Taking him for him annual check up tonight. Will discuss hypothyroidism, will say how it goes later.

Interesting read, the bits in bold are Charley too a tee!

In recent years, clinicians have noted the sudden onset of behavioral changes in dogs around the time of puberty or as young adults. Most of the animals have been purebreds or crossbreeds with an apparent predilection for certain breeds. Neutering these animals usually does not alter the symptoms and the behaviors may even intensify. Many of these dogs belong to certain breeds or dog families susceptible to a variety of immune problems and allergies (e.g. Golden Retriever, Akita, Rottweiler, Doberman Pinscher, English Springer Spaniel, Shetland Sheepdog, and German Shepherd Dog). The clinical signs in these animals, before they show the sudden onset of behavioral aggression, can include minor problems such as inattentiveness, fearfulness, seasonal allergies, skin and coat disorders (e.g. pyoderma, allergic inhalant or ectoparasite dermatitis, alopecia, and intense itching). These may be early subtle signs of thyroid dysfunction, with no other typical signs of thyroid disease being manifested.

The typical history starts out with a quite, well-mannered and sweet-natured puppy or young adult dog. The animal was outgoing, attended training classes for obedience, working, or dog show events, and came from a reputable breeder whose kennel has had no prior history of producing animals with behavioral problems. At the onset of puberty or thereafter, however, sudden changes in personality are observed. Typical signs can be incessant whining, nervousness, schizoid behavior, fear in the presence of strangers, hyperventilating and undue sweating, disorientation, and failure to be attentive (canine cognitive dysfunction). These changes can progress to sudden unprovoked aggressiveness in unfamiliar situations with other animals, people and especially with children.

In adult dogs, moodiness, erratic temperament, periods of hyperactivity, lack of concentration, depression, mental dullness, lethargy, malaise, fearfulness and phobias, anxiety, submissiveness, passivity, compulsiveness, and irritability may be observed. After the episodes, most of the animals behave as though they were coming out of a trance like state, and are unaware of their previous behavior.

Hope all went well at the vets? What did you decide in the end?

Vet visit not too traumatic. Managed to get him vaccinated without him noticing....sausage distractions helped He's also maintained his weight for a whole year, haven't weighed him since the last check up, so I'm really pleased He's lost 0.5kg and is now a nice 42kg

Ok, discussed hypothyroidism. Vet still thinks it's unlikely that he is suffering but is happy to test for it. She had mixed feelings about Jean Dodds work, she had done a lot of research on it for me, but she is happy for me to send it off to America for testing. She said she'd rather not treat without a diagnosis as she doesn't want to tip him into being hyperthyroid as side effects involve increased anxiety, mood swings and aggression - something Cain clearly doesn't need

He's going in on Saturday 31st for bloods. We will sedate him to do it. We've decided to take enough blood to
a) full thyroid panel in the UK
b) send to the US for thyroid testing
c) full blood panel

She asked if I wanted a full blood panel too (liver and kidney function etc) and I said yes, we might as well go the whole hog given the hassle of getting blood out of him in the first place.

So extracting blood in a fortnight, sending it off in the UK and I need to work out how to send it to the US. My vet said she's more than happy to given me the paperwork to send it abroad. It will be interesting to see if it comes back with different results She said even if he comes back as "low level normal" then she's happy to try him on a low dose of medication to see if that helps.

Going to be bloody expensive though, hoping my insurance will cover most of it.....

Have you looked here?

http://www.caninefilmacademy.com/

Kaite Rourke can sort all this out for you.

Thanks SB, it would be great to have help from someone who knows what they are doing. Looks like the timing of Cain's blood extraction doesn't fit with her schedule, but I've emailed her to see if it's ok to hold onto the blood until she's ready to send it. We can't extract it freshly on the Monday before, as she wants, because we can only extract under special circumstances.

I know of someone wanting to get and send samples off in the near future (not the person I mentioned doing it in July/Sept, someone else who wants them done pretty soon I think), she's not local so not quite sure how it would work but she's got 2 dogs who's samples she wants to send off. If you combined the lot and offered to pay 1/3 of the postage, it would save her a bit of money too, I can ask if you want?

Yes, please can you ask. Apparently Jean Dodds needs to receive the blood within 11 days of it being drawn, so unsure if it will fit with their schedule. It's looking more and more like I'll prob have to work out how to send it off myself.

I have mailed my vet to tell her that I would like them to draw blood and send it to IDEXX for the 5 Thyroid Panel and then I will send the results to Jean Dodds for review and consultation ($50)

I think the only difference in the physical testing is the 'style' of the test. RIA (the standard type of testing) uses a small amount of radiation but everything i have read seems to say that it is very accurate Jean Dodds novel 'green' testing does not include radio active material hence it being called 'green' I believe.

So from what I can gather the real value is in the evaluation of the resutls and the reference database which JD has which allows an 'individual' diagnosis and plan of action specific to that dog.

In my note to my vet though I did ask whether from an insurance point of view it would be better to have it all done by Hemopet in the US, so will see what she says.

My mind was being boggled by the logistics and I did look at the canineacademy route but again from an insurance point of view figured it would mean i would need invoices from my vet and wasnt sure how that element would work!

Blood extraction tomorrow Hoping the sedation goes smoothly....