her meds correctly. At any rate, I’m going to call the vet in the a.m. and make an appointment to have her thyroid levels checked and ask that blood work be sent to either Hemopet or Michigan State. Hemopet’s testing of thyroid levels I believe takes into account breed, weight, age and size of dog as opposed to some labs that I’ve learned this weekend doing research do a blanket assessment not taking into account the individual dog. Seems like there may be something to it. Thanks for your input. I’ll discuss all of this with her. I may have jumped the gun getting upset with the vet. Dori

[aimee]

There are a lot of variables that affect thyroid levels. Making a diagnosis of hypothyroidism can be a slam dunk or it can be tricky. However, I don’t think Dr Dodds holds the golden key to that puzzle : ).

I think it isn’t the lab that should be taking into account the individual dog, so much as it should be the vet who has examined the animal, knows the history and then interprets the results in light of all of that information. Remember any one test is just a snapshot in time.

[Dori]

Thanks aimee. I’ll keep that in mind and ask all sorts of questions when I’m at the vet with Hannah. Dori

[aimee]

Hope your visit goes well

[InkedMarie]

I just want to point out that it’s Dr. Dodds. I googled Dobbs & didn’t find her.

I agree with having her retested. I previously had a dog on Soloxine but she has passed.

[Dori]

Sorry Marie. I thought I had gone back and corrected my typing error. I’m not sure why but once in a while when I go to post something when I hit submit the post simply disappears. It is Dr. Jean Dodds. I’m sorry to hear about your dog that passed. I’m sure she had an exceptionally good life with you as her “mom”.

[InkedMarie]

Dori: I wasn’t even talking about your spelling, I hadn’t noticed your spelling, sorry.

My dog was a sheltie, Katie. She was eleven when we adopted her. She was obese. She was 14″ tall, should have weighed 25 pounds, max but weighed 43.7 pounds. She had double ear infections, had arthritis, a gross coat & was peeing blood. We found out within a month that she had hypothyroidism, bladder stones & bilateral hip dysplasia. We didn’t think she’d last a year but she got down to 26 pounds & we had her for 3.5 years.

She was the only dog I’ve had to put down for ortho reasons. The day I made the appointment, she fell four times, turned and gave me a look, and I knew. I was blessed to be her mom.

[Author]

Posts