What to expect as Odin ages

[labsnewfy]

I am so glad that Odin received a good vet report. Hoping once the pain meds kick in he will feel like walking a little more and drop a couple pounds if needed.

[tennysonlab]

Got word back from the vet about the blood work that they did, in particular about his liver panel and the thyroid. He has an elevated ALP and his thyroid level is 0.5 and we have to have him tested for hypothyroid. I have a lot to research :0( We are doing the thyroid test on Monday and she said it takes a week to ten days to get the results back. I know nothing about either and am going to be googling a lot to find out what both mean. I am so lucky I have been able to save a little bit of money, because I just spent about $160 the other day on his test and heartworm preventative (for both dogs though) and now am looking at another $150 bill (the office visit and lab work). Please know I love my dogs (and cats), but being unemployed and nearly at the end of my benefits without any real prospects of work, I am a bit stressed.

[Maxx&Emma]

Oh gosh, that is a stressful situation! Sending good thoughts for a great job in your immediate future and good health for your sweet Odin!

[MikeLynn]

Best wishes for a decent job and/or a winning lottery ticket and, of course, for Odin, so his test results are the best possible. Fingers and paws crossed M&M

[tennysonlab]

We got the final lab work back yesterday and Odin is definitely hypothyroid. His TT4 was 8L; TT3 was 0.6L; his FT4 was 4L; and the FT3 was 2.8 (the T4 autoantibody was 7 and the T3 autoantibody was 3). Nearly every thing was below the acceptable range, or on the very low range of acceptable. The good news was that by monitoring Gaea's food intake, were able to stop him from eating her food and he as lost nearly 5 pounds just by not eating her meal, and with the tramadol and meloxicam he is able to go on more walks. I have also added sour cherries to his diet and he loves them! I am hoping that next month when we do his blood work it comes back okay and we can keep him on the medicine and not have to keep having his blood drawn.

Does anyone else have a dog with hypothyroidism? How manageable is it? My vet made it sound like, once he is on the right level of medicine, that he will be fine and I won't really have to worry about it. She did say that I have to watch out for him seeming hyper or panting a lot more. Already since he is on the NSAID and pain killer he is much more peppy and has even started trying to hump Gaea, which he hasn't tried doing since we first got him. He even stopped her from taking his Nylabone, which he normally would have let her and then looked all sad at me. I think I am just over-worrying because of everything financially that is going on with me. I found part time work, and that has caused me to lose my rent help, and next month I am losing my unemployment benefits and was told, when I tried appealing the loss of the rent help, that I would have to go back through the 45 day waiting period and "hope [I] find work". I am sure things will work out, but it seems very overwhelming right now. My dogs and cats are what make me happy and I haven't been this stressed in a while.

[MikeLynn]

Thank you for the update. Although all the news is not good, there are a few things that sound acceptable and hopeful. Sending more good wishes for Odin and keeping our fingers crossed for you, so you soon find a way out of this financial jungle and are able to relax a bit M&M