AFGHANS ARE US -HEALTH

UNDER ACTIVE THYROID

HARRY'S STORY

Reproduced here with kind permission of  Shirley Carr

Harry is a rescue boy and approx 6 years old. I received these details from Bobbie his owner a couple of months ago.

‘Harry has an under active thyroid and has to take tablets for the rest of his life. He has dropped a considerable amount of hair since we adopted him. We clipped his coat last year but he still carried on dropping hair. Around 2 weeks ago we were alarmed to see he was developing bald patches. He had put on quite a lot of weight, but we thought he was fat because he is a pig and steals food if he can find it.

I took him to our vets and she said she thought it could be thyroid problems and took blood tests. She reported back to me 2 days later that it was indeed an under active thyroid and one of his kidneys is not functioning fully. Harry showed all the right symptoms, the bald patches, seeking out warm places to sleep, not wanting to exercise and putting weight on even though his feeding regime hasn’t altered.

Harry has been prescribed Soroxin and he has 15mg per day. This will be reduced to 10mg when he has dropped some weight. He has already regained a spring in his step and generally takes notice of all around him now. He has got some stamina back and now looks forward to his walks, I don’t have to drag him out the door now. He is a lovely dog, very affectionate but not very playful. I don’t think Harry ever learnt to play which is very sad, but he is learning. He has light in his eyes now and is cheerful’

Shirley Carr.