You know your dog’s not experimenting with some new crash diet, so why can you feel her ribs and backbone? Sudden unexpected weight loss usually signals an underlying health problem.
Dropping a pound or two isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if your pet’s packing a few extra. But weight loss should be controlled, gradual, and supervised by your veterinarian.
Causes
Some dogs lose weight in the heat of summer, when rising temperatures curb their appetite. At the other extreme, you’ll also find pets losing weight during frigid weather because they burn more energy keeping warm. Other common causes of weight loss:
- Healthy boarded pets may shed some pounds because of diet changes or the stress of a new environment.
- Some hunting dogs lose weight from increased physical activity during the hunting season.
- Nursing mothers burn more calories as their bodies produce milk. Although normal, these responses to environmental or lifestyle changes mean your pet needs more calories to meet her energy requirements.
Diet plays a crucial role in weight maintenance. Undernourishment and weight loss occur in dogs who are fed poor-quality, inedible, or spoiled food. Many underlying medical conditions, such as dental disease, gastrointestinal disorders (including parasites), diabetes mellitus, liver or kidney disease, congestive heart failure, and cancer, make eating, absorbing, and using nutrients difficult.
Other conditions, including hyperthyroidism, fever, and chronic infections, increase your dog’s metabolism and the rate she burns calories. The result: dramatic weight loss.
What you can do
A nutritious diet and lots of fresh water are your dog’s best defenses against unwanted weight loss. Feed your pet the right amount of high-quality food that’s appropriate for her life stage and activity level. And make sure she visits the veterinarian at least once a year for a careful examination and parasite prevention.
When to call the veterinarian
See your veterinarian whenever your dog experiences unexplained weight loss. Call the doctor immediately if your dog exhibits such symptoms as vomiting, diarrhea, fever, or increased thirst or urination.
What your veterinarian will do
Your veterinarian will weigh your dog and ask about her diet, activity level, and symptoms. After a thorough examination, the doctor may recommend blood tests, a urinalysis, urine culture, a fecal exam, X-rays, an ultrasound, or endoscopy to view the digestive tract.
Literally hundreds of conditions can cause weight loss in pets, so please be patient. It may take your veterinarian time to reach a diagnosis. Though some of these conditions are serious, most who slim down quickly will soon return to fighting weight.
