I have a 3 year old spayed cavalier bitch.  She has developed what my vet believes to be corneal lipid dystrophy in both eyes and has referred us to a specialist animal eye clinic for a second opinion (we have insurance, thank goodness!).  I have been reading up on the condition and find it may be linked to hypothyroidism, although this is not so common in toy dogs.  She has become increasingly dog/cat aggressive and "jumpy" over the past year and I have also read that this can be linked to borderline hypothyroidism.  We are experienced dog owners and have tried consistently to overcome the aggression problem with no success.  Does anyone have experience of a similar set of circumstances with their dog or am I barking up the wrong tree ? 
Thanks for reading this.  Denny.

Can't help with your particular problem but if you decide to joing the forum I would be interested to know when your lass was spayed. And of course the results of any tests you have done, do hope you manage to get it sorted soon. if it is Hypothyroidism it can be controled by hormone tablets but I am not sure if this will help with the corneal as would think that even if it is connected as a side effect the eyes may need treatment seperatly for the thyroid. Good luck.

I have an Afghan that developed repetative corneal ulcers sometimes in both eyes but mainly in one to the extent that she has lost one eye and now has a graft on the other, this is despite being under a specialist who has done everything that she can.  On doing further research I found that corneal ulcers are a sympton of hypothyroidism and had her tested.  This proved that she was hypothyroid and has now been on medication for about a year.  Unfortunately too late to save having to have a graft on her remaining eye.  If you think that your pet is hypothyroid you should ask your vet to do a full panel, not just a T4 test.  You need to have T4.T3 TSH and there are a few more but can't for the life of me rememeber them.

I hope you manage to find the answers to your problems as I know only too well the anguish you are going through.

Sue

I think the other most important test is for TgAA - check that the lab your vet uses does this test as not all used to do it.

I would certainly recommend you get her checked out. Hydothyroiditis is difficult to diagnose as symptoms are so varied and usually develop slowly and may be put down to other things or old age.

There are so many symptoms to hypothryoidism and it is so easy to treat (even if it is expensive to do the full test as it has to go to the US) it is well worth testing for.

Kerioak
The test we had done about a year ago was done in the UK. Is there something different done in the US that isn't done here?

The UK labs don't do a full thyroid panel - often it is enough for a diagnosis but the full test is only done in the States - I believe by Dr Jean Dodds

Had a quick look on the web and our test results and from what I can see they are the same tests.

We had a premium thyroid panel done including Total T4, Total T3, Free T4 by dialysis, Free T3, T3 & T4 autoantibody, TSH and TgAA

The lab our vet used did provide comments on the results, but I expect Dr Dodds will provide a more detailed interpretation of the results.