Preventing Misdiagnosis of Canine Hypothyroidism

Diane Levitan, VMD, DACVIM, from Peace Love Pets Veterinary Care, lists key points to take into account when diagnosing and treating canine hypothyroidism.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“In order to prevent misdiagnosis of hypothyroidism we really need to look at the entire picture of our patient: what is the dog’s history? [Has] anything happened to the dog in the recent past? Have they been gaining weight? Are they lethargic? Do they have chronic skin infections or chronic ear infections? [Has there been] things that aren’t typical for this patient in the last several years?

These kind of things are going to come on gradually to give us signs that this dog maybe [has] become hypothyroid. There’s also looking at bloodwork along with the entire clinical picture, particularly looking at response to treatment; if we start an animal on treatment and they don’t seem to be [exhibiting] the effects that we would like to see, we need to realize that perhaps we’re not treating [the dog] appropriately.”