Hypothyroidism in dogs: clinical signs, diagnostics and treatment

Hypothyroidism in dogs is one of the most common endocrine disorders, but can be challenging to diagnose. Treatment of hypothyroidism is relatively simple, but diagnostics is commonly hard because of many various clinical signs that can mimic other diseases. Also no laboratory findings are typical to the disease. Diagnosis can be made only evaluating all clinical signs, anamnesis and laboratory findings together. The most common diagnostic tests are evaluation of T4 and TSH hormones levels. Even if these tests are not completely accurate and there are many more reliable diagnostic measures in veterinary practice, T4 and TSH are chosen because of quick and simple procedure and low price of test. These tests are not 100% accurate and it is very important to know all possible clinical signs and all factors that can affect tests results. During this research data analysis of dogs with hypothyroidism was made. All dogs were divided by age, sex, breed, clinical signs and laboratory findings. Hypothyroidism was commonly diagnosed to middle age dogs, average age was about 7 years. Both genders are affected equally, but pedigree dogs are affected more (64 %) than cross breeds. The most common diagnosed symptoms were dermatological (85.7 %) and metabolic (78.5 %) disorders. T4 and TSH tests were used to diagnose hypothyroidism, during this research TSH accuracy was about 71%. Levothyroxine was used for treating hypothyroidism in dogs. The average primary dose was 9.36 μg/kg, efficiency of the treatment was 71%, measuring after 2 – 4 weeks of treatment. Primary dose was increased to those dogs with not efficient treatment until T4 level reached suggested values