change in behaviour
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Poor pup.  Usually, thyroid meds correct a sudden behavior problem (growling or snapping for no reason), when an underactive thyroid is discovered. I would be more inclined to believe that pain is causing her change in behavior, rather than her thyroid meds. She may have residual and uncontrolled pain from her injury, that is causing her to warn you off from touching her in certain ways.Laurie and Oscar |
If you have not already done so, I would call my vet and tell him what is going on. He may want another blood test to check her levels. When my Millie was on Thyroid meds, we would run bloodwork every six months. Also, maybe she is hurting ?? from her past injury?? Just some thoughts. Good Luck and keep us posted!!!!  |
| I would also want a vet check. As it could be thyroid levels aren't quite right or it could be pain from the cruciate ligament or she may have hurt something else when she slipped. Unfortunately its common for the cruciate ligament to tear on the other leg so that will need to be checked too.  |
| Thank you for your advice and suggestions, i will call the vet tomorrow and ask for her thyroid levels to be checked as they havnt been for a year. Very interesting to hear the thyroid imbalance is linked to behaviour. I did take her to the vet the first time she warned my daughter and the vet gave me pain killers, but as the growling/snapping only happens if she is in her bed or woken not sure if it could be pain??? oh i dont know i just want her to be ok and be able to trust her again. Thank you again, il keep you posted |
| I wonder if she could now be hyperthyroid. Thyroid meds speed up the whole system... too much thyroid hormone can cause nervousness/excitement, insomnia, rapid heart beat, etc. Maybe check to see if her level is appropriate... just another blood test. I'd send it off to MSU, Hemopet or another big lab to get a full profile, not the in-office testing. Share with your vet these behavioral changes and ask if she may need her thyroid med dosage adjusted. |
| Well blood test results are back as normal and she is on the correct meds for her thyroid, (blood test was a nightmare which iv talked about on my other thread) so, the vet has checked her joints for pain, and the conclusion is, no obvious joint pain, but put her on painkillers long term....as in "just phone for repeat precription, when iv run out" ??!! Not happy about it. If you didnt read my other thread, when they shaved her for her bloods to be taken they litterally took the top layer of skin off and left her with an open wound, we are now on day 6 and its the first day it hasnt bled. As for her bad behaviour.......this wound is horrible and she has let me wash it, dry it and apply antiseptic with out even a little grumble....im so confused lol and feel so bad that i muzzle her "just incase" when 99% of the time she is fine, it is just when she is woken she will growl and snap and warn.....now she is on pain killer iv got to test her by waking her......hhmmm not sure about that one. just not sure what to do, and really dont like the thought of long term pain killers if she isnt in pain   |
| In the years you've had her, has she by any chance been prone to/treated for ear infections? Kristine |
| thank you for responding, no her ears are cleaned every 6 weeks , never had an infection. |
| It may be time for a second opinion. It never hurts to see what a set of fresh eyes have to say. Besides, it seems that your current vet is shirking responsibility for the wound, so maybe another doctors opinion would be for the best. |
| Poor Tinkerbell. I also responded on your thread about the wound from her blood draw. I second the thought of finding a new vet altogether. What specific pain meds is she on? Anti-inflammatories? The growling does not sound behavioral to me. I'm still thinking pain of some sort, or fear that someone is going to touch her and cause her pain. Her growl is a warning, and you are right to heed it. She's telling you that something is amiss. Since she only does it while in her bed, or while waking up, is it possible that she is having a type of seizure? I'm not at all familiar with seizures in dogs, but I do a friend that experiences them while sleeping (partial complex, not grand mal), and she wakes up disoriented. Just throwing that out there. You know, I just thought of something else. Our first sheepie, Quincy, only growled at me twice, both times when he was up on our bed and I made him get down. (He was not allowed on the bed.) I chalked it up to a phase. I didn't know it at the time, but he had huge ulcers, and while he showed no other symptoms, thinking back he must have been in a tremendous amount of pain. He got the ulcers from taking anti-inflammatories for arthritis (Rimadyl, Deramaxx). We hope her boo-boo heals quickly, and that you can get to the bottom of the growling issue. Laurie and Oscar |
Quote: if she is alseep and is woken by someone close to her she growls and snaps, more recently she was awake on her bed and i went to stroke her and she warned me off. How close to her are they? No way in heck would awaken my Schipperke-mix by touching her. "Let sleeping (resting) dogs lie." applies to her. She's never bitten and I want to keep it that way so I respect her limits. Kaytee used to be a little wretch when bumped by another dog while sleeping. She would make them yipe but didn't actually harm them. But she nailed me one time thinking I was another dog, a tooth right on the knuckle and it hurt like the dickens. So we had to work to lessen her startle reflex. She can't see much but she can hear so before we touch her, we quietly talk to her... then glide a hand down her side and pet her. Her startle reflex is much less now. Every night when she's sleeping on the bed with Jim, I try to sneak in with the last treat of the day and put right in front of her nose to help reinforce the interruption is a pleasant one. But her hearing is so keen it's often difficult to do. So basically, we used the techniques for deaf dogs but were fortunate to be able to also include voice... http://deafdogs.org/training/#desensitization Quote: Gently touch the dog, then immediately pop a treat in the dog's mouth when he turns around. The dog quickly associates good things (i.e., the treat) with being touched unexpectedly, and learns to respond happily. Quote: With the groomer, where she would give a warning growl and nothing else while her toes where being felt she now has to be muzzled. very frustrating not knowing why she has changed so much, anyone have any ideas? How would she respond if you did her grooming? My Schipperke-mix got so she'd scream bloody murder when her nails were trimmed at the vet... that was when I started doing them at home. She still doesn't enjoy it but it's much less stressful for her and she makes not a sound.  |
Oscar's Mom wrote: Poor Tinkerbell. I also responded on your thread about the wound from her blood draw. I second the thought of finding a new vet altogether. What specific pain meds is she on? Anti-inflammatories? The growling does not sound behavioral to me. I'm still thinking pain of some sort, or fear that someone is going to touch her and cause her pain. Her growl is a warning, and you are right to heed it. She's telling you that something is amiss. Since she only does it while in her bed, or while waking up, is it possible that she is having a type of seizure? I'm not at all familiar with seizures in dogs, but I do a friend that experiences them while sleeping (partial complex, not grand mal), and she wakes up disoriented. Just throwing that out there. Thank you again for your time, i would say you have maybe solved my problem!! tinkerbell looks very disoriented if she is woken! the times it has happened its totally like she isnt herself for .....maybe 30 seconds to a minute (which is my biggest fear because it is more than a "snap" go away, she backed my daughter onto the back of the sofa!) Then she seems to come back...or wake up properly. This has only been happening since her op and meds started for thyroid, before that we all used to lay with her etc, when she was recovering my husband and i took it in turns to sleep with her, no problem at all untill she was running around again. AND!!! she has been on and is now back on rimadyl so maybe she has an ulser! Thank you very much for your advice, now to find a new vet and ask about both. Il keep you informed |
6Girls wrote: Quote: How close to her are they? No way in heck would awaken my Schipperke-mix by touching her. "Let sleeping (resting) dogs lie." applies to her. She's never bitten and I want to keep it that way so I respect her limits. We were all used to stroking her while she was sleeping, waking her was never a problem, until after her operation and then her meds started. http://deafdogs.org/training/#desensitization Quote: Gently touch the dog, then immediately pop a treat in the dog's mouth when he turns around. The dog quickly associates good things (i.e., the treat) with being touched unexpectedly, and learns to respond happily. I will def check this out, altho her appetite isnt good treats dont usually help (our tinkerbell is def unique  , but thank you for the link and all your advice |
| My husky/malamute mix Tonka has a ruptured cruciate and a cracked kneecap. Because of this and his past arthritis, he is on Tramadol for pain and Meloxicam for inflammation and pain. He will be on them for the rest of his life and they make a HUGE difference for him. (Rimadal never seemed to help) He recently had to go a spell without his Meloxicam because the pharmacy ran out- he became very grouchy, snappy and intolerant. Now that he’s back on it, and pain free, he’s back to being my good, loving pup. I would really recommend looking into the knee pain/possible arthritis from the ligament. Tonka is a very stoic dog, and doesn't really show outward signs when he’s in pain, he just becomes a moody jerk. Perhaps your girl is in way more pain then she lets on.... Good luck!!! Ps- out vet wrote both RX’s out for us to take to Fred Meyer… Both Tramadol and Meloxicam are on the $4 generic list- WAY more affordable!!! |
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