Expert: Jana Connell RVT, CVT - 6/3/2011

Question
I have a 13 year old miniature wire hair doxie that has always weighed between 10 and 10.5 lbs. Recently we have seen that she is losing weight so we took her to the vet. At the time she was an even 9 lbs and all tests and blood work can back showing nothing was wrong, everything came back great, but she is still losing weight! I have not weighed her recently but her spine and ribs are clearly visible and she looks like she has no stomach. She eats great, twice a day. What could be going on? Could the vet have missed something?

Answer
Hi Todd,

13 yr old dogs are prone to losing weight. Just as humans start to sort of shrink as we age, so do dogs. However, having said that, a dog that continues to drop weight is of a concern.

I would take her back for an ultrasound or an xray of her stomach and even her chest to see if there are any masses in there. In my experience, many cancers do not show up in blood work but they are there inside being nasty and causing unexplained weight loss on the outside.

Now, that isn't to say that she does have cancer, but you are concerned about her continued weight loss and rightly so.

It could be that she isn't digesting her food as well either, but usually their stool will change noticeably if that happens. It will usually get more puffy looking and have mucous on it sometimes.

Cancers have a way of eating up muscle protein that cause a drastic weight loss without other symptoms. 13 is very old for a dog and while she is still spry right now, you may want to watch her for other issues, such as drinking a lot, urinating a lot etc.

Kidney issues and even liver issues can cause advanced weight loss as well.

I would take her in if she was my dog and have the vet feel her gut and do an xray at least. That way you will know more. If it all comes back negative, then she is probably just experiencing this weight loss due to age.

You should discuss with the vet a diet addition such as cottage cheese or something mild that will help her regain some weight.

Here are some articles you might want to look at about geriatric dogs:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2110&aid=619

http://www.srdogs.com/Pages/care.fr.html

http://www.petplace.com/article-printer-friendly.aspx?id=3556

I do hope that I am wrong about the cancers. Please let me know if you find out anything.