Brandi (Middletown, New Jersey) on 04/01/2012

The symptoms of hypothyroidism are so similar to other problems in dogs that I feel as if it very often goes undiagnosed.

So I felt the need to go back and find this website and hopefully help someone else that may be going through the same thing I was going through not too long ago.

So let's start with Bear's symptoms:

Chronic yeast/bacterial ear infections

He would get these round bumps that would break open with a small discharge of fluid which then would make the area loose hair and look red and aggravated later looking like a dry patch of skin. (Looks almost like the ring worm circles)

Yeast under his arm pits, belly, paws, and under his neck (which made him smell terrible) I was giving him medicated baths two to three times a week which isn't exactly easy when your dog weighs over 170 lbs and just wants to lie in the bottom of a small bathtub.

His eyes would always have like I guess gunk in them and I would have to constantly clean them

He was constantly scratching, all day all night it was terrible trying to make him stop so he didn't open any sores

Was always lethargic (I know big dogs aren't exactly the most energetic and playful but Bear didn't want to do anything)

Was gaining weight, although was barely eating

I was even told by one vet that Bear had MRSEE? (Dog strain of MRSA) This scared the hell out of me.

And finally two months before he was diagnosed he started losing all of his hair under his neck/chest area, arms, belly, and his tail.

If I even tried try to explain every single thing I tried to help him I would have a 50 page book.

Just to give you an idea I tried the apple cider vinegar (which helped dry out those bumps but that was it), vitamins, changing food brands, yogurt, antibiotic shampoos (ex: malaseb, ketachlor ect) all different kinds of ear antibiotics, cephalexin, steroids, oh my god so many other kinds of antibiotics that now I just feel as if all the vets we went to was basically throwing anything at me and saying let's try this. After the first year and half and none of the medications he had to take orally were working I stopped doing because of everything I was reading about how it could do more harm than good. I then tried natural home remedies for his skin but I continued the medicated shampoo and the ear medicine.

So fast forward to December 8^th 2011 (yes I will remember this date for the rest of my life lol) I go to his primary vet that has been Bears vet since he was a puppy just to get more medication for his ear and more medicated shampoo like I usually did every couple of months. We walk in and his vet was with another customer finishing up at the desk and she sees Bear and sees that now he has no hair on his tail neck ect.. And yells out WE MUST test him for hypothyroidism. She finishes up with the customer and we go into the examination room and she explains to me that she wants to test for it because one of the most common signs is hair loss on the tail and chest and that if he does have it, it will explain everything that was going on with him and that the treatment is fairly inexpensive. I was hesitant, here I was, another vet throwing out at me ANOTHER test proclaiming that they think he has this we should test for it and there goes another months worth of pay to another test that won't give me answers. But I gave in to the idea of having a healthy happy dog again. I sit here now and I thank god I did that one last final test on him. And it was actually very INEXPENSIVE. I think I only paid $150 or less for the actual test. So two days later the vet calls me and says all excitedly that Bear has hypothyroidism. I'm not going to lie and think what you want but I broke down in tears, happy tears, but mind you I'm at work and my co workers thought someone just died or something lol). So we go back to the vet and she explains to me that he will have this for the rest of his life but it is treatable by giving him 1 pill twice daily. She gives me a month's supply of Soloxine which only costs $20.00 from the vets office and literally one week later of being on this medication Bear started growing his hair back, was more energetic and started losing weight. Within one month those sores he had were gone and so was the yeasty smell!!! And his ears were finally clearing up. It has been 3 months now, Bear has all of his hair back, his ears are cleared up, and he is on a strict diet of grain free food only, takes his pill twice daily, and he has never been happier and either have I.

Don't give up hope, you never know, that one test could have all the answers you were looking for and a cure.