Hypothyroidism in Cavaliers?

ANyone know anything about this topic?

Recently my 2 year old Cav Lexie has been displaying some weird symptoms. She's been losing her hair, has a very dull coat, and has gained 3 pounds in 2 months (that's a lot considering that she was only 7 pounds full grown!) My poor baby looks like a blimp!

I took her to the vet a month ago and explained that I was baffled. Her diet hasnt changed at all and neither has her amount of exercise. Something was definitely wrong. I basically got told that I was making her fat and needed to put her on a diet. For the past month I've been excessively watching her calorie intake and making her exercise even more and she's still gained another pound and 1/2! I'm at a loss. I definitely don't want to be a hypochondriac dog mommy but something is definitely off with her. I googled her symptoms and hypothyroidism popped up immediately. Before I call my vet and basically force them to do a blood test I was wondering if anyone here had experienced any similar issues?

Thanks!

I don't have personal experience, but have several friends with Hypothyroid dogs. And I have the human version

What you've listed are some of the symptoms that I know can happen with humans, and happened with my friends dog. Also, her dog was more lethargic than normal (her dog was about 6 when it developed). Is her hair/fur thinner than normal, or is she developing bald patches?

I would certainly ask for Vet for a blood test. If your Vet declines, I'd find another Vet. Hypothyroidism is easy to control.

But, that many lbs on a dog that use to only weigh 7 lbs is A LOT! I mean, she must be very, very small boned. My Claire is tiny and she weighs around 10 1/2, if she were to put on 2 lbs she'd look like the Goodyear Blimp because of her tiny little bones!

Call the Vet!

Hugs,

Cindy and Claire

Sydney started with hypothroidism when he was about 4 yrs. He's now 11. He gained weight, his coat got duller and thicker, dry skin and was tired all the time. It's a simple blood test for diagnosis. He takes Soloxine, an inexpensive prescription. In the beginning, it was trial and error with the dossage and now he has yearly blood to check his throid levels. Hypothroidism did affect his immune system and he is more prone to ear infections and skin infections.

I would insist on a blood test to confirm then manage the problem. Hopes this helps and Lexie starts to feel better.

Thanks everyone! I feel a lot less crazy!

Her coat has gotten really thin (I thought maybe she was losing her winter coat) and it's also really uneven!

And right now she does sort of look like a blimp! Especially compared to Sprinkles who is still a skinny puppy!

I wouldn't say Lexie was lethargic but she has gotten a lot lazier. She used to stay outside running and playing all day and the past few months I'm lucky to get her off the deck outside. I have to force her to exercise (which I have been doing bc of the weight gain)

I'm going to call my vey first thing in the morning. THANKS EVERYONE!

I know this might sound crazy, but look at this list of symptoms:

* depression
* failure to grow at a normal rate
* behavioral changes (things like staring into space, circling, and disorientation)
* weakness or lethargy
* seizures
* inability to gain weight
* too much weight gain
* vomiting
* diarrhea

These are liver shunt symptoms - which is what I am currently trying to figure out if Coco has or not. She is VERY small, 11lbs ( I know that is still bigger than Lexie, but when my breeder saw her the first thing I was told is I need to fatten her up). Otherwise she hasn't had many other sypmtoms besides some random barking/growling.

May be a good idea to ask the vet to do a bile acid test also, just to cover all bases.

I'm so sorry to hear Coco is having problems!!! I hope everything turns out okay. Liver shunts are not fun.

My mom has 2 chihuahuas who were littermates and BOTH have livershunts They just turned 5 and are progressing at different rates. Scout, the larger of the 2 has a lot of neurological damage from seizures. He also does the staring and the circleing. He spends his day "walking the walls" of our house. He's at that point where he still has enough good days to outweigh the bad ones but unfortuntately our vet is preparing us for the worst.

However is littermate almost has no symptoms! We put him on his special diet and he's basically a normal dog! If Coco does have a livershunt I'll definitely be praying that it progresses slowly like Little Man's.

Good luck and I'll definitely be praying for Coco!

Lexie has been checked for a livershunt just because we're so paranoid due to the Chihuahuas.

Update!

I took Lexie to the vet again after 6 weeks of regular exercise and diet. She hadn't lost any weight They're running her bloodwork but the vet said she is 99.9% sure its her thyroid! Keep your fingers crossed we get this taken care of ASAP!

I am actually hoping that it is Thyroid disease, as it's easy to manage.

Let us know how soon you'll have the results.

Cindy and Claire