# Very worried about Amber :(



## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

I would call the vet and bring her in again, get more bloodwork done and see if there's an issue. Where is she scavenging? On walks? If so keep her on leash, find another location without whatever it is she's eating, or get a basket muzzle so she cannot eat any junk - totally possible she's sick from something she's eaten.

Also ask the vet for a good trainer who can help with her issues and start working on them.

Hope you're feeling better soon!


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

I think a trip back to the vet is in order. They won't put her to sleep for this, especially while undergoing treatment. It sounds like maybe her meds need to be adjusted.

I'm sure others will offer dietary advice. Canned pumpkin is one food recommended for this. Please feed her something. A little boiled chicken, rice and broth. You can't stop the accidents by stopping her food.

Also, she doesn't feel good, she needs you to go cuddle her. I'm sure she's confused and unhappy too.

Hugs and kisses for you and your family, especially Amber.


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## lucysmum (Sep 2, 2010)

I am sorry to hear that Amber is not well. I have no advice to give but I think too that she is perhaps confused and is not pooing on purpose. I think to leave her on her own will add to her confusion and won't fix what is wrong with her. Please give her cuddles and attention and assure her that she hasn't been bad.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Dog*

Dog

Definitely take her to the vet. Maybe her meds need to be changed.


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## elly (Nov 21, 2010)

Hi,
I dont know a lot about thyroid issues in dogs but I do in humans and the effects will be similar I assume so on that basis I would urge you to get her bloods redone at the vets as she may need her meds lowered. Too much thyroid hormnone can make you feel agitated, give you diarrhoea or in basic terms just make your system go too fast. Is she panting more than usual? Restless? Ate her food fast? Even if the answers are no she may still be on too high a dose. We dont really have canned pumpkin here but allbran is good to firm her poohs and mashed carrot as well as rice. I dont know if you know we also have a UK section of the forum too, if not and you want to pop in please feel free to message me and join us there too. The scavenging could be a sign shes extra hungry which would also indicate her meds are too high.


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## Selli-Belle (Jan 28, 2009)

The fact that she has had diarrhea for awhile suggests to me that her accidents in the house are just that accidents, she has no choice in the matter. Now her biting your husband is another issue, however seeing as she isn't feeling well her behavior may be off due to her sickness. 

I would take her to the vet and try to get to the bottom of the diarrhea and train a really good leave it or use the basket muzzle to prevent scavenging.


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

Bender said:


> I would call the vet and bring her in again, get more bloodwork done and see if there's an issue. Where is she scavenging? On walks? If so keep her on leash, find another location without whatever it is she's eating, or get a basket muzzle so she cannot eat any junk - totally possible she's sick from something she's eaten.
> Also ask the vet for a good trainer who can help with her issues and start working on them.
> Hope you're feeling better soon!



**** Bender:
She just had blood test 2 weeks ago (£200+) to check her thyroids level and the vet confirm yesterday that all is normal. What other blood test shall I ask for?
Yes, she scavenges on her normal daily walk around the neighbourhood (filthy humans take outs etc...) She is always on the leash unless in an open park. Very unlikely we are going to find another LOCAL “take away” free location as my husbands walks her for 30 minutes before and after work. 
Would love to get a trainer to work with her but difficult... We’ll look again what is available... Not going to tell you my life all over lol! My husband works 6 days a week...




Penny's Mom said:


> I think a trip back to the vet is in order. They won't put her to sleep for this, especially while undergoing treatment. It sounds like maybe her meds need to be adjusted.
> I'm sure others will offer dietary advice. Canned pumpkin is one food recommended for this.
> Please feed her something. A little boiled chicken, rice and broth.
> You can't stop the accidents by stopping her food.
> Also, she doesn't feel good, she needs you to go cuddle her. I'm sure she's confused and unhappy too. Hugs and kisses for you and your family, especially Amber.



**** Penny’s Mom:
I hear what you are saying about “the vet won’ put her down” but I still do not feel comfortable about telling him about it just yet unless I have further cause for concerns.
Since diagnosed with this lifetime condition Amber has been closely monitored and has been having blood test every 3- 6 months. We do take her condition seriously and know how it can affect her behaviour but if the vet says the results are ok what are we suppose to do?
I never said that I had stopped feeding her because of her accidents! Obviously I meant because of the diarrhea. Advice since she was a puppy has always been do not feed for 24hours and then brown rice and boiled breast chicken. I also always make of point of hand feeding her (kind of my way of telling her I know she is under the weather...) which is what she had tonight and will again in the morning...




lucysmum said:


> I am sorry to hear that Amber is not well. I have no advice to give but I think too that she is perhaps confused and is not pooing on purpose. I think to leave her on her own will add to her confusion and won't fix what is wrong with her. Please give her cuddles and attention and assure her that she hasn't been bad.



**** lucysmum:
Believe me it was hard for us not too cuddle her too (we love her and she is our baby). But to be honest I wasn’t sure if hugs and cuddles would be the right thing to do under the circumstances. Soiling the floor was one thing but her 3 piece settee/bed, no! 
That is the only reason she had to sleep in the hall, alone for the first time ever! The cushions on her settee had to be thrown away and alternative had to be found... I couldn’t take the risk of her sleeping in the same room as me that night as I am prone to infection and I was very conscious about the fact that she was covered in poop (even though I had thoroughly cleaned her). 
But don’t you worry she had plenty of cuddles tonight and is back into her normal bed. She doesn’t look sick at all though!




elly said:


> Hi,
> I dont know a lot about thyroid issues in dogs but I do in humans and the effects will be similar I assume so on that basis I would urge you to get her bloods redone at the vets as she may need her meds lowered. Too much thyroid hormnone can make you feel agitated, give you diarrhoea or in basic terms just make your system go too fast. Is she panting more than usual? Restless? Ate her food fast? Even if the answers are no she may still be on too high a dose. We dont really have canned pumpkin here but allbran is good to firm her poohs and mashed carrot as well as rice. I dont know if you know we also have a UK section of the forum too, if not and you want to pop in please feel free to message me and join us there too. The scavenging could be a sign shes extra hungry which would also indicate her meds are too high.



**** elly:
Wow for someone who doesn’t know a lot you made a lot of sense to me!!! 
Now that you mention it she may be still hungry as she has lost a lot of weight too. And yes she does eat very fast. That combined with the scavenging getting worse you may have won the jackpot here! Last July 2010 when she was diagnosed she had to go on a diet. Maybe it’s time to increase her food again. 
Again what shall I ask the vet for? Did he make a mistake reading the results!!!? Can the results read normal and the meds are still too high? The only other dosage that she hasn’t tried would be half a pill daily. I will ask the vet on Monday. 
Thank you and no I didn’t know about the UK forum. I will try to find my way there soon...




Selli-Belle said:


> The fact that she has had diarrhea for awhile suggests to me that her accidents in the house are just that accidents, she has no choice in the matter.
> Now her biting your husband is another issue, however seeing as she isn't feeling well her behavior may be off due to her sickness.
> I would take her to the vet and try to get to the bottom of the diarrhea and train a really good leave it or use the basket muzzle to prevent scavenging.



**** Selli-Belle:
We’ve had Amber from 13 weeks and she will be 5 years old at the end of the months. So she has had diarrhea before and we are always very concern ever though we know that most of the time it is due to her scavenging. For us diarrhea has never = accident in the house. 
So it must be her medication. You are absolutely right about the “leave it” command but my husband is useless at training Amber (she sees him as a playmate and I am no longer able to train her). So we may have to try the muzzle to prevent scavenging until I look for a trainer.


Thank you all so much for you advice. It really helped and I am less stressed than I was before. I cannot believe it’s the medication again. 1 and a half was too much and now 1 is too. 

How many dogs take only half a pill? Is that common? I dare say the vet could have conveniently made a mistake as the pills are costly!! The more the merrier I guess!!!

Night night!


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I know with my dogs being on thyroid meds, it is meds that are taken twice a day every twelve hours. So I wonder if that is what he meant for the meds. I would talk with your vet to get a clarification on the medication amount. For her diarrhea I would tell him about that also. That is not common to have it all the time.


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## Selli-Belle (Jan 28, 2009)

You stated that she has had diarrhea on and off for two weeks, it may not be just from scavenging this time. She may have a bug that is causing the diarrhea and she skips a few meals and it may stop because she has nothing left in her tummy but when she eats again, the bug plus food starts the diarrhea again. 

If she hasn't had accidents in the house before and suddenly has one or two at the same time she is experiencing persistent diarrhea it seems to me most likely that the two are connected and that she is sick and can't help herself. That would be my take if it were Selli. Whether it is the thyroid medication I can't say, but I would be looking into it.

As to the biting, what was the exact situation? Has she had an issue with resource guarding before? How bad of a bite was it? Can you give us more information?


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## lucysmum (Sep 2, 2010)

dog..... It is obvious that you love your girl very very much. 


I pray that she gets better very soon. And things can get back to normal again. 

Please give her a big kiss from her auntie in japan. And a big hug for you too.


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## elly (Nov 21, 2010)

Quote....Maybe it’s time to increase her food again. 
Again what shall I ask the vet for? Did he make a mistake reading the results!!!? Can the results read normal and the meds are still too high? The only other dosage that she hasn’t tried would be half a pill daily. I will ask the vet on Monday. 
Thank you and no I didn’t know about the UK forum. I will try to find my way there soon...


Hi again,
The secret wont be in increasing her food but in adjusting her meds properley and I would be worried that her results had been read correctly or hadnt been mixed with someone elses. What happens when your thyroid is running too fast is that you are running on overdrive, your heart runs fast, you metabolise everything fast so you can eat a big ,meal but you will burn it up quickly, digest it quickly and then want more quickly...hence her scavenging, losing weight, sometimes diarrhoea, sometimes agitated,...etc...to me it fits the perfect picture but I am not by any means an expert so please speak to your vet but just like when you dont have a thyroid issue and it works naturally, thyroids run at different levels of need and maybe your girls body needs a slightly different level than normal lab values on paper...its a common error in humans and no doubt in animals too. Look at the whole picture...labs on paper *and* the person/animal *in front of you*...and treat accordingly! Maybe that half pill may do the trick, please ask your vet what he thinks as somethings not right and it seems a big coincidence if its only a coincidence that she has thyroid issues that could match too! :uhoh:


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## Doodle (Apr 6, 2009)

elly said:


> Hi again,
> The secret wont be in increasing her food but in adjusting her meds properley and I would be worried that her results had been read correctly or hadnt been mixed with someone elses. What happens when your thyroid is running too fast is that you are running on overdrive, your heart runs fast, you metabolise everything fast so you can eat a big ,meal but you will burn it up quickly, digest it quickly and then want more quickly...hence her scavenging, losing weight, sometimes diarrhoea, sometimes agitated,...etc...to me it fits the perfect picture but I am not by any means an expert so please speak to your vet but just like when you dont have a thyroid issue and it works naturally, thyroids run at different levels of need and maybe your girls body needs a slightly different level than normal lab values on paper...its a common error in humans and no doubt in animals too. Look at the whole picture...labs on paper *and* the person/animal *in front of you*...and treat accordingly! Maybe that half pill may do the trick, please ask your vet what he thinks as somethings not right and it seems a big coincidence if its only a coincidence that she has thyroid issues that could match too! :uhoh:


BINGO!!! We recently had to adjust Brady's thyroid medicine BASED ON HIS SYMPTOMS AND BEHAVIOR, not blood levels! He suddenly started acting hyperthyroid, so our vet did bloodwork (which was in the normal range) and she also listened to his heart (which was beating at a normal rate). So "on paper" he seemed fine, but his behavior suggested otherwise, so we adjusted his dosage because the vet said sometimes you have to pay more attention to the dog, and less on the labwork. Any change in behavior warrants a full health work up by your vet first and foremost. And I agree with the others that he/she will not tell you to put your dog down in this case. Be honest with your vet or they won't be able to help you!


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## Dog (Sep 26, 2006)

BeauShel said:


> I know with my dogs being on thyroid meds, it is meds that are taken twice a day every twelve hours. So I wonder if that is what he meant for the meds. I would talk with your vet to get a clarification on the medication amount. For her diarrhea I would tell him about that also. That is not common to have it all the time.


1 Soloxine = 0.8mg
Give one tablet once per day means = 1 pill every 24hours and
3 HOURS AFTER evening meals as someone here advised a few months back.

BeauShel do you think I should give her half and half?
How much in mg do your dogs take?

Thank you.


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## elly (Nov 21, 2010)

With thyroid meds it depends if the meds are for hyper or hypo thyroid....if hypo then once a day should be fine as the time it takes to work is longer, with hyper the issues are different so twice a day may be more justified...I dont know if thats what the case was with the dog that was having them twice a day or different vets say different things just as different doctors do! I am glad someone else has been able to also verify what I said about looking at the whole picture rather than just the lab results too and has a dog as proof of the pudding! I have a relative as proof too and it took years of searching and illness and changing specialists to get there and now even though the results are off normal....theres nothing abnormal about the person! Good luck tomorrow with the vet...please keep us posted. :crossfing


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I have two dogs that are hypothyroid and they take their pills twice a day every twelve hours. Each is on a different dose according to their needs, so Amber maybe need a different amount. One is on .5 and one is on .6 twice a day. My cat is hyper thyroid and takes her meds twice a day too.


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## elly (Nov 21, 2010)

So it could be worth trying twice a day then for Amber too but I think also she needs to see if Ambers dose needs changing too like you as she stills seems to be showing signs of being on too higher dose so may need a lower dose, its all about fine tuning, difficult but hopefully the vet will listen and react well today. Thyroids eh! Who'd have them!? Haha!


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## AndrewVT (Jun 17, 2011)

I was just browsing the internet, golden retriever stuff and all, and saw your posting. Didn't see anyone suggest an important possibility but what I suspect made it worth enough to join and respond.

I don't want to be scary or anything, but there is something that hasn't been considered. While the symptoms you described can be loosely tied to the condition, they can be better tied to another condition which is probably tied to the preexisting one. Seizures have been linked to hyperthyroidism in dogs. Is it possible she is seizing? This would explain the defecating (as that is not entirely typical of HT) and also the snapping. It also explains the out of character mess on Amber as she wasn't in the pilots seat at the time that this all happened. It is also not unusual for her to seek a hiding place if she feels it coming and this is why you haven't witnessed it.

Don't want to be scary, just offering differing possibilities.

Not a Vet, just been around the block a few times. Also interned for years with Vets for years and do people emergency medical type stuff.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

Yes, AndrewVT, she could have been having seizures. That could explain the mess. Though, the OP does not mention any puddles, just bowel movements, and that might be unusual for a seizure, to lose the bowels but not the bladder.

This is an older post, from earlier this year. I don't think that we've heard back from the OP to know how Amber is doing.


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