hyper-thyroid

[daisymaisy]

Is hyperthyroidism common in greyhounds. Been doing some research and it all points to our Daisy having the said condition. she sheds an unusual amount of hair on her back, (she came to us with little or no hair on her back legs). She does too, have very dry skin. She will spend an age pacing in circles before she will flump herself down.
Please help us. Ta very much....

[julies]

Depends who you speak to ... some people say yes very common and some say not ... I had my last grey tested cos she was just not quite right- you need to have a bood test and make sure they check the FreeT4 level cos apparently the bloods can appear normal but then the FreeT4 test shows up a thyroid problem .. that happened with my Tigger but she was low thyroid so she just had Soloxine daily.

My vet sent the blood results to Jean Dodd in the USA - Ohio University I thnk who do a lot ofresearch into greyhounds and sighthounds tho I have to say that the dosage Jean sent back was too high for Tig and my vet reduced it.

Losing hair can be a thyroid problem but it can also be cos she's dehydrated so I always add a mugful of water to feeds (more in this heat) - greyhounds rarely drink enough and if you feed a complete food that takes moisture from them too as they digest it. Dry skin again the same .. if it's not thyroid adding oil can help - I fed Yumega or you can get Omega 3,6,9 oils etc from health food shops or try feeding some oily fish

I get boring about this but I use chiropractors a lot cos I think greyhounds have retired for a reason which is usually they are too slow or slowing down and I like to check they aren't carrying an old injury or tweak .. a chiro check is usually about £20 and you can Google McTimoney chiros and find one in your area- you'll need your vets' OK but I just ring my vets and say 'Id like to have Lucy checked by a chiropractor, I assume you're ok about that?' and if they start talking about xrays and mega consultations before they refer her I move to another vets Oh and I only ask them the once then I just rebook the chiro when I think she needs a check up

I've just had Lucy blood tested cos I wasn't sure about her thyroid and it cost about £100 - the FreeT4 test was about £55 on its own so they did the first lot then all was ok but I was paranoid ... oops meant OTT so they did the FreeT4 and she was ok

Hope that helps ... she may just be being a greyhound they like to keep us worried

julie x