Do Dogs With Injuries Often Drop Weight?

[sobesmom]

Sobe's alway been my "big boy". He's a big male, and very broad at the head, shoulders, and hips. We've always, for fun, compared the width of the points of his hipbones, to the hipbones of all our fosters, and only 1 has been as "wide" as Sobe. His bone structure is very wide for a grey - but he's also quite tall. He also is prone to pack on the pounds VERY easily. We joke that "like his mommy (ME) - if he LOOKS at a cookie he'll gain 5 lb.!"

 

So - we've always been very careful about Sobe's food - and treats. Our other grey, Diana - is just the opposite. You can feed her until she'll burst - and she's ALWAYS super-skinny!

 

Sobe got hurt a while ago. Pulled a muscle - got a huge hemotoma. The vet did a million ttests - and decided - it'll go away - eventually.

 

In the meantime - Sobe is dropping weight. A Lot. He's still eating his normal amount of the normal food - although, with very little interest.

 

His ribs started showing. Now - his backspines are starting to show. I've NEVER seen Sobe's backspines. Diana's yes, foster's yes. But NEVER Sobe's. Heck - I've never seen more than a "shadow" of 2 ribs on him - ever.

 

He's not "too thin". He's not even as thin as our Diana yat - but - he's.....THINNING. Visibly. And he's still eating the same amounts of the same foods. No worms.

 

Does injury make a dog ---- thin?

[Guest lat41065]

Does he pant a lot ? Sometimes dogs that are hurting can burn a lot of calories. Try giving him some extra food to compensate. Good Luck and I hope he feels better soon !

 

 

Lesley

[KF_in_Georgia]

I can't remember: Has Sobe had any recent change in meds? I know thyroxine (Soloxine) can have an impact on weight...usually making pounds drop from an overweight dog who actually wasn't eating enough to justify the extra weight.

 

Any change in his diet? Or in his pooping habits? We've changed food recently, and my two are eating a bit more, losing a bit of weight, and pooping less. It seems that they're processing their food better, but not getting too many fat-calories from their increased intake.

 

Of course, it's also been colder here, and my guys may just be burning the extra calories staying warm. At least my two are pretty much doing their weight changes in unison, which means I don't have to worry that one dog is ill. At your house, maybe Sobe's feeling the cold more than Diana, and is burning calories staying warm.

 

You might want to get a tape measure and just measure strategic points on Sobe. That will give you actual hard numbers to confirm what you're seeing. And if you get a chance, you could run him by the vet's to check on his weight.

[Batmom]

If he's eating the same amount and no meds such as Soloxine have changed, I'd get him back to the vet for a weight check and bloodwork.

[Guest sja5032]

The body needs calories to heal itself, if his body is trying to heal the pulled muscle then it seems reasonable that he would drop weight. Try feeding him more and if he doesn't start putting weight on, then I would have blood work done. In the racing kennel I always used to up the feed of dogs who were injured for this reason, usually they end up heavier than they were because as soon as they injury is healed they go back to needing the same amount of calories as before and pack on the the pounds quickly.

[Guest Energy11]

I am for feeding more, and also getting a full set of bloodwork , just to be sure everything is okay. Good Luck!

[kudzu]

The short answer is yes injury can lead to thinning if the dog is laid up so much that they lose a lot of muscle mass. However, what you are describing reminds me more of my old man Grey. He is 13 yo, has a chronic form of leukemia (had it for years) & his arthritis has forced a reduction in exercise. He is not too thin but as you say he is thinning from loss of muscle mass.

 

Unless you boy has been on drastic reduction in exercise that would lead to muscle loss, I would get him to the vet for a check up & bloodwork as others have suggested.