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November, 1999
Monday, 11/1/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 8:30pm
Much the same behavior as yesterday, and the last few
days. She seems antsy, on edge, and easily spooked or
startled. No specifics that I can think of, just general
attitude and demeanor.
Tuesday, 11/2/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 7:30pm
Okay, odd behavior today. No aggression. She hasn't
gone after one of the cat all evening, even to play.
When we were outside this evening she wouldn't leave
my side. She ran off into the small meadow to do her
stuff, but came right back to me. She seems very hyped,
unsure, and wanting something. I tried to get her romping
some by giving the human version of the play-bow, but
she only scooted a few feet away and then circled back
around to my side. She wasn't falling into a heel, but
seemed perched, waiting for something. Eyes never left
me. Mouth held in a slightly anxious manner (that mouth
pulled back grimace thing she does, but not as bad as
it sometimes is). She couldn't hold still, and kept
dancing back and forth on her feet. Tail going a mile
a minute, not held high, but not completely tucked between
her legs either. She ran off at one point with Samantha,
but only about 10 feet, and then came right back to
me. I invited her to jump into my arms, which she readily
did, but it didn't relax her the way it sometimes does.
Again, she was NOT aggressive. She seemed playful, but
tense, and unsure of what to do.
Inside she is much the same. She has spent the evening
alternating between laying around in the living room,
and the bedroom where Bo has stashed himself for the
evening (it's chilly tonight, and I've got the new bed
set up, so Bogart is warming it up for me). When she's
out here, she is curling up in corners, away from me,
and not under the desk like usual. But every time I
look over at her, she's awake, watching me, ears back,
tail going fast, mouth not quite pulled back in the
anxious look. She doesn't appear really upset or nervous
or anything, really. Just...odd. She has completely
ignored Tucker all evening, even though he's sprawled
out under the coffee table (he takes up more floor space
than she does, big giant cat).
Bacall just, as I was sitting here, walked out from
the bedroom. She came out at a moderate speed, tail
whipping low but not tucked, ears back, mouth not quite
pulled back, doing the nervous licking she does. She
was holding her head not really low, but not high...sort
of straight out...walking almost stiffly. She came out
as far as about 10 inches from the chair where I'm sitting.
I didn't reach out to pet her, curious what she was
doing. She didn't get insistent or pushy about trying
to get petted, which is quite unusual for her. She just
stopped for a second, turned around kind of slowly,
and walked the same way back to the bedroom. She didn't
even glance at Tuck, who was not 2 inches from her feet
as she turned around.
Wednesday, 11/3/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 7:30pm
Quiet day without much to observe, since I was at work
late, and fell asleep early. But I did notice that she
was still being a little clingy when we were outside
-- not as much as yesterday, but more than "usual".
She's not as jumpy though. While sleeping I can nudge
her and she doesn't leap up and away.
Thursday, 11/4/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 8pm
Another quiet evening. While playing outside Bacall
was not too weird. One of the boarders was here,
and had just put up his horse and was cleaning/closing
up the food shed when we went out, and so we headed
the opposite direction. Bacall noticed him (all the
dogs did), but didn't seem to feel the need to bark
or alert at him (none of the three dogs did, which was
a little odd, but nice). I distracted Bo with a game
of fetch along the road in the other direction, and
Bacall was sort of caught up in chasing with Bo I think.
Sam even did a little chasing with them, without any
squabbles.
Bacall did get some raised hackles at some point after
some particularly excited ball hunting in some underbrush,
but didn't seem to be directing any aggression at anyone.
She's calm this evening while we hang out inside. She
was sleeping under the desk near my feet, and I occasionally
nudged her with my foot. She wasn't at all jumpy about
that tonight, letting me actually stroke her back with
my foot without even budging. She did hop up one time
this evening, but I had accidentally stepped on her
(not hard, honest!). She didn't bolt away, just sat
up, and looked at me as if to tell me how rude I was
being, and moved over to nap under the coffee table.
Friday, 11/5/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 9pm
Saturday, 11/6/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 8pm
I believe that we're on the upswing of this cycle.
Bacall has been much calmer, steadier, around the house
the last few days. She is no longer getting confused
when it's time to take her place before feeding. She
is playful with both Tucker and Blackbean, but is not
out of control, and is called off readily. She has shown
no aggression towards Samantha. I have also noticed
that frequency with which she is making submissive displays
towards Bogart is less. If this is indeed an upswing
in the behavior cycle, it is taking place 4 weeks after
the start of the downswing. The "good" behavior
prior to this downswing was the first since the start
of the thyroid medication therapy, so I don't think
I can very accurately use it as a gauge in judging the
cycle. But that upswing began 2-3 weeks into the start
of the medication, peeking the day of her last appointment
at the vet for thyroid level recheck, so that lasted
approximately 3 weeks.
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Excerpt from "Thyroid
Aggression" article posted on the
Beardie
Health site.
(Emphasis added by myself.)
The mechanism whereby diminished
thyroid function affects behavior is unclear.
Hypothyroid patients have reduced cortisol
clearance, and the constantly elevated levels
of circulating cortisol mimic the condition
of an animal in a constant state of stress,
as well as suppressing TSH production and
thereby further reducing T4 and T3 levels.
In humans, and seemingly in dogs, mental
function is impaired and the animal is likely
to respond to stress in a stereotypical
rather than a reasoned fashion. We have
noted that the type of aberrant behavior
exhibited by hypothyroid dogs tends to be
typical of the behavioral problems seen
for its breed, or predominant breed, rather
than hypothyroidism producing a specific
behavioral problem. Chronic stress in
humans has been implicated in the pathogenesis
of affective disorders such as depression.
Major depression has, in turn, been shown
in imaging studies to cause changes in neural
activity or volume in the amygdala, prefrontal
cortex and hippocampus - areas of the brain
which regulate aggressive and other behaviors.
The role of the neurotransmitters dopamine
and serotonin has been clearly demonstrated
in aggressive pathways in the CNS. Hypothyroid
rats have been shown to have both an increased
turnover of serotonin; and dopamine receptors
with an increased sensitivity to ambient
neurotransmitter levels. Interestingly,
several of the dogs which failed to respond
to thyroid replacement or in which response
was suboptimal have subsequently been treated
with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
or tricyclic antidepressants either without
or with limited success. Given the far reaching
effects of thyroid hormones throughout the
body it is likely that these as well as
other mechanisms are involved in its behavioral
role.
Thyroid
Dysfunction as a Cause of Aggression in
Dogs and Cats
L.P. Aronson DVM & N.H. Dodman RVMS
Presented at the 43. Jahrestagung der Deutschen
Veterinarmedizinischen
Gesellschaft Fachgruppe Kleintierkrankheiten
29-31 August 1997 in HCC Hannover
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I posted an excerpt from an article back in October,
and am going to re-post that now (above) in order to
comment about a few things I found interesting. The
sections in bold are what I found most interesting when
I read it. This very accurately describes what I have
observed in Bacall over the years. It has never been
so much that she had a specific behavior "problem",
but rather that she was too "intense" about
everything. I have often commented over the years that
I wished she had a volume knob I could just turn down
a few notches. Four weeks ago, that's exactly what I
felt we had accomplished (however temporary it was).
I very specifically do NOT want to sedate Bacall as
a means of controlling her behavior. For starters, she
hasn't shown a very good track record for responding
to certain types of medications. But more importantly,
I don't want a sedated dog. I want one that isn't overwhelmed
by whatever it is that's going on in her mind. The day
she went in for her recheck, she was the normal little
dog I'd always wanted her to be -- calm, curious, friendly.
I have long suspected that Bacall's serotonin levels
might be off, which would explain her obsessive/compulsive
behaviors, as well as the cycling that her behavior
patterns go through. Somewhere in here is also the reason
behind the fact that she can't seem to "learn"
something until it's tied with a strongly emotional
event, and once learned, something seems permanently
imprinted in her circuitry. The fact that hypothyroidism
can throw those levels even further off would go a long
way towards explaining what goes on with her.
Sunday, 11/7/99
meds given approx 9am, 8pm
Another good day, overall. Bacall was very relaxed
around the house. No fighting, no jumpiness. While outside
this afternoon, Duke (the other dog on property) came
over. Bacall started to chase with him, but she seemed
just a little too...something...hyped...charged. Duke
seemed to sense something was not exactly right, and
headed back to his place immediately, with Bacall trying
to follow him, jumping, chasing...her typical play behavior,
but cranked up about a notch and a half. I called her
to come, and she started to ignore me, but then obeyed.
When she came back over, she had her hackles up, and
was a little jumpy. But over the next 20 minutes or
so, with Bo and Sam, she seemed to be okay, doing some
chasing with Bo, and even Samantha a little. I was throwing
the ball for Bo, and he was chasing it, with Bacall
chasing him, and Sam chasing them both, all without
incident.
Monday, 11/8/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 7:30pm
Another day that went smoothly. Bacall is letting me
nudge her hard while she's asleep, she's not freaking
out when she's taking her place for food. Sam even is
making tentative play gestures with Bacall outside,
though Sam's pretty lethargic still. (Sam has been sort
of lethargic and dull of late, with a little weight
gain, and I'm pretty sure that SHE may be hypothyroid.
She's the right age for it to typically show up, and
she's showing most of the typical symptoms. I plan on
having her checked probably next month.) Bo even did
a little bit of playing with her, instead of his usual
just ignoring her while he goes about his game of fetch.
Tuesday, 11/9/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 7:30pm
Yeah, I think we're on our way up and out again. Bacall
continues to be just a little calmer, and more rational
seeming, each day. While outside this evening Duke came
over again. But this time Bacall didn't seem out of
control with him. In fact, Bo even played with Duke
for a minute, but I think Duke may feel overwhelmed
by the attention of all three of my dogs. They all four
headed back over to Duke's place, then all came back
again. Duke came over to me and let me scritch him for
a minute while Sam and Bacall sniffed him over, then
Duke and Bacall took off again for his place. Bo followed,
so I went over there too to make sure everything was
okay. Bo of course was just using the excuse to go investigate
the underbrush on that part of the property. But Bacall
and Duke were chasing around and playing just fine.
Around the house she's still very relaxed and calm.
If I look at her, and even get eye contact, she does
not immediately leap up and come to me pushing for attention.
She's also not being bothersome to Bogart, which makes
him a happier dog as well.
Wednesday, 11/10/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 7:30pm
Below is a post I made on Patty's Dog Park tonight.
I think it says it all.
Many of you have heard me say repeatedly that Bacall
was a perfect waste of a frisbee dog...all that athletic
ability, incredible physical soundness, that natural
love of running and jumping, able to leap 6 feet in
the air from a sit...and the retrieving instinct of
a rock. As my recent guests can attest to, she'll
chase whoever is chasing the ball, but she isn't after
the ball, she's after them. She loves to chase.
Periodically over the last few years I've tried to
get Bacall interested in a retrieve. I haven't even
been able to get her to take a ball or toy from my
hand, much less retrieve it. If I take something she's
already interested in or has, the split second I have
it in MY hand, she's looking around like, "oh,
it's gone...now what?" If I put something she's
been interested in back on the ground at her feet,
she completely ignores it. It's been very aggrivating.
Well, tonight we were out and I was throwing a ball
for Bo. I'd brought a second one out for Sam too,
but she lost interest after a few retrieves and was
off sniffing bushes. Since Bacall was sitting right
in front of me, I offered her the ball. As usual,
she just stared at me. As I've done so many hundreds
of times before, I opened her mouth, said "take
it", and put the ball in her mouth. She at least
kept it in her mouth, which she only does about a
third of the time, so that was pretty good. Then I
put my hand out, and said, "out," and she
dropped the ball into my hand. I praised her, and
offered the ball again, expecting to be stared at
some more. "Take it," I said. And Bacall
calmly, but with ears up and tail wagging, reached
out and took the ball from my hand. "GOOD GIRL!!
YES!! GOOD GIRL!!" She jumped around for a few
seconds with the ball in her mouth, all excited, while
I told her what a great dog she is. Then I told her
"out," and again she gave the ball right
up. So I tossed the ball about 6 feet away, and she
looked at it. I said "take it," and she
ran over, scooped up the ball, and brought it right
back to me, wagging, ears up, all excited. We did
this a few times (while Bo was distracted by some
shrubbery he apparently has not yet sniffed since
we moved in here), and got up to a retrieve of about
20 feet!! Each time she brought it immediately back
to me, and outs on command! I even tossed one up in
the air for her, and she leaped for it. She missed
it, but she definitely knew what she was trying to
do, and got it after a few bounces.
I cannot fully express how excited I am. This is
the second "big" thing she's finally had
click for her since starting her meds (the first was
that down she performed at the vet's office). It is
so much fun having her be rational but not dull.
Thursday, 11/11/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 7:30pm
I tried to play with the ball with Bacall some tonight.
One thing I noticed is that if Bo and Sam are out, of
course Bo is totally focused on the ball, but Bacall
is now also interested in the ball. She never was before
tonight. If I throw for Bo, she now chases with him,
but her focus is on the ball as much or more than it
is on Bogart. But she gets excited, and then gets confused.
Once she got confused, I stopped throwing the ball,
so as not to make her worse. She made a slight attempt
at play with Samantha, but then Bo came barging in,
and she got distracted.
No jumpiness while she's sleeping, no confusion during
feeding time.
Friday, 11/12/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 2am
I was sick on Friday. Came home from work, and crashed.
I woke up at 2am just long enough to let the dogs out
briefly and then medicate Bacall. Other than the fact
that I didn't hear any fighting (while I was unconscious),
I couldn't say what kind of day Bacall had. All dogs
skipped dinner due to the hour I woke up. I figured
it would upset their schedules less to miss a meal than
to have two so close together.
Saturday, 11/13/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 7:30pm
I took Bacall out today to visit at a Dane Rescue adoption
day at Petco. She did great! She was friendly with everyone
who stopped to pet her. She wasn't extremely outgoing,
but she also did not cringe or get aggressive at all
with any people. She greeted most of the dogs the same
way. Calm but not afraid or aggressive, but also not
playful. The single exception was a large (even for
a Dane) unaltered male Harlequin. She was quite stiff
when the sniffed noses, and then she lifted her lip,
showed her teeth, and fell over on her back. The male
was not really interested in her at all, but every time
he came near her, she would belly-up, and snarl. Since
she had been so good prior to that, I was a little startled.
Then I realized that Bacall has not really met unneutered
males before. I can't really think of any intact males
that she's come in contact with at all. That may have
been what she was responding to. I just don't know.
She also wasn't reacting the way she usually does when
she's "off" with other dogs. She just fell
onto her back with her lip curled. The next dog that
she saw was a smallish (for a Dane *G*) female. At first,
Bacall again curled her lip, but after a few sniffs
Bacall relaxed again. Still, no playfulness.
After all that excitement, we just had a calm evening.
No cat chasing, no jumpiness. I played with all the
dogs outside with much the same results as Thursday.
Sunday, 11/14/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 8pm
Pretty good day. Everyone got to play outside this
afternoon. Bacall was doing really good jumping into
my arms, getting very high, basically up onto my shoulders.
She started to play a little with Sam again, but again
Bo got in the way. Shortly after that she made a really
high jump onto me, and I didn't get her turned back
around real well before she jumped back down. She landed
skewy on her back end, and didn't move for a split second
(doesn't seem startling unless you've ever seen how
quickly she usually moves). At just that moment, Samantha
was right there near us, inches from Bacall. Bacall
snapped/snarled at Sam, who jumped back when Bacall
got a mouthful of ruff. I roared a "NO" at
Bacall, who immediately let go. Sam moved off, and Bacall
stayed where she was (still rocked back on her butt),
for another second or two. Then she got up and moved
again. She didn't appear injured (and I checked her
very thoroughly), but was just the tiniest bit hesitant
in her movement, as though she was just a little stunned
still. To end the trip out on a positive note (after
checking her over again to make sure she didn't have
any injuries or tender areas), I invited her to jump
up one last time. This time was a lower jump, and I
turned her around and set her carefully back on the
ground so she wouldn't hurt herself again. I believe
that the snapping at Sam was just because she'd been
startled/stunned/jolted, and Sam was standing right
there. But she DID go straight for Sam's neck just like
in the old aggressive attacks.
No bad cat chasing...just a few playful interactions.
Bacall slept a lot of the day, probably a combination
of the excitement from yesterday, and the fall today.
Since I'm still sick, I again spent a lot of the day
asleep.
Friday, 11/26/99
meds given approx 8am, 7:30pm
I've missed the last week or so of entries due to a
hectic work schedule and other occurrences. Bacall has
continued to be relatively "normal" over the
last few weeks. She is exhibiting little extreme behavior
in any direction. While she is not being overly neurotic,
she is also not being as calm as she was during the
first upswing after starting the medication. I'm planning
on speaking with Dr. Z about perhaps upping the dosage
a little, or what other things we might try next.
Samantha was sick last weekend, coincidentally at the
same time I already had her scheduled for a checkup
and bloodwork. Bacall was pretty good about leaving
her alone, which I take as a good sign. Samantha came
back low thyroid also, so now I've got two I'm treating
with levothyroxine. Sam's dosage is .5 mg bid. Sam has
already shown some signs of increased activity and interest
in her surroundings, and has made a few more cautious
advances of play with Bacall. They haven't actually
gotten back to playing with each other, and Sam is still
VERY cautious around Bacall. But we're making some slow
progress.
Bacall still shows interest in the ball, but is also
still easily confused. Same with the down command. It's
like if I try to push an issue with her, she gets confused,
and reverts back to groveling on the ground. She'll
retrieve the ball, but might just drop it again on her
way back to me, like she forgets that part of what she's
doing. If I then walk her back to the ball, or ask her
to "get the ball," she falls onto her back.
She's just not very focused the last few weeks.
Yesterday I increased Bacall's medication.
Starting Thursday night, I doubled Bacall's medication,
giving her one pill am and pm (.3mg each). Bacall has
consistently still been easily confused or stressed.
I plan on talking with Dr. Z about this tomorrow.
Also yesterday (Thanksgiving), Bacall went visiting
with me at a friend's house. There she met two people
she had not met before (the friend's parents) as well
as some folks she's met before. Bacall was VERY good.
She didn't huff at anyone, nor did she raise her hackles,
even when meeting the father. At one point he left the
house to run to the store. Now, Bacall has been at this
house before, and any time anyone leaves and comes back,
she always barks and charges the front door. Last night,
when the father returned into the house (a man she doesn't
really know), she didn't do a thing. No barking, no
raised hackles. The friend was very impressed, and commented
on how good she was doing. He'd fully expected Bacall
to bark at his father. She was still very excited though,
new place, new people. The guys tried to play ball with
her in the back yard, but she wouldn't even take notice
of it. So while the people who had never met her before
thought she was a little squirrelly, those of us who
do know her were quite impressed with her overall behavior.
Sunday, 11/28/99
meds given approx 10am, 8pm
Interesting day. I bathed Sam today, and then took
her outside to shake off. Of course Bacall and Bogart
came out too. Now, whenever Sam's been bathed, the first
thing she has to do is roll around, so she headed outside
to the grass to do just that. I assume that rolling
around on her back feels good to her. She used to do
it occasionally when in a playful mood. Well, today
when she got up from the grass and shook herself off,
Bacall was right there. I was watching closely, and
saw Bacall give a play bow. I then saw Sam return it.
The two of them proceeded to make a few tentative play
movements, bowing, wuffing, and soft play bows as they
sort of bow-hopped around each other. They then split
up, but came back together to repeat this behavior a
minute or so later. They did this a few times, and then
actually had a couple of go-arounds of chasing. There
were NO raised hackles on Bacall, and Samantha was actually
cantering...something I haven't seen her do in months.
They chased for a few minutes, with some play posturing
thrown in, and it never once began to escalate beyond
play.
In addition to this lovely surprise, at dinner tonight
Bacall downed the first time I gave the command to the
dogs, and I didn't have to touch her at all. It was
a beautiful down, straight and not on her back. This
is the first successful down on command I've seen from
her since the one she performed at the vet's office
in October.
While I planned on talking with Dr. Z about the medication
increase yesterday, I got stuck out doing errands, and
didn't get hold of the clinic. I am encouraged by Bacall's
rapid improvement in behavior the last few days, but
don't want to put her at risk from affects of too much
medication. In addition to the play and the successful
down today, she has been just generally calmer. She
is playful but not out of control with the cats, and
is sleeping more soundly, less easily disturbed. While
I was vacuuming today she wasn't panicked about the
big loud machine. And when I took her with me to run
to the store real quick, I had forgotten there was a
45lb bag of dog food in the back seat of the car. She
hesitated when she saw it, but on the second command
went ahead into the car over the bag. When we returned
home, she jumped over it without any hesitation. It's
hard to explain, sort of. While she HAS been much better
than she was prior to starting her medication, when
I see her THIS good, it is pretty clear how jumpy and
uneasy she's still been the past few weeks. I say "take
your places" for dinner, and she falls right in,
calmly, ears up, no cringing, no tucked tail. I don't
have to repeat the command, or point her to her spot.
She isn't too close to Bo, or crowding Samantha. It's
like someone's turned down her intensity knob another
notch, and hard to accurately describe to anyone who
hasn't spent a lot of time with her.
Speaking of jumping, here's something not related to
her treatment, but fun anyway. I have some cacti in
the front yard that were planted as ornamental plants.
Bacall often jumps over them when negotiating the yard.
Yesterday she was hauling after a ball I'd thrown for
Bogart, trying to make up the distance between them.
She was headed straight for the cacti, and I was a little
concerned about whether or not she'd clear them, when
she leaped. She got a good 5 feet clearance off the
ground, in a beautiful, steep arc. From take-off to
landing point was less than three feet distance, but
she got so much air. One of those times I really wished
I'd had a video camera.
Monday, 11/29/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 8pm
I spoke with Dr. Z this morning, and got the official
go ahead to increase Bacall's meds. She will be receiving
.3mg in the morning, and .15 in the evening. I will
take both Bacall and Samantha in for rechecks next month.
Bacall is remarkably calm this evening. She played
for a while with Tucker, very calmly, not even very
roughly. She also did a little playing with Samantha
again tonight, and Sam is continuing to show progress
and increased energy/activity.
Tuesday, 11/30/99
meds given approx 7:30am, 8pm
Nice, steady day. Samantha is still not eating whole
heartedly, but she's eating...and continues to have
more energy each day. Bacall is doing great. Nice and
steady. Got to the ball before Bo a few times tonight.
She's still a little skitzy once she gets it, if Bo's
around. She's more likely to drop it before she gets
back to me. No raised hackles at all. Playing with the
cats pretty nicely. Chased with Sam a little.
Monthly Journals
Thyroid Links
Copyright © 1999, 2001 by OffLead Productions.
Reprinted with permission of the author.
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