Pie Vet Update

Pie went to the vet last Monday. The missing fur on her face and shoulders is demodex mange. This is a problem because a healthy adult dog with a fully functioning immune system should not get demodex. If it went on uncontrolled it could resolve itself or spread to her entire body leaving her hairless and with skin infections.

I had been planning to retest her thyroid at some point, and now that I knew it was demodex now was a good time. So I had the blood drawn and sent it to Dr. Dodds. The results came back that she is very low in Free T4 and T4 and T3 also, but it is not caused by autoimmune thyroid disease, which is the reason 90% of dogs are hypothyroid. I emailed Dr. Dodds with my questions about if the demodex is caused by the low thyroid and if we have to test to find the reason her thyroid is low since it isn't autoimmune. She assured me the other 10% of dogs are low because the thyroid itself has just stopped working (rather than the immune system attacking it) and there are no further tests to be done and once I start her on the medication she will be fine. It is a daily medication that she will need for the rest of her life, but having low thyroid will not affect her quality of life or lifespan once she is on the medication. Also, once the thyroid is functioning normally (with the help of the meds) the demodex will be under control because the low thyroid causes the immune system to not function properly which in turn allows the demodex to be a problem.

I am extra glad I sent the blood to Dr. Dodds since I was able to get a consultation from her via email. Normal labs tell you nothing and you can only talk to your vet. I should be picking up her medication on Monday. It will be interesting to see what changes for the better once her thyroid works again.

Fancy went in for a later appointment and got blood drawn for a food allergy test but we have not had those results back yet.