Right course of treatment for dog with thyroid problem and a nail bed infection

I have a 3yr old English Springer (28kg) who has been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and is on soloxine. At the same time he started limping and his nails are lifting. vet has removed 4 nails and a swab revealed staphylococcus pseudointermedius. He has been 2 weeks on synulox and 1 week on baytril but does not appear to be improving. Is not limping but reluctant to move. Am not walking dog and am bathing feet in hibiscrub and giving rimadyl for pain relief and is wearing a cone to stop licking.

  • Vetinfo

    By: Kara McCarty El Segundo, CA

    Replied on 04/19/2011

    If your dog is hypothyroid he will take a couple of weeks to start feeling better once he is on supplementation and as much as 4 months for his skin/nail problems to fully heal. Sometimes an animal that has another debilitating disease will have low thyroid levels. This is called sick euthyroid syndrome. These animals can be difficult to diagnose and treat because it can take thorough detective work to find the real illness. Because multiple nails are involved it's unlikely this is a primary infection. Probably some systemic disease weakened his nails and the infection is secondary. The infection still needs to be treated. The antibiotics and soaks and pain relief medication are absolutely appropiate. Diseases that cause damage to nailbeds such that the nails are lost include:1)immune mediated disease (the body attacks itself) such as pemphigus, bullous pemphigus, a drug reaction or lupoid onychodystrophy 2)vascular insufficiency (blockage of blood vessels) such as vasculitis or cold agglutinin disease 3) severe trauma. You and your veterinarian can discuss what additional testing should be done to further pinpoint what is causing your dog's problems. In the meantime you may wish to add vitamin E and essential fatty acids to his diet. The dosing will depend on which product you choose. Kara, DVM

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