Clinical signs of hypothyroidism in domestic dogs
Abstract
The research was conducted during 2016–2019 on the basis of veterinary clinics in Poltava - veterinary clinic at the Department of Therapy named after Professor P.Lokes of Poltava State Agrarian Academy, “Vet Line”, “Vet Comfort” and the laboratory of the Department of Therapy named after Professor P. I. Lokes of Poltava State Agrarian Academy. During the research we studied 11 dogs, which were diagnosed with hypothyroidism. The animals belonged to different breeds, had different sexes (6 females and 5 males) and age. For control we took 15 dogs without visible signs of any pathology. We compared the breed susceptibility of dogs with hypothyroidism and dogs with alimentary obesity. Thus, we found that most breeds are common to animals in both pathologies. However, in our sample for hypothyroidism there was no such breed as a pug, and outbred individuals, which accounted for a significant percentage of dogs with alimentary obesity. One of the most common clinical symptom is the presence of symmetrical alopecia on the sides on the background of dull and disheveled hair (90.9 %). Mucosal anemia was observed in a significant proportion of animals (81.8 %). The symptom of bradycardia and shortness of breath during exercise is observed in 72.7 % of experimental animals, which indicates the development of pathological changes in the cardiovascular system. It was found that all animals showed depression, weakness and fatigue (100.0 %). Polydipsia and hypothermia were much less common in 45.5 % of dogs, and corneal dystrophy in 36.4% of cases. The last clinical manifestation occurred in animals with the most severe pathology. According to the literature, it is known that hypothyroidism in dogs is often a symptom of obesity. According to our data, obesity (overweight) was registered in 63.6 % of experimental animals. With the diagnosis of “hypothyroidism” in dogs, we identified two experimental groups: 1 – animals with normal fatness; 2nd – with a clinical symptom of obesity. We can note a significant increase in adipose tissue in dogs with hypothyroidism of the 2nd experimental group (45.1 ± 1.70 %), which indicates the presence of endocrine obesity, as evidenced by visual assessment of fatness (4.7 ± 0.18 points). Such changes develop due to insufficient production of thyroid hormones. The latter play an important role in regulating metabolism in the body. Due to their deficiency, the metabolism in animals slows down and, as a result, there is a risk of obesity.
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