Thyroid problem?

[Ritz459]

I'm grateful both of my lovely little babies are still healthy and thriving (I'm really glad about Blackie...almost 11 and hardly a grey hair anywhere and only a itsy-bitsy spot of arthritis on his elbow. Well, he has a fatty tumor too, but that isn't anything to worry about), but I can't say the same thing for my Grandma's Schnauzer.
Molly is going on eight, and when my Grandma took her to the vet for her "Well Baby Checkup", she found out she had bad arthritis (it has gotten so that Molly doesn't like to jump up on chairs anymore and if you pet her in certain spots she'll get antsy because it hurts her).
So now Molly is on arthritis medicine. Grandma called me up and asked if she should really be on it because she didn't feel like paying a lot for the meds, and I told her that if she was in pain, she needed to be on it and Grandma said ok.
But the sad news is that the vet also thinks Molly either has a thyroid problem or a Liver problem.
I'm going more for the thyroid problem because thyroid problems are common in Schnauzers and they can also cause problems with the liver. The vet suspected something because Molly's hair was thining greatly on her legs and back, so they ran blood work on her.

Grandma was griping about having Molly be on medicine, but I have know doubt that she'll do it. She'll just complain the whole time. lol
I told Grandma that this was the reason you don't by from Petstores (Molly is a petstore pup) but from responsible breeders who know what they're doing because then you most likely wouldn't have to go through all of this health problem crap. Still a chance, but much less a chance than if you bought from a petstore or a BYB.

ANYWAYS, I was wondering if anybody could tell me a bit more about the thyroid problem? I know some stuff about it, but not as much as I'd like too.
I do know it can be controlled with medications give everyday, and I also know what some of the side effects of it being unmedicated are, but is their anything else I should know to tell my Grandma? And does anybody have any info on the liver problem incase that is what she has?


[Hey, but on the bright side, my cousin is engaged! Yey Tai!!! She is really happy. Their wedding is going to be in August, I do believe. And now her dog, Olive Mae, is really happy too because she loves Nick! lol]

[windski]

My 8 1/2 yr old rottweiler's weight ballooned to 102 even with "diet" food, and she was lethargic and thirsty. The vet found her thyroid was basically not functioning at all. Put her on twice daily thyroid meds and it is like having her old puppy self back. She goes on long walks again and wants to play. With the diet food she is down to a svelte 79 lbs. We will never ever miss a pill! My vet was a bit on the expensive side for the pills so got a prescription from him and ordered them on line for a lot less. Changed vets and the new vet is less expensive than on-line. Shop around. Now the rott and I take our thyroid meds together in the morning!

[Pearlulm]

I had a schnauzer that passed away last Nov. from liver cancer. I can tell you that her problems started with weight lose, throwing up, and then diarrea. It sounds more like your Grandma's doggie's problem is most likely thyroid, which can be treated with med's. I currently have two schnauzers and a poodle. Schnauzer's are prone to pancreatitus. My 2 1/2 year old has it. It is very important for schnauzers to be fed a low fat diet. ( A fatty diet will also cause liver problems.) Peaches is now on Hill's precription r/d dry food, boiled chicken and white rice. Do not feed them any table food. Good luck .

[Ritz459]

Well, the vet got the bloodwork back and she said that Molly didn't have any problems aside from the arthrites.
I'm really glad to hear that, but does anybody have any idea about what caused the hair loss? Could arthrites do that?