Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I have a question about my little Shih Tzu. She is almost 11 years old.

For the first time, this weekend she had odd things happen to her. Sat. night she got up and acted like she lifted her head up and down over and over. Then she was fine. The next eve, she was going to eat her dinner and I looked away, then heard scratching on the floor. She was on her back flailling her legs.

I picked her up and she was fine.

She eats Nature's Variety Instinct Raw lamb or venison medallions and when we travel, she eats the same, but canned. She has only eaten these for a month. Before that, she ate Natural Balance Canned.

My vet saw her today. She thinks they are seizures. We can take her to a neurologist now or just keep watching her to see if it happens again and then take her.

She takes one or two drops of Maitake D mushroom drops every couple of days and the good fish oil I take every couple of days.

I was wondering if there is anything I can do as we watch her. Any supplements that help?

Her blood tests will come back Thursday.

Thank you.
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Sally & Trudy

Ask for a thyroid panel to be included with the blood tests. Seizures are often associated with low thyroid values. If the T4 is under 2, she is likely hypothyroid and should be put on l-thyroxin. Has she had any vaccinations in the 3 months leading up to the seizures?

The vet did do the tests for Thyroid. The circulation came back fine today. The bound thyroid was low though.

I wanted to test her b vits. and we will do that next month when the kidneys are rechecked since the BUN showed some dehydration. My dog had just traveled in the care so I thought that might be why. Her food is good, moist raw and I add water and she drinks also.

The bound thyroid is low. It is caused by other problems I guess. we will look into more, but what could cause this?

The vet said since the circulation thyroid was fine, there is not a Thyroid problem needed med. Is that true? Thank you.

She had diarrhea again early this morning. Very odd for her. Is pumpkin or sweet potato good for that? I would rather not get the shot for diarrhea. The vet will call back with the dose for Immodium in case I want to give that to her. I just want to use safe options for the diarrhea. Thank you.
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Sally & Trudy

What are the numbers for her thyroid tests?

Thyroid was .5
Range is 1-4

Circulating Thyroid is .9
rannge is .6-3.7

I only told you the range that you already know of course, just in case this test was different.

Vet seems to think no Thyroid is needed. Seems low to me. Please give me your thoughts and I can call her and discuss it further. Thank you! Sally
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Sally & Trudy

Her thyroid is much too low. If she is in the average Shih-tzu weight range of 12-15 #, she should get 0.1 mg of l-thyroxine twice a day. Your dog is hypothyroid.

Thank you! Trudy is 13lbs. I will talk to my vet.
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Sally & Trudy