Hi and WELCOME! :greet:
Have you considered testing thyroid levels?
"Signs include dull hair coat, loss or thinning of hair, excessive shedding, and an inability to tolerate the cold. Some will have a thickening of the skin and increased skin pigment in areas of friction. Hypothyroid dogs have frequent ear and skin infections, resulting in severe itching and sores on the body from scratching."
Per the Dane Lady: " - It is my opinion, after working with hundreds of cases over many years, that when we are trying to rebalance the system and reduce the yeast/fungus levels in the gut, we have a much higher success rate when the thyroid is working properly. Now the problem is that yeast die-off, known as mycotoxins, actually can destroy the thyroid gland, which is the master lock to the whole glandular system (endocrine system). This is why having an current and accurate thyroid test done is critical to a successful rebalancing of the yeast overgrowth in the digestive tract.
Most veterinarians do not do a complete thyroid panel (5 panel test), nor do they know how to recognize a low normal test. I feel it is of utmost importance that you get a thyroid test analyzed by Dr. Jean Dodds at
www.hemopet.com. I feel so strongly about this that I often will not do a consultation until pet owners have this thyroid test done before our consultation. Go to hemopet.com and click on services
You will note Dr. Dodds has 4 sections with instructions and forms for you to print out and take to your vet. Your vet will draw the blood and mail it to her labratory and she will send you the accurate results. She does a complete Thyroid Antibody Panel which includes T4, Free T4, T3, Free T# and a TGAA (thyroglobulin autoantibody) test.
I really don't recommend going by your vets blood test. But if you have already gone to your own vet and they have run a T-3 and T-4 - look at the numbers, if they are in the middle (50%) range, it is considered low for the giant breeds and you must treat with thyroid meds. You must insist on it.
In fact, if your dog is a large/giant breed and it comes back in the middle range say 1-10 and it reads a 5 on your dog, it means it needs to be treated with meds. Ideally a large/giant breed needs to be
above the 50% range and on small active dogs it needs to be even higher than that - say on 1-10 range it would need to be a 7-8!
Per Dr. Dodd's website:
"HEMOLIFE, provides the most comprehensive diagnostic profiles for detecting and interpreting autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism, with our specialized reference ranges. We use novel, 'green' non-RIA technology never offered before in veterinary medicine (patent pending). The Thyroid Antibody Panel (Thyroid 5™) is comprised of T4, Free T4, T3, Free T3 and TGAA. No other diagnostic laboratory offers this technology or provides clients with the detail, personal assessment, and recommendations offered by Dr. Dodds and her staff."
Moms
