There was a time in my life when I was a heckin’ chonker. It wasn’t my fault.
They told me there’s this thing inside me called a thyroid gland and it was being a lazy old nuisance.
It made me lazy too! I didn’t like to go zoomies in the park like I used to, and even though I rarely felt snacky, my belly got squishier and squishier.
To make matters worse, every time we went for a walk, I could see all the healthy doggos gallop around. Once I even overheard Selma and Beans, the skinny bitches that live down the road from me, whispering under their doggy breath about how slow I was getting.
Times were bad, friends. It made me sad to think about all the other pooches out there going through the exact same thing.
Don’t worry though, curvy woofers, my human consulted one of their many glowing screens and found special food for me that solved all my problems. Snack down on some of these delicious dinners and you too can live a happy, healthy life.
Best Dog Food for Hypothyroidism
1. Wellness CORE Natural Wet Grain-Free Canned Dog Food
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My favorite thing about this tin o’ chunks is that it doesn’t have any of the yucky animal stuff like chicken claws, just the meaty goodness…I’m drooling just thinking about it.
I have to admit, I was skeptical when my human said it was made by veterinarians because they’re the worst, but as soon as I took that first bite, I knew everything would be just fine.
My human says that part of the reason I was such a blubbery pooch was that my diet wasn’t well balanced and that I wasn’t getting enough amino acids…whatever they are. They said this food is brimming with protein and Omega 3, and that’s part of the reason I felt so good after eating it.
Full of delicious chicken and turkey liver, my human said that I should enjoy it with some fava beans and a nice chianti, but sometimes, I think they just speak nonsense.
It’s also full of something my human calls vegetables. Oh boy, they really lift the flavor. Have you heard of vegetables? You gotta try them.
The Waggy Tail Stuff
- Real Meaty Chunks – Full of protein, giving me all the energy I need to chomp at butterflies all day.
- Omega 3 – I don’t know how they get it, but it’s full of salmon oil. It’s good for my doggy heart and keeps my coat looking gorgeous if I do say so myself.
- Vegetable Content – Seriously, you gotta try these veggie things!
Stuff to Snarl At
- Price – Every Time it’s time to buy me more, my human looks sad.
- Smelly – I personally love the smell, but my human’s funny, feeble nose doesn’t.
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2. Halo Holistic Chicken and Chicken Liver Dog Food
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This is made from chickens who’ve lived their best life, free to peck this and peck that, free to roam in the sunshine.
You can really taste the freedom, and their liver balances my hormones, which keeps me feeling like a top dog.
It’s also full of things like blueberries, carrots, and cranberries. My human says these are superfoods, which I assume means that I will eventually become a superdog.
I will use my powers to fight crime and of course my nemesis, Jason, the villainous cat that lives next door. I’m eyeing up the curtain to use as my cape.
Apparently, none of the vegetables in these yummy biscuits are genetically modified. I have trouble understanding this, but I think it’s a good thing.
These crunchy munchies are so delicious, I think my human wants to share, but they don’t share their dinner with me, so it’s strictly out of the question. I need to keep my eye on them. They can be awfully sneaky sometimes.
The Waggy Tail Stuff
- Easy to Digest – I’ve done some of my all-time best poops after eating this tasty food.
- No Factory Farmed Meat – These dandy chickens taste great, and it gives my human an enormous sense of well-being.
- All Natural Ingredients – Nothing in this food aggravates my hypothyroidism.
- Fatty Acids – Just try not to pet this luxurious coat. I dare you.
Stuff to Snarl At
- Changeable – Halo keeps experimenting with their food, but it was pawfect to begin with.
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3. Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Adult and Senior Dog Food
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Dang these darn speedy dog years!
I’m getting a little long in the tooth, but these crunchy kibbles are chock-full of glucosamine and chondroitin, words that are difficult to articulate in a single woof, but whatever they are, they soothe my achy joints and make me feel like a little rapscallion pup again…those were the days.
Formulated with a wonderful mix of healthy nutrients and vitamins, after I started gobbling this magical stuff down on the regular, I didn’t get sick anywhere near as much.
I just got happier and happier with each mouthful. My happiness made my human happy, then I got REALLY happy and had to barkbarkbark to let off some steam.
Made with natural veggies, and, well…natural everything, Nutro kibble helped to make me the proud pooch I am today.
The Waggy Tail Stuff
- Full of Antioxidants – These keep me from getting sick.
- Formulated for Senior Pups – Keeps my joints limber and allows me to enjoy my golden years.
- Real Meat – No nasty stuff, just tasty real meat full of protein.
- Non-GMO – A natural snack for keeping my hypothyroidism at bay.
Stuff to Snarl At
- Upset Tummies – Some poor pooches get a bad tum after eating this food, so it’s best to test small amounts first.
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4. Diamond Naturals Skin and Coat
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This food is loaded with real salmon and protein that helps to regulate my thyroid gland.
It’s also full of probiotics that in my understanding are little goblin-like creatures that live in your tum, helping to make it a better place. I wasn’t sure how I felt about eating tiny goblins, but they’re doing a fantastic job because I feel great!
There are more veggies in this kibble than you could wag your tail at. From fava beans to spinach to papaya to coconuts. They provide a pawfect blend of carbohydrates that keep me feeling fit and healthy, ready for a day of fun!
Using only natural ingredients, I know there’s nothing sinister lurking in this food that might upset my insides and leave my human with a nasty cleanup. It’s also sustainably made, which means I can gobble up all I want and it won’t harm anything.
The Waggy Tail Stuff
- All-Natural – There’s nothing suspicious hidden in these treats, just honest flavor, YUM!
- High Veg Content – Not only do they taste great, they’re full of carbohydrates that provide slow-release energy and regulate my appetite.
- Probiotics – Gut goblins help me fight off bad bacteria.
- Real Wild-Caught Salmon – Now I know what bears feel like when they snatch a salmon fresh from the stream.
Stuff to Snarl At
- Smelly Stuff – No wonder my human doesn’t like the smell of my breath.
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5. Taste of the Wild Dry Dog Food with Roasted Bison and Roasted Venison
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Whilst chomping down these scrummy biscuits, I felt like a big old wolfy stalking the wilderness for tasty morsels.
I’d never tasted venison or bison before, but something about it all made me think of my roaming ancestors on the hunt.
I felt a yearning to live outdoors for a while, to howl out the moon from a mountain top, but then I had a nap next to the fire and forgot all about it.
All the ingredients are natural and sustainable, which means, my fellow doggos and humans, that you can chow down with a clean conscience, and fully enjoy your dinner.
The protein and amino acids helped to build lean, strong muscles, and the digestible nutrients made sure my bones were nice and healthy too.
The Waggy Tail Stuff
- Real Bison and Venison – Release your inner wolfy.
- All-Natural Ingredients – No harmful stuff in here, just tasty natural ingredients that maintain weight, build muscle, and invigorate coats.
- High in Fiber – You’ll do some good poops with this, friend.
Stuff to Snarl At
- Recalls – Taste the Wild had to recall their food once due to possible salmonella contamination. Not good, friends…not good at all.
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Best Dog Food for Hypothyroidism Buyer’s Guide
Before you settle on a tasty new dinner for your fluffy child, let me tell you a few things I’ve learned through my doggy struggle with hypothyroidism.
Woofer-Friendly Ingredients
When I was a big old chunko, one of the main reasons I couldn’t slim down was because my food was full of nasty human-made stuff. It wasn’t my human’s fault. They just didn’t realize what was lurking behind the scenes in my dinner.
Even if it’s full of protein and added nutrients, food with artificial ingredients just isn’t what our fluffy tums have grown accustomed to over the years. Nutrition should come as much as possible from the ingredients themselves rather than additives.
A diet full of fake stuff is one of the most common ways, we canines develop hypothyroidism in the first place, so this kind of snack, no matter how delicious, is to be avoided.
Instead, look for fresh and wholesome doggy dinners with real meat, fruits and vegetables, as they’re the best source of nutrients for keeping us healthy and away from the dreaded vet.
It can help to ask yourself if the ingredients sound nice to you. If not, there’s a chance your pooch may feel the same way.
Good Proteins and Where to Find Them
Protein helps to balance our hormones, so it couldn’t be more important in treating hypothyroidism.
That’s all hypothyroidism is you see, a hormone imbalance. The correct amount of healthy proteins also helps to control hunger, which is great for trying to shed some pudge.
Many humans don’t know this, but protein from different food sources acts differently in our tums. Meat protein is essential for dogs.
It’s easy to digest, helps us build up our energy for walkies, and the amino acids keep our skin from becoming flaky and itchy. This is why you should always look for food with real meat as the number one ingredient. Meat meal is good too, but it should always play second-fiddle to the good stuff.
We may have a reputation for being carnivores, and while we do love eating meat, we also need a healthy amount of plant protein to ensure our diet has a complete nutritional profile.
To get our tails wagging, look for doggy food with real fruits and vegetables. Carrots, broccoli, and green beans are scrumptious, but we’re also partial to things like sweet potatoes too.
Counting Calories
It’s really not fair! Hypothyroidism can cause weight gain even if we poor pups don’t have an appetite.
Combine that with calorific doggo dinners and we can balloon up in a matter of weeks.
The bigger you get, the less energy you have and the more you just want to nap the time away dreaming of bones and better days.
The best thing you can do to help us keep healthy and slender is to choose low-calorie foods. It won’t solve all our problems, but it will help to prevent us from becoming chunko supremes.
Healthy Guts
One of the reasons we hypopups put on so much weight is that our little tums have a hard time metabolizing our food.
Not only does this mean we can’t draw all the nutrients from our dinner, but combined with lethargy, we’re not burning any calories either, but fret not, humans, there is an answer.
Foods with natural probiotics can help build up our gut strength and immune system. These little probiotic goblins take residence inside us and lower our internal PH level, which is known to speed up digestion and eliminate runny poops. It’s a win-win situation. You don’t have a smelly cleaning job, and we soak up all good stuff from our food.
You should also consider the general digestibility of doggy food. Ingredients with loads of fiber like fresh fruit and veg can give our tums the helping hand they need to process our dinner properly. Lubrication can help too.
Gravies, jellies, water with kibble, it all makes a difference to our insides.
A Brief Woof About Grain-Free
Grain-free diets are fantastic for my woofer friends with allergies, but they have been linked to rising numbers of cardiomyopathy.
A lot of dog foods that contain the natural ingredients we hypos need to live a happy life are grain-free, saving us from one ailment, and putting us at risk from another.
Before dedicating to a new food, I recommend you use one of your screens to learn more about grain-free diets and their possible side effects.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Hypothyroidism in Dogs?
Hypothyroidism is an endocrine disorder that slows my body down. It happens when the thyroid gland swells up or shrinks, preventing the release of thyroxine and triiodothyronine.
They’re what helps us convert food into energy. When not properly looked after, I have a hard time digesting food, gain weight at the drop of a ball, my skin becomes irritated, my coat loses its luster, and I find it hard working up the energy for walkies.
If you notice any of these symptoms in your own pooch, as much as it pains me to say it because they’re pure evil, you should pay a visit to your vet. They gave my human loads of advice on how to get me healthy again, back to my usual full-o’-beans self.
Which Dog Food is Best for Hypothyroidism?
The quickest way to help your doggo friend recover is to avoid foods with any artificial ingredients.
Our stomachs aren’t designed to cope with these substances. In their place, search for natural foods. Here are some other impawtant things to look for in our dinner…
- Amino Acids help to rejuvenate our skin and coat.
- Fiber helps us to digest our food and keeps our poops healthy.
- Protein helps to balance our hormones and build our energy.
- Probiotics help us to absorb nutrients and fight off bad bacteria.
- Vitamins keep our bones and skin in tip-top shape.
What is the Difference Between Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism?
Whereas hypothyroidism stops the release of hormones I need to metabolize my snacks, pooches with hyperthyroidism release oodles of them.
They shrink down rather than balloon up, even if they gobble all day long. It can also speed their ticker up, and get them real excited for no reason at all.
Can Hypothyroidism Be Cured?
Sadly, no, but by learning as much as you can about it, you can prevent it from having such a negative impact.
Paws for Thought
Thank you for listening to my many woofs, barks, whines, and grrrs today, human. It shows you truly care about your fluffy life partner as much as they care about you.
Now you’ve heard it straight from the pooch’s mouth, you can do what it takes to get your fluffer back to its old self.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, the postman should be here any second now. I’ll get him this time…I can feel it!
