Unexplained Weight Loss

[Guest jennchendrix]

Hi all.

 

Our greyhound, Remy Jack is almost 9 years old. He has lost several pounds--73 lbs. at Christmas, 69 lbs. today (April 1). His appetite is fine, no limping, pee/poop seems fine. I had the vet run his blood work today and all the numbers were normal. We are US military living overseas and we see a Japanese vet. He has my confidence, but he has not treated greyhounds before.

 

My question: should I worry? Should I try to put weight back on him? If so, how? The vet did not seem overly concerned about the weight loss. Am I over reacting?

 

Remy Jack came to us two years ago at about 75 lbs. He is "very" retired, has a good size backyard and takes short walks around the blocks occasionally.

 

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[tbhounds]

Did you check for intestinal parasites?? Any food changes?? What and how much are you feeding?-- sometimes in our older greys you may need to increase their caloric intake to maintain a good body condition.

[Guest Swifthounds]

I would rule out medical issues first (parasites, etc.), but how active is your hound? We tend sometimes in the wetter/colder seasons to get less exercise ourselves and often a greyhound won't see out other exercise. As greyhounds age they have a more difficult time maintaining muscle, and three things are very important: 1) good amount of protein for muscle building (some commercial foods are waay off the mark and put less protein in their senior foods), 2) lots of moderate exercise, and 3) joint supplementation to keep them healthy, active, and pain free.

[GeorgeofNE]

Four pounds is only significant if he was the perfect weight before he lost four pounds!

 

As to how to put weight on him--I'd start with feeding him more. And I'd take a fecal sample to the vet, and perhaps deworm him regardless of the results.

[TheFullHouse]

Have to agree with all of the above.

[Burpdog]

Is the Japanese vet familar with greyhound values?

 

Feed him more & see if you can get the 4# back on.

[Guest jennchendrix]

Thank you so much for the responses.

 

Right now Remy Jack gets 3c of Nutro Natural Formula Lamb Meal and Rice kibble a day, half in the morning and half at night. We also give him a joint supplement (MSM, Condtroitin, etc.). The Nutro wouldn't be my first choice but we have limited options at the military commissary here. I would be happy to give him some additional "human food" to try to put the weight back on. Boiled chicken? Kosher hot dogs? What else? He doesn't love peanut butter but if I put it on something else he would probably eat it.

 

I will take a stool sample to the vet for analysis to check for a parasite.

 

And the advice about more exercise is very valuable. I didn't realize greys are at risk of losing weight the less they exercise-he just loves his couch so much! We will step up the walks for sure.

 

Thank you very much! We adore Remy Jack and want to see him healthy for as long as possible. Any additional food ideas would be appreciated!

[JJNg]

Rather than adding more 'human food' I would just increase the amount of kibble - go to 3.5-4 cups daily and recheck his weight in a few weeks. Muscle weighs more than fat, so if a dog loses muscle tone, they will lose weight. How is Remy Jack's body condition? Do you see ribs, vertebrae, or hip bones? How does that compare to how he looked before - is he looking more 'bony'? I find that my dogs' weight fluctuates based on activity level and season, and I adjust their food accordingly. Hopefully this is all it is, but if he continues to lose weight even with more food, I'd recommend rechecking with your vet to do more testing.

[Burpdog]

I'm just the opposite. At his age I would add boiled beef or chicken -- around a cup a feeding.

 

Also, make sure the vet is aware of greyhound differences. Blood work could be off and he doesn't know it if he isn't. For instance a normal HCT in other breeds could be a seriously low reading in a greyhound.

[Guest meakah]

I would add a bit of oil to his diet as well. Just simple olive oil quickly put weight back on my girl when she was losing pounds at age 9. Her weight loss ended up being from congestive heart failure and chronic renal failure so the oil only helped for so long. The renal failure shows up in blood values so it doesn't sound like that is what you are dealing with. I would definitely do a fecal exam and increase the food intake. Nothing wrong with adding some chicken, up the kibble, and add some oil. Careful not adding too much oil at first cuz it can cause the runs...increase a little at a time.

[RobinM]

I would just up the dog food a bit to see if that works. I stay away from human food for my pups (and I don't eat their food either! That is how I explain it to Chloe)

 

My Choe who will be 7 in June starting to lose weight. Very noticablly. I took her in and she had a physical. Vet said to watch it. She wasn't gaining it back so I brought her back in and we did a CBC, fecal etc. Everything was perfect.

 

Vet feels it's just kinda age related. Some dogs as they get older will lose weight. She is otherwise just greyt. She is so happy that I have upped her kibble a little!!!!

Edited April 2, 2011 by RobinM

[KF_in_Georgia]

My 10-year-old Sam unexpectedly lost weight, too, on 3 cups a day. He's prone to having stomach troubles, so I didn't want to feed him foods he wasn't already getting and risk throwing him into diarrhea that would cause even more weight loss.

 

I upped Sam's kibble to 4 cups a day. That helped right off the bat. And to deal with his occasional diarrhea, he now gets extra fiber (Fiber Choice) and a probiotics capsule (Philips' Colon Health). I did the extra kibble for a while, added the fiber supplement, and after 48 hours on that with no problems, added the probiotic. He's been getting the fiber and probiotics for a couple of months and has only occasionally had some soft poop--no more of the huge blowouts. And his appetite is good, his weight is up, and he looks great.

[Guest jennchendrix]

Great suggestions! I have upped the kibble to 4c a day and will try the oil trick as well.

 

He is definitely skinnier that we have seen him, but the vet says the weight is not unhealthy for his size and age (yet). Still, I would like to get a couple of pounds back on him.

 

The vet showed me the blood results and noted the one high level, which I think must be the HCT, which would make it normal for a greyhound?

 

I think I will go back to the vet and get a copy of the blood work so I can check it myself. I found a good site that explains the differences in greyhounds' CBCs.

 

I walked him yesterday and he took off running for the first few houses so that was nice to see! But I can't keep up with him so we had to slow it down.

 

Thanks for all your help! Hopefully can post with weight gain news soon!