Thyrotoxicosis from raw diet?

[sammy15]

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Has anyone ever heard of hyperthyroid symptoms in a dog on raw diet (poss beef thyroid glands used in prep of the raw diet)? I was just wondering. I was reading about Thyrotoxicosis in people where the beef thyroid glands had been consumed (they were ground up in the meat by accident).

http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/endocrine/thyroid/hamburgers.html

And then I started thinking about all the "other" parts they use when making raw diet and just wondered if anyone has ever seen this.

 

[Electrophile]

They've been using beef by-products (which, as a gland and not as skeletal muscle, thyroid would probably be classified as) in cooked pet foods for decades, so I would suspect not since hyperthyroidism is pretty uncommon in dogs, but in super high levels, who knows? Since the thyroid sequesters a lot of the body's iodine (25%, if I recall, but someone totally feel free to correct me), perhaps an iodine toxicity is involved as well in the hyperthyroid-like state? I've fed at least a partially raw diet for around 4 years or so and to my knowledge, I haven't ever fed thyroid glands, raw or otherwise. But the advantage of a good well thought out home prepared diet is the variety, so feeding ground beef each and every day which may or may not contain thyroid tissue is not a super great idea in the first place. JMHO.

 

[mistifical]

I also know that people with milder hypothyroidism can take a supplement of processed porcine thyroid gland to help "trick" their thyroid gland into working (thats how my doctor put it). I was on this for a while and my levels increased into a more normal range.