OCD or Hypothyroidism?

[LoveDoxies]

My little girl has always been obsessed with food.  She also has a hard time just laying down and relaxing; most of the time she is either playing with a toy or grooming herself.  I took her to the vet for her regular shots and the vet was shocked at her fat deposits on her chest and belly.  Based on that he suggested that she might have hypothyroidism so he wanted to do tests on her.  Since he overcharged me for the regular visit I decided to switch vets.  The new vet thinks it's OCD since she is very young and her fur looks fine, but he ran a blood test anyway to confirm.

Anyone out there who has a wiener with OCD or Hypothyroidism?


:scratch:

[Teresa]

I don't know of anyone with a doxie with OCD, but I do know of a psychiatrist (no kidding) whose lab had OCD. In his case the dog would get completely focused on one thing, such as chasing his tail or something, and couldn't settle down and sleep. Once other things were ruled out, they actually put him on a medication used for OCD and he was fine. I thought that was interesting. I had never thought about a dog having OCD. As for the hypothyroidism, it would seem that if she is always doing something and busy, it would be hyperthyroid, same as with humans. Hypo usually makes a person lethargic. It will be interesting to see what the bloodwork shows.

[Roberta]

Emma angel they thought could have been OCD about the cleaning, her feet were a mess sometimes, and at one point we did try prozac. It has three reactions, 1. they go sit somewhere by their selves and stare 2. they just stop chewing or 3. which Emma did was get clingy, and I can tell you this Alpha, leave me alone, I'll decide when I want cuddled, was not that normally. She chewed her way out of the house via a metal mesh fly wire as I had gone outside. We ended up giving her a seditive till it wore of. She was also Hypothyroid, but she did have all the symptoms dry skin, thin hair, etc I work in Biochemistry and knew the signs we picked it up at 6 months, she was on tablets till she passed away at nearly 17, did not slow her down one bit.
Roberta

[Jeri]

I would get her thyroid checked just in case.  Although her coat looks fine, not all symptoms show up in every dog that is hypothyroid.  Archie Angel had a luxurious coat--enough for three dogs, and he was hypothyriod.  It only takes a simple blood test, and if she is hypothyroid it's a condition that is cheap and simple to treat.  Since she shows other markers for the condition, it's best to have her checked.

[LoveDoxies]

Well we got the T4 results back: 2.3
The vet said that's in the low side of normal.  We could run some more expensive tests but since she doesn't have any symptoms that pose a health concern, we decided to wait another year and re-test her.  Her begging for food may be a behavioral problem because she had to compete for food for the first few months of her life.  She was one of the last puppies to get adopted out of her litter and the breeder would just put a big bowl of dog food in the cage for all puppies to share.  Sadie was one of the bigger puppies because she would push the other ones out of the way so she could have most of the food.

Thanks for all your comments and suggestions.

:thumb:

[cheryl186]

I am soooo glad that the blood work came back normal (even if it was on the low side of normal)....our babies are such a worry.  You are right though, it could be a behavior problem. 

[Barb]

Glad the report was ok.  Just watch her closely and do some research on the net.  Obsession with food is a doxie trait !!!  99% of them are - LOL !   Scheduled meals and scheduled treats will help her learn when the food will be coming and will know that it will.  And THEN, she will let you know when that time is - right down to the minute !!!  Hee Hee - they have built in Food Clocks !!!