# Goldens on Thyroid medication.



## Rob's GRs (Feb 25, 2007)

For those of you that have Goldens taking thyroid medication what brand of thyroid meds are you giving now and what dosage per day? 

Right now I get a yearly full thyroid panel done and since Hogans Thyroid is just starting to go we have him on Soloxine at 0.3mg/twice a day. I am sure over time this will increase as his thyroid totally goes out.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

My Casey gets 1.5 pills of 0.5 Soloxine in the morning and 1 pill of 0.5 Soloxine at night. This dosage has worked pretty well for him for about 2 years now (he is now 10)


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Bump*

Bumping up.


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

I have two Goldens on Soloxine. Joker (age 9) takes 1.0 m.g. twice a day and Charlie (approaching 13 y.o.) takes .6 m.g. twice a day. I suspect Charlie's dose needs to increase (again), since his last thyroid panel shows the T4 at the low end of normal.

Charlie is prone to seizures and a lot of seizure meds, including Phenobarbital, interact with thyroid meds. Whenever your dog starts a new medication, it's worth checking for interactions, especially if the new med will be taken for a long time.

By the way, Soloxine is among the meds that we order from a certified online pharmacy, since the cost is dramatically lower than getting it from our veterinarian or a local pharmacy.

Lucy


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

This may change in June after I consult with our vet, but for now he's on Thyro Tabs (levothyroxine sold by KV Vet Supply). During warm/hot months it's .8 1x per day (given 1 hour before meal) and during the winter months it is .7 1x per day. We retest every 3 months. I use the KV vet pills because I get them in bottles of .5 and .1 for ease in dosing. With 2 dogs I bought the 1000 bottles, with one dog now I'm going back to smaller bottles. My vet insists on 1x per day....we will be discussing this in June; however, it is much easier to do it this way since Toby eats 3x per day due to some digestive issues. If I start dosing 2x per day it's going to be problematic scheduling wise since you need to give it on an empty stomach 1 hour before or 3 hours after a meal.

The usual dose is .1 per 10 pounds dog weight, but that doesn't work for us at all. Toby is 58 pounds.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

Robbie is on Thyrosyn .5 mg twice a day


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## GoldensGirl (Aug 2, 2010)

Dallas Gold said:


> If I start dosing 2x per day it's going to be problematic scheduling wise since you need to give it on an empty stomach 1 hour before or 3 hours after a meal.


I have never been able to follow the recommendation about giving thyroid meds on an empty stomach - not for my dogs and not for myself (I've been hypothyroid for decades). Giving the med with food may reduce the absorption so that a higher dose is required, but it does work - at least according to the blood tests (mine and my dogs').


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

Maggie is on soloxine .7mg, she takes a half tab in the am and half tab in the pm


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## BayBeams (Jan 3, 2010)

Baylee has been on .4 mg of Soloxine twice a day since she was 3 years old. Before Beau died from cancer he was taking .6mg of the generic levothyroxine twice a day. I don't know the brand. I would have preferred to have him on Soloxine as recommended by Dr. Dodds but I couldn't get it through my vet. Since he was originally started on the generic I just kept him on it.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Brooks' old vet had him on generic levothyroxine but his new vet wants to put him on Soloxine as she feels it is the only Rx for thyroid that works properly in dogs. I went to an online source for Soloxine and read about it and in parenthesis after the trade name Soloxine it said (levothyroxine) so is there a difference? 
The levothyroxine (generic) costs about half what the new vet's office charges for Soloxine.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

Gunner was on Soloxine and then my new vet put him on Thyro Tabs which( through KV Vet Supply) are so much cheaper!! He takes .5 twice a day . He is 8 and was diagnosed low normal at 5. He gets a full panel test once a year, unless needed sooner.

Since we can only get his glaucoma/uveitis eye drops through our pharmacy and are so expensive, it's good the Thyro Tabs are less!!


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## sharlin (Feb 26, 2007)

Rusty was first on .75mg Soloxine twice daily for almost 9 months. After another thyroid panel he is now at .50 twice daily. Also, I do believe it is important that you give the pills either 30 minutes before or after eating.


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## vrmueller (Jun 14, 2008)

Ruby is on Soloxine 0.35mgs 2 times daily. She was diagnosed last September at 3 years old. She started at 0.4 and was retested after 3 months lowering it to 0.35. I need to have her tested again in a few weeks. Since starting the medication, I haven't noticed any improvement at all.


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## Katie and Paddy's Mum (Mar 31, 2010)

Paddy and Katie are both on thyroid meds (I advised our breeder!) Paddy was diagnosed at 1 year old and was put on 0.8mg of thyrotabs (0.4am & 0.4pm) He has since been changed to 0.5 daily (0.3AM and 0.2PM)

Katie is also using thyrotabs. She was only diagnosed as low-normal so after an initial adjustment period she is now maintaining on 0.3mg daily (or .15 with each meal)

I haven't investigated getting the medicine from anywhere other than our vet office, but have wondered if it is a good option for us.

Kim


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

We are doing a 6 week trial. After which I'm not sure... 

But - .5 Soloxine 2x a day. As recommended by Dr. Dodds. 

I give him one at 6AM and then again at 6PM. 

The food issue isn't a problem (meaning - he usually doesn't have breakfast until 9 or 10AM, plenty of time after the AM dose, and 1 hour after the PM dose), but the morning dose of glucosamine is. <- I can't trust my family to give any pills on time so I always take care of that detail before I leave for work. The glucosamine supplement he's on right now has calcium in it, which may interfere with the soloxine.


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## Cam's Mom (Apr 13, 2007)

I've had several dogs take thyroid meds. Three of my own four. I used Soloxine until a few years ago, and now use Thyroxine-L by Butler Schein. Soloxine used to be superior, but the generic versions are now equivalent. I pay 4c a pill.

Cam, my biggest golden took the smallest dose at 0.3mg twice daily. His tests were initially at barely low normal. In 12 years the dose never changed.

Bailey has taken 0.5 mg twice daily for 8 years we have had him.

Odin was diagnosed much younger, and had virtually no thyroid activity. He was 60 lbs and took 0.6 mg twice daily, until a couple of years ago at 11 when his dose needed to be lowered to 0.5 mg twice daily.

I've had several fosters on both Soloxine and Thyroxine L too. 

I have tried giving it before meals, and with meals, and had no differences in test results in any dog tested. I generally give it with breakfast, but then several hours after dinner at night. So long as you are consistent about when your dog gets meds the test results will reflect what dose you need. 

Twice daily is recommended since it is metabolized in about ten hours. If you only give it once daily there is a long period with no active T3 or T4. In a healthy individual the level does vary during a 24 hour period, but not drastically.


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## magiclover (Apr 22, 2008)

Magic started out on 0.8 mg Soloxine and we had to increase her in January to 1.6. Her T4 levels were extremely low. We might have had to increase because I had to keep her on a regular feeding schedule because she would regularly vomit bile on an empty stomach. We also gave her Zantac twice a day which also can decrease absorption rates.


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## Our3dogs (Apr 3, 2008)

Our Logan takes .5 twice a day and Lacey takes .2 twice a day. Dosage has never really changed once we reached the correct dosage. We just use the generic Thyroxine-L by Butler as well. Less expensive than Soloxine and works just as well. We also just give it with their meals. If I do otherwise I forget, which is worse than the little bit you might lose giving it with food.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

Jasmine and Jasper are on soloxine. Jasmine gets .5 once a day given in the morning and Jasper is on .6 twice a day.


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Both Deardra and Tucker took Soloxine for their thyroid problems. It was .5mg 2x a day for Tucker, I forget the amount Deardra took.


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## Hali's Mom (Oct 5, 2006)

As per Dr. Dodd's recommendation Hali was on .06 Soloxine 2 x daily 1 hr before or 3 hrs after meals. I would highly recommend having Dr. Dodd read your test results if you do not think the current dosage is working for your dog. She would gladly do so and advise you. Hemopet.com


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Hali's Mom said:


> As per Dr. Dodd's recommendation Hali was on .06 Soloxine 2 x daily 1 hr before or 3 hrs after meals. I would highly recommend having Dr. Dodd read your test results if you do not think the current dosage is working for your dog. She would gladly do so and advise you. Hemopet.com


She was the one who recommended my guy's current dosage. I feel funny about emailing her again, and will probably wait a few more days to talk to my vet... but I noticed that Jacks has been pretty warm around the mouth area and drinking a little more. <- But I can't tell if this is from the soloxine or from his storm phobia. We've had nothing but bad weather since starting him on the meds.


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