[jagger]

So after 3 or so years of chasing vet to vet, we finally found out what is wrong with the minpin - hence the title. But we're still having ups and downs - researched this to death but can't seem to wrap my head around what else is going on.

He's been raw fed for over a year and a half I believe. We feed any kind of meats and he generally gets an organ block every day or two. I put all the organs in a blender and spoon into silicon ice trays, it's the only way he'll eat them.

Not going to get into the history much but itching, alopecia, chewing himself to the point of bleeding lesions, bad guts, then micro seizures - he was pretty far gone. Poor feller has every reason to be grumpy but he's such a wonderful little guy. Within a couple of days of pilling him with synthroid, he was a brand new dog. Started off at .1 mg but there was some wiggle room in the last test so it's been upped to .125.

As for ups and downs, still having them. I know gut issues are common, bad breath (leaky gut it's called) etc. They seem to come and go - no rhyme or reason. Most days are good, some days he'll get diarrhea, majority of days not. I'm resigned to "that's the way it's going to be".

Other things i'm noticing - his tolerance for direct sunshine seems to be low lately, basically hit and miss at the parks. Sometimes he's good, runs for km's, other times he's panting the whole way and there are times where he says no, I want out of here.


Is there anything else that I can be doing here? We had him on some probiotic, no real results other than his poop looked like sausages with a casing on it.

 

[Rain]

Is there any correlation between feeding him the organs, or different types of meat, and his symptoms? I'm not sure if the thyroid is included with the organs, but I know sometimes beef is contaminated with thyroid tissue and that could be throwing his TSH levels off causing them to be too high

Dr. Jean Dodds' Pet Health Resource Blog | Dietary Hyperthyroidism in Dogs

Raw Diets and Hyperthyroidism in Dogs | petMD

You might try avoiding feeding the neck portion of the animal and see if that makes a difference.

 

[jagger]

Any and all ideas are good. Think i've read pretty much everything that Dodds has put out, she knows her stuff. He was neutered early, so it wouldn't surprise me if something else is going on with his endocrine system. Dogs neutered young don't get the chance to experience the hormones they need, usually makes the pituitary work harder IIRC.

The last few T4 tests show him on the lower side of normal, which is good so there is still wiggle room for a little more if it comes in dietary form. He's exhibiting no signs of hyperthyroid at all. All the major symptoms of hypo have disappeared and it seems the claritin is managing any other allergies for the most. But that's another rabbit that needs to be chased down the hole.

I feel that there's something else missing, just don't know what. It's the up's and downs, it's not bothering him, he's pretty happy go lucky for the most, just little oddities.

 

[Rain]

Any and all ideas are good. Think i've read pretty much everything that Dodds has put out, she knows her stuff. He was neutered early, so it wouldn't surprise me if something else is going on with his endocrine system. Dogs neutered young don't get the chance to experience the hormones they need, usually makes the pituitary work harder IIRC.

The last few T4 tests show him on the lower side of normal, which is good so there is still wiggle room for a little more if it comes in dietary form. He's exhibiting no signs of hyperthyroid at all. All the major symptoms of hypo have disappeared and it seems the claritin is managing any other allergies for the most. But that's another rabbit that needs to be chased down the hole.

I feel that there's something else missing, just don't know what. It's the up's and downs, it's not bothering him, he's pretty happy go lucky for the most, just little oddities.

That's good that it's on the low side of normal.

I know about trying to figure out all the quirks that they are having. It took me nearly a year, and a change of vet, to figure out that it was the harness I was using that was causing the pain in the hind end my dog was having. Old vet was insisting anal glands, or colitis, or sprained back.

If he's not allergic to oats you could try adding oat bran to his diet and see if that clears up the soft poo. It's the only thing that I found worked for my boy, he's around 10 lbs and gets 1/2 teaspoon per day, I give 1/4 tsp in morning and 1/4 at night. elimination diet, having him on beef and sweet potato, and pumpkin did not work.