Rescue Blu

My neighbor just gave us a bunch of toys, since she just lost her old dog. Blu seems to love the squeaky plastic toys. He was bringing them back to me so I could throw them again, but then decided to bring them into his room, so I would throw him another one. He must have close to a dozen in there now. I know that he has more energy, but it looks like he wants to play more as well, thanks to the thyroid medicine. At least now I have more things for him to play with. And when I took him for a 1 mile walk today, he still had plenty of energy when we were finished, so I am going to start taking him on longer walks (He used to start dragging at the end of 1 mile, while Molly could go at least another mile). Since both dogs need to be getting more exercise, having Blu able to go further should be better for all 3 of us.

Here is what the vet said about Blu’s thyroid. He is doing wonderful on the medicine and is ready to go to his forever home.

Hypothyroidism is the natural deficiency of thyroid hormone. It is the most common hormone imbalance in dogs. Active thyroid hormone serves as a sort of “volume dial” for metabolism and affects multiple body systems.

The classic symptoms of hypothyroidism include:
- skin abnormalities/infections
- hair loss; loss of under coat; dry, brittle hair coat
- obesity
- lethargy
- very rarely neurological problems

Hypothyroidism is diagnosed by blood tests. Treatment is relatively straight forward with twice daily oral thyroid supplementation. Treatment is for the life of the dog and the medication is very safe and not very expensive. Often improvement in attitude and energy level is seen within the first couple weeks. Skin and hair coat improvements take longer (2 – 4 months), but are often quite dramatic.

Blood tests are run to check the thyroid level 4 – 6 weeks after the supplementation is begun to make sure the dose is correct. After the correct dose is found, rechecking the level every 6 – 12 months is recommended.