I often hear about the disease of thyroid and think that only humans will get it? Then you are wrong. The thyroid is a disease that is not easy to detect in dogs.
Hypothyroidism is one of the relatively common endocrine diseases in domestic dogs and one of the diseases that are prone to overdiagnosis. The clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism in dogs are nonspecific and there are no obvious symptoms in the early stage of the onset, so they are easily ignored by the owner or veterinarian. They are not caught off guard until the "hypothyroidism crisis" occurs, but it is very likely that it is too late.
The thyroid gland is a very important endocrine gland in the dog's body. It is located in the neck of the dog and produces the thyroid hormone T4 (T4) and some other important thyroid hormones. These hormones play an important regulatory role in dogs' metabolism. Once the production of thyroid hormones is at an abnormal level, the health of the dog will have problems.
1: When dogs do not secrete enough thyroid hormone, a clinical disease characterized by progressive slowdown in animal activities is called hypothyroidism (hereinafter referred to as hypothyroidism). It is divided into three types: primary, secondary and third type of hypothyroidism, which will all cause the dog's metabolism to slow down. This situation is more likely to occur in dogs than other livestock, and is more likely to occur in Golden Retrievers, Dobermans, Great Danes, German Shepherds, Coca, and Dachshunds, and the incidence is higher in medium and large dogs than in small dogs. There are also reports that hypothyroidism is related to certain vaccines, but so far I have not seen enough evidence to support this statement. Interestingly, hypothyroidism is often included in domestic dogs’ hormone disorders, but for human thyroid cancer, domestic dogs rely solely on their nose to smell the patient’s urine, and the accuracy rate of judgment is as high as 88%, which is related to the highly sensitive sense of smell of domestic dogs.
2: Cause of the disease
In 95% of related cases, destruction of the thyroid gland is the main cause of hypothyroidism. This disruption is usually the result of lymphocytic thyroiditis or idiopathic atrophy of the thyroid. Other rare causes of hypothyroidism include cancer and congenital defects.
III: Symptoms
Low thyroid hormone levels will affect all the organ systems of the dog. But symptoms of hypothyroidism may vary from dog to dog, but they are all related to slowing metabolism in dogs.
The following lists some common symptoms:
*Sleepy and intolerance
*Responsiveness
*Reduced appetite
*Weight gain
*Cooling
*Cold and skin changes, such as hair loss, hyperkeratosis, pigmentation, muced edema, etc.
*Reproductive disorder
4: Diagnosis method
The Merck Veterinary Manual(Fresa, USA) points out that hypothyroidism is one of the most serious diseases of overdiagnosis in domestic dogs. This is because many diseases are similar to hypothyroidism, some can even be improved with thyroid medications, and others can also affect thyroid levels, but none of them are hypothyroidism. This can all make thyroid disease diagnosis tricky.
In addition to the above reasons, there are certain differences in clinical symptoms between different dog breeds. For example, the main symptom of some dog breeds is trunk hair loss, while other dog breeds have thinning hair. This may also affect the diagnosis.
Diagnosis of hypothyroidism is a clinical diagnosis. When a veterinarian clinically suspects that the dog has hypothyroidism, it requires support or exclusion of laboratory results, but the disease must not be diagnosed based solely on laboratory data. First, you should understand which drugs and diseases may affect the function of the thyroid and laboratory results of the thyroid. Even without external influence, the laboratory results cannot be completely accurate. Therefore, diagnosis combined with clinical aspects is of great significance. In the above context, the laboratory plan formulated will be reasonable and accurate. The usual procedure is as follows:
* Dogs have symptoms of hypothyroidism in clinical manifestations.
* Ask the owner if he is taking drugs that affect thyroid function to his dog recently. If so, delay the examination after stopping the drug.
* Through routine biochemical examinations and blood tests, pathological syndromes with normal thyroid function in dogs are ruled out
* When thyroid function examinations are suitable, first perform a first-line thyroid test - serum total T4 and TSH test.
* If the results are unclear, either wait 6 weeks before re-examination, or do a second-line diagnostic test - a detection of free T4 or anti-thyroid globulin antibody (TgAA) with balanced dialysis.
* If the results are still unclear but hypothyroidism is suspected, diagnostic treatment can be selected.
Once the dog's body abnormality occurs, you need to seek medical treatment in time. Do not delay to avoid delaying the condition!