Pete’s vet visit

I took Pete to the vet this morning for a Bordetella booster shot, heartworm test and intestinal parasite exam.
It was his first ride in the Lexus and he handled it with resignation once I got him into the passenger seat and explained to him that he could not come across the console and sit in my lap.
Once in the examining room, he hunkered down under my chair and came out for his procedures with great reluctance.
The vet opines that a thyroid deficiency may be the cause of Pete’s weight gain and thinning rump hair. She said they drew blood and will run tests to check.
We’d noticed the thinning hair and hope this leads to a fix for that and some weight loss too. He weighed in at 61.1 pounds today.
LATER: The vet says the optimum thyroid level is between 2 and 4 on the scale they use. They can measure down to .5 and Pete's level was below that.
Got him on Leventa oral solution, .6 ml/day.
FROM THE LEVENTA WEB SITE:
 It is important to give LEVENTA® oral solution for a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks to allow enough time for it to positively affect the metabolism before evaluating its effect. Most dogs begin to show improvement in their activity level within 2 - 7 days of starting thyroid hormone replacement therapy. It takes a longer period of time to see improvements in the skin and hair coat. In fact, the hair coat may actually appear to worsen initially as the old hair coat is shed before it can be replaced with a healthier hair coat. It may take several months for complete regrowth of the hair coat to occur. Healthy weight loss will likely be observed over the couple of months following initiation of therapy as exercise naturally increases and improvements in fat metabolism occur. During this time frame it is advisable to gradually increase the level of exercise to avoid fatigue or injury in your dog.