Why my dog is losing weight - causes and solutions
Sharing life with a dog means having great benefits and, in addition, if we know how to take care of it and make it happy we will receive unconditional love. For this, we will have to see if his character and / or physical appearance change, because it is an indicator that something is not right in his health.
One of the changes that can most alert us is the loss of weight in dogs, which can be sudden or can be noticed little by little. When our pet loses weight we should go to the veterinarian to make tests, detect the origin and find the best treatment. Since we want to help you take good care of your hairy, in this article you will find everything about why my dog is losing weight, the causes and the solutions that can be.
Causes of weight loss in dogs
If you have noticed that your pet has lost weight in a short time and you see that you start to mark the ribs and / or spine, that your hip is very thin, you are very tired and have bad hair among other symptoms, without a doubt, you should go to the veterinarian who will have to do tests to find the source of this problem before there are more complications. So, below we tell you what are the main causes of weight loss in dogs :
Gastrointestinal disease
From inflammation of the intestines or food allergy to the presence of internal parasites can be reasons why your dog is thin. This is one of the cases in which you may be thinking " my dog is very thin but eats well ", since they do not stop eating or even eat more when it comes to parasites. What happens when one of these problems occurs is that the intestines fail to absorb nutrients well. It will also be noted that the dog hurts the belly, the stools are inconsistent or you can even see a parasite in the feces.
Dental and oral problems
Pain in the mouth is a reason why a dog can stop eating or eat much less and lose weight. Whether it is excess plaque or if there is an abscess or a tooth has been broken, the veterinarian will be the one to be able to say which is the best treatment for it and to recover weight.
Liver diseases
The liver helps to digest food well and absorb nutrients, therefore, if it is sick it can cause the animal not to maintain its stable weight. A change in skin coloration will be observed, reaching a yellowish tone, vomiting and lethargy.
Renal dysfunction
Another major cause of sudden weight loss in dogs is a failure of the kidneys. In these cases there are also vomiting, much thirst or polydipsia, lack of appetite and increased urination. Therefore, if you think my dog is very skinny and does not want to eat, then he may be suffering from a kidney problem.
Diabetes and hyperthyroidism
Diabetes in dogs produces increased thirst and urination, weakness in the legs, muscle loss, lethargy and weight loss in most cases. In the case of hyperthyroidism, or the increase in the production of thyroid hormones, weight and volume decrease, diarrhea, vomiting, behavioral changes and hyperactivity in dogs are caused.
Stress
Anxiety and stress or stress in dogs affects not only the burning of energy but also in eating habits, causing the animal to lose weight. Any change however small may cause this problem and you have to detect it and change it to reduce stress.
Infections
Another reason why your pet can suddenly lose weight is an infection, such as canine parvovirus, and often have other symptoms such as cough, diarrhea, vomiting and lethargy.
Cancer
Some types of cancer can cause severe lack of appetite and therefore thinning. If you notice that you do not want to eat, you lose weight and when you are barely active you can treat this problem.
How to make a malnourished dog fat
To fatten a malnourished or skinny dog, one must bear in mind what is the main cause of this problem and, on the other hand, restructure the diet based on the cause. In each case it will be vital to follow the instructions of the veterinarian regarding the treatment with medications or surgery that is required to help our pet.
In addition, in the following sections we give you some guidelines on nutrition and vitamins that will help you fatten your malnourished dog and recover his health more easily.
I think to make my dog fat
In order for your dog to gain weight or gain weight, you will need to give it a diet that has a very complete nutritional value and takes into account all the needs of your body and, of course, provides lots of protein and lots of energy. For this, if you ask what is the best feed to fatten my dog, we recommend that where you go to buy it ask for the feed that is more complete or opt directly for puppies feed because they usually have nutrients indicated for growth, increase of volume and stimulation of the organism.
In addition to these feed you can choose to buy feed for convalescent dogs, meaning they are recovering from an illness or an operation. These are usually of veterinary range, that is to say of great quality and designed for animals that need help to recover better so they have a high nutritional value, both for proteins as for calories, vitamins, minerals, and so on.
Similarly, to fatten a malnourished dog, it will be very useful to supplement the diet with wet or canned food and with home-made dog food. We advise you that canned food is also for convalescent dogs and not of low quality, since it would not provide the amount of nutrients necessary in that case, and that the homemade food to fatten your dog is cooked rice and chicken breasts and grilled turkey and all without added salt or spices.
Meet in this other article some of the best homemade recipes for dogs.
Fatty acids and vitamins to fatten dogs
In addition to taking care of the food that we give to our pet so that it gains weight we must also give it some vitamin supplements and fatty acids or "healthy fats" that will help it to better absorb the nutrients, improve the quality of its hair, its bones and the general functioning of the whole organism, allowing you to gain weight in a healthy way. Some of the best supplements of fatty acids and vitamins for thin dogs are the following:
Omega 3
This essential fatty acid will help your dog to better absorb vitamins and other nutrients, improve your skin and hair and will improve the formation of tissues and the general functioning of the body. You can feed them pieces of cooked salmon, give omega 3 capsules or fish oils like cod liver oil, but all these products must be suitable for dogs to consume.
Group B vitamins
This vitamin complex is important because it will stimulate your appetite and help your dog gain weight, especially vitamin B12. You can give them these vitamins naturally by offering cow liver or chicken always cooked between 1 and 3 times a week. Or you can give eggs, they contain a lot of vitamin B12 and other vitamins such as A, essential fatty acids and minerals much needed for your dog to gain weight . Since your hairy is not healthy, but has lost weight for some reason, it is not convenient to give him the raw egg. We recommend that you give it a hard boiled egg mixed with its feed.
Also, there are supplements with these vitamins that are suitable for dogs and that, according to what the veterinarian indicates, you can give your pet to recover earlier and better.
Multivitamins
One of the best options is to give your pet a multivitamin complex that takes several and that in this way covers more needs that the body may have in this moment of weakness. There are the formats in pills, capsules and liquids, but only the veterinary specialist can tell you which is the most suitable for your pet and in what quantities.
Discover in this other article all the necessary about How to give vitamins to a dog.
