Being looked after with an underactive thyroid.

[Stourie]

I had a day out yesterday at Oban and on the way home we stopped at the Oban Sealife Sanctuary. At 4 pm the seals were being fed so we duly went to the pool to watch. There were 3 seals and all gorgeous and called Pippa, Lora I can't remember the third one. Any way we were told that Pippa would never be released back into the wild because she has, wait for it, an underactive thyroid. I couldn't believe it when I heard. I sincerely hope that she is better looked after than the majority of humans with uat. Just thought that I would share that with all of you.

Jo xx

[Hidden]

Ha Ha Guess I might move to Oban Sealife Sanctuary

Love it.

wonder how and how long it rook for them to diagnose him/her ???

x

[Hiphypo]

Amazing. Cats and dogs get it too - and I wonder if they get treated on symptoms or tests?

Jenni x

[Marz in reply to Hiphypo]

......my dog was diagnosed when her tail hair fell out along with the hair on her nose. She also carried weight that we could not shift even on rations. The vet said there was absolutely no point in doing expensive blood tests as they were no guarantee that it would show anything. He went by her condition. She also had very sad eyes which we put down to a bit of depression too.

She's now on 400 mcg and doing well but the weight still lingers - she will be nine this July. She now has happy eyes and her coat is amazingly soft.

She damaged her cruciate ligament chasing cats in the olive grove and when I was researching I discovered that UAT can cause this problem in certain breeds....!! Wonder if that is the same in humans - slow muscle reflexes straining the ligaments... !

[greygoose in reply to Marz]

400 mcg??? That is more than most humans! Wow!

[helvella in reply to greygoose]

Veterinary doses are often much higher than human! A while back I posted a blog about someone who took their dog's levothyroxine when they ran out. Ended up being fairly several over-medicated. Worrying thing (if my memory is working) the person was a vet.

Rod

[greygoose in reply to helvella]

So what does this mean? That animals need more thyroxine than humans? Or that doctors are meaner than vets and won't give us the dose we need? I'm inclined to think the latter, but then I would! lol

[Marz in reply to greygoose]

...chat to your Vet next time - I find mine most helpful and we often discuss thyroids. Apparently dogs can also get Hashimotos - must be the change in the diet !.....

[Hidden in reply to greygoose]

Years ago, I was bitten by a tick and developed a Lyme infection. It took me months to persuade a dr to test and treat me. My border collie, who also had a tick bite was tested same day and given prophylactic antibiotics ' just in case'

[Marz in reply to greygoose]

...I thought it was a lot too - it was lower before but was increased before Christmas. I have a Dutch friend here who is Hypo and also one of her dogs and she has made a comprehensive study of doggies, It was she who pointed out that Demelza was not taking enough T4 as she seemed a little sad !! Her dose works out at around 20 mcg per kilo - and I think I have read on this forum that sometimes weight is taken into consideration when prescribing T4.....

[jancoe in reply to Marz]

This is the first time I've heard anyone say about straining ligaments . I must have had over 30 cor

tisone injections over the years on various joints torn ligaments tendons etc . Didn't think it could be connected with my thyroid !!

[Marz in reply to jancoe]

...in my humble non-medical opinion I think most things are. T3 is the hormone that gives every cell in our bodies energy - and that includes the cells in our muscles. A slowed re-action with the brain involvement too - as the brain needs the most T3. It is muscles that support all the bones in our bodies and hold us together - along with tendons a ligaments. Think of tents and their guy ropes ! When the guy ropes slacken the tent falls down !

Hope you do not have to be given anymore cortisone injections - maybe some T3 instead !

[MaryMary in reply to Marz]

I've also had many ligament and muscle wastage problems, mainly in my back and have just been told that the medical profession are now beginning to link this to UAT conditions! I guess if the thyroid affects everything in the body then this would include muscles and ligaments.

[Blue2 in reply to Marz]

Could be underactive adrenals as that causes some muscle weakness in humans. Better she's not allowed to chase cats - divine retribution, eh?

[Marz in reply to Blue2]

...thank you for the info on sluggish adrenals. Demelza was tested for Adrenal something but it was fine. Think it may have been a form of cancer in dogs. She's barking at a cat as I type - but as we have had our morning walk I don't there will be enough energy for a chase !

[Blue2 in reply to Marz]

My 9 yr old beloved dog Bobby died last year of Addison's disease, which a 2-weeks-out-of-college vet failed to diagnose. That's when the adrenals have packed up, and is very common in dogs - he could have been saved with the correct treatment. I'd never had a dog before, so I put his symptoms down to his getting old. He was a St. Bernard/Labrador cross, very big, and the best dog in the world. I feel SO stupid as I didn't think about dogs getting hormone deficiency problems as humans do! Wish I'd known about this forum before. I hope Demelza recovers her ligament soon!

[Aurora-auspice]

Always knew I loved Oban for a reason other than the wonderful scenery!! Lol

[Hidden]

Marfit

Wonderful story....lit up the day.........perhaps I should go to the VET!!!!!!

[Sam75]

Ive been thinking of ways to camaflauge up to look like a seal...actualy not that much to do.....Im of to Oban.......X

[helvella]

All animals with backbones (vertebrates) have a thyroid of some sort and use thyroid hormones.

Furthermore, many invertebrates can produce some thyroid hormone though whether the way they use it in their bodies is anything like in vertebrates seems unresolved in most cases. Quite possible they use the same substance for different purposes.

The basic building blocks of thyroid hormone synthesis, management, metabolism are very ancient and have been strongly preserved over millions of years. Typically things that are so well preserved are essential at the most fundamental levels.

I am impressed by the story and would love to see a good write-up from those involved. In PubMed you can find papers on thyroid hormones and disorders in a huge range of animals.

Rod

[Stourie]

Think that I'm also going to move to Oban Sealife Centre. Love it there anyway. But I just wondered why on earth they would have thought to test a seal for thyroid problems. But glad that they did because she was beautiful.

Jo xx

[Marz in reply to Stourie]

....perhaps she was putting on weight !! Mood maybe ?

[Hidden]

I know this is quite a hard one to believe but I had 2 cats who had uat, I have, my husband has and in our tiny little road (when I lived in the UK) there were 2 others who had their thyroids removed. I totally blame it on fluoride being dumped into the water system many years ago!

[Marz in reply to Hidden]

...there are lots of campaigns available where you can help to keep the pressure up on areas choosing to fluoride the water. They do not use it in many countries of Europe. Mercola.com has a lot to say about fluoride.....maybe of interest to you.

Quite often cats are Hyper - so interesting that both yours have UAT. We too are a household of hypos.....hubby me and the dog ! Also one daughter in the UK - after thyroid removal....the other borderline !

[Hidden in reply to Marz]

They try to tell us that it is not heredity/familial but they are so wrong. My lovely cats (long since gone to the big cattery in the sky) were of course hyper sorry not thinking straight as I have a touch of flu :). Our little road was just 22 properties and 4 of us with thyroid problems and 2 cats, I would say that had to be down to environment or water. Now living in Australia and was so thrilled that I read they didn't fluoridate the water only to find that shortly after we arrived they did. Now have an amazing water filter that filters out everything nasty including fluoride, know how to break our banks don't they!

[gojo1]

Hi when I was diagnosed with underactive thyroid my doctor told me that his dog his horse and his wife all had the same.At least he is more aware than most doctors!

[Stourie in reply to gojo1]

Like

[diggingit]

i'm off to the vets to get properly diagnosed x

[graeme]

My vet told me that cats are prone to hyper in old age but most people do'nt realise it as weight loss put down to age,

[JLD1]

A lovely story Joanna! Very heart warming.

Thanks for sharing.

Janet.

x