Yep, that's what her vet thinks for now. Of course we will be watching for any new rash that appears in between now and her next heat, but for now he was confident in it enough to not order any tests for thyroid or allergies.
Not sure how old your girl is but...
If past 2 or 3 yrs of age and as inexpensive as thyroid testing is, It is not a horrible idea to start the testing so you have a baseline number to compare to so you can tell if the number start going down before they get WAY down.
I kick myself in the butt for waiting with my last pair that BOTH developed thyroid issues until the symptoms led / forced me to have the testing done.
The lethargy, weight gain with fewer calories, etc.
If I had started testing them sooner AND had been testing them yearly - I could have have caught the issues much sooner and had them medicated before the weight was packed on them.
Weight that is much harder to remove than it is for them to put on...
It took me a year to get Patience back to her 'normal' weight (once diagnosed and properly medicated) after she blew up. I 'could' have caught that sooner and might have been able to prevent her blowing up in the first place. She was a good looking dog at 80 to 85lbs. When her thyroid started going bonkers she blew up to 98 in a hurry... Even though I cut back on her portion sizes as she was getting fatter...
A year of big time reduced calories and hardly no treats ever after I got her thyroid levels corrected / properly tested and medicated that if I had been testing her sooner I could have caught earlier and before she gained so much weight.
I still feel bad about those skimpy meals she had to suffer for a good couple of years because I was not better on top of things.
Example of where my not having a history of test results cost me a delay in time dealing with it -
Once the one girl (Patience) was diagnosed as having thyroid problems I started having the littermate (Dystopia) tested as well when we would go to the appointments. She (Dystopia) tested at the very, very bottom of the acceptable range for about a year and the Vet didn't want to treat anything. That was when the lethargy, aversion to cold, and weight gain started making their appearance but because she was testing just barely inside of the range the Vet did not want to medicate her. If I had stated her testing sooner (before the problems started) I would have had a paper trail of number to
prove to the Vet that something was not right in her body...
My new girl here will be getting the yearly blood work and thyroid testing starting at 3 yrs old. Will add a little over $200.00 a year to her Vet expenses and she may never have any thyroid issues at all but it will give
me and the Vet a history of her numbers to reference for just in case something does turn up 'off' in the future.
Food stuff is important with dogs. They KNOW if you give them good food or crappy food. They especially know if you don't give them anything but a tiny bit of food...
If you are the owner that is constantly making their meal time a really, really good time each day for them - Those dogs is going to love you for that and tend to work a little harder to earn that sort of reward.
