Ducky & his health

[Cheryl]

Thanks, Christina!

Got one part of the lab results tonight, Ducky has a low thyroid and I'll start him on medication after the weekend since no one is available until then.

He looks like a different dog, except for so much dandruff. Just today he began getting a small amount of eye goop so hopefully he's just got the thyroid problem and not an autoimmune one, too.

I'm wondering if there is anything natural that would help with his thyroid? Honey therapy works so well w/my Slade for his seasonal allergies, maybe there is something like that for Ducky...?

We're still waiting to hear if the tests show autoimmune or immunizations...I should have taken before and after pictures.

[marjolein]

Hope he'll improve asap when he's on meds!

[Wetdog]

Good for you Cheryl, I think he will improve rapidly once you get him on the synthroid.
Check his eyes for inturned lashes if they continue to get irritated and have exudates(goop).
Gently roll them back and check to see if there are any inturned lashes that are rubbing on the cornea and causing irritation.
This can be corrected surgically if it is a continueing problem.

[christina]

Hi Cheryl,

Here you are !! I found your message on the other Weim list and was looking all over the place to find out what I had previously said to you <LOL>

I remember now .... and I am so pleased for you both that Ducky could be diagnosed so early. It is rare to see true hypothyroid signs in such a young dog. It also means that BOTH his parents are definitelyCarriers ... but could well be hypothyroid themselves. So if you know the dam and sire, it would be good to inform the owners.

I have posted a long mail for you on the other Weim list. If you need any more info, just let me know. I'll be happy to help, if I can.

Very best wishes for Ducky and you, and please let us all know how it goes.

Christina

[Cheryl]

I got Ducky from my cousin's daughter who took him out of a shelter...haven't seen any of his siblings in the out of town shelter so far! He was given away in the Sam's Club parking lot as a very young pup with parvo to a married couple who neutered him then divorced and dumped him in the pound. That would make me his 4th owner in a very short timeframe! The shelter records list he had to have vacinations but doesn't show if he actually got them from the woman my cousin's daughter took Ducky (which really makes me the 5th owner!). I'm so glad Hilary took him away from Olivia and shipped him to me...Olivia was drinking and not responsible, Hilary too young and inexperienced, the previous owners clueless, the breeders I wish I knew who they were, and I'm clueless but willing to learn.

The (out of town) vet is unavailable until June 9th, but his secretary and lab tech are in contact with him. They are sending .5 mg thyrozine tablets (180 ct) today via mail for $22.00 and I'm waiting on copies of the lab results plus the charges for the tests. That would be enough for 90 days 2x a day but the instructions are to give one 2x a day for a month and then one pill a day, splitting in half if I want... reading Dr Dodd's info, I will.

Somewhere in Alaska there are some miserable weims, who look and feel terrible and ugly, unless their owners are doing something about it...Ducky is very emotionally aggressive, they may be, too...he's willing to learn, and learns quick but he can't help what we're trying to fix...

I'm assuming the other littermates survived the parvo, he barely did...his umbilical hernia repair went very well, you can't tell he had surgery now. I'm still hoping the thyroid is what is making his aggressive mood swings, instead of...something worse...I learned about from Liz on this board.

[Cheryl]

Oh, Wetdog, I know about the inverted eyelash; entropia - if I got that word right...
I don't believe he's got that at all. I'm helping a 8 year old golden retriever who has that and it caused an ulcerated right eye - we just went thru 1 1/2-2 weeks of eyedrops for "Uncle Ruger" and for the first week it was 3 drops 6 times a day...his eye looks great now, but don't know yet if Ruger's owner will opt for the surgery so have to follow thru on that but haven't since our 16 y/o golden rescue had a stroke last Friday. She's doing well so far, so will contact Ruger's owner next!

[christina]

Hi Cheryl,

I've replied to your mail on the other list .... but just wanted to add a bit on here.

My heart really goes out to Ducky. With his experience of life I would get grumpy too - thyroid problem or not. It is terrible how some people treat their pets. I've forgotten who said it (either on this list or on the other Weim list) but it has stuck in my mind - if a dog is just a dog to you ... don't get one !

I am curious about the results of Ducky's titres. Since you say he's had Parvo earlier in life, he will have antibodies against that for life. With a bit of luck he has been immunized at some stage, and that should have given him antibodies for life for Distemper - and hopefully Rabies as well. Anything else would only be relevant if there were a local outbreak of any of the diseases ... and then you'd have to weigh up which represented the lesser evil - to vaccinate or not. I am not sure about this, but I think I am right in saying that apart from heartworm none of the other diseases would be life threatening (?) . Please have a read through this website, which was set up by Dr. Bob Rogers from Texas (the one who was instrumental in changing the vaccination protocol in the US). Best to read the lot - I know, it's long ... ( - but in particular read through "Immunology 101 and 102" ....
www.newvaccinationprotocols.com/

Here is an extract from it:

Those puppies that were successfully immunized at 6 weeks of age will not get any stimulation out of this next vaccine because the antibodies they developed from the first vaccine will block the next vaccine from having any effect. We give another round of vaccines because we do not know which puppies were protected and it is cheaper to re-vaccinate than to test their titers. The vaccine at 12 weeks will protect some new puppies that were not previously protected, but those that were already protected will not be stimulated further because the antibodies from the previous vaccine will block any subsequent vaccine. This is the reason we give a series of vaccines. The immune system does not mature completely until 6 months of age. Any vaccine given after 6 months of age will provide a better immunity. That is why we give another vaccine at one year later. The one year interval was a completely arbitrary number chosen simply because that was a convenient time for the owner to return.


Please keep posting, I really want to know how little Ducky is progressing....

Best wishes,
Christina