What's wrong with my dog?

Question

The vet said the initial exam looked fine, just check to see if she's eating, vomiting, or has diarea. She's about 4 years old, gold lab. Over the past few months she's lost a lot of weight, has no energy, and is very lethargic. The vet said that signs like these are a sign of a tumor but that's more common in older dogs. Does anyone know what's wrong with my Daisy baby? :(

Answer 1

Hun, I would be very concerned over the fact that she is loosing weight and is acting lethargic. How is her appetite? Has thirst increased/decreased? Frequent urination? Did she have a temperature at the vet?

I would highly recommend that you either transfer to another vet clinic, or request the following tests for your Daisy:

1) Healthcheck Plus blood work (tests levels in all the major organs of the body including blood counts)

2) Thyroid/Liver Enzymes/Diabetic blood work.

3) X-rays to check for tumors

She could absolutely be suffering from an overactive or under-active!!) thyroid or could even be suffering from diabetes. It could also be a foreign body (has she gotten into anything recently?) or something as simple as an infection.

Basically, without more tests... you wont have more answers... and at this point it could be ANYTHING. And now that I think about it... it may not be a bad idea to request a 4DX to test for Lyme Disease.

Sorry I could not be more of a help, but honestly, you need to stick up for your girl and demand more answers or change vets!

Please keep me posted on Daisy and feel free to contact me if you have any other questions.

Answer 2

First, let me say that I am not a vet, and that there could be other reasons for your dog's symptoms, so don't get scared or upset by what I'm about to say. This comes from my own personal experience with my dog.

The symptoms you've described make it sound like your dog could have some sort of liver disease. You need to take her back to the vet and specifically check for this. If she does have liver disease, it needs to be treated as soon as possible.

The liver helps to get nutrients from the food you eat. If it's not functioning properly, she won't get all the nutrients she needs, which could be a cause of the weight loss.

Also, a by product of food digestion is ammonia. Normally the liver helps to get this out of the blood, but if hers has been compromised then some of the ammonia will remain in her blood. This could cause the lethargy. It would probably cause confusion too. I know my dog would walk into a corner and would just stand there for minutes, like she couldn't figure out how to get out of there. We would have to physically lead her away from the corner. Have you noticed this in your dog?

Another symptom to look for is bloating, either in the belly area or in the legs. You mentioned that she's lost weight so this might not be prevalent, but sometimes it's not so easy to see. Look carefully to see if any of her legs look swollen or bigger than the others.

In Feb. of 2006, I brought my dog to the vet because she had a severly bloated abdomen. That's when I found out that she had liver disease, and they said she probably only had a few weeks to a few months. We immediately started a regimen of many different medicines (at one time she was taking 10 different medications a day, now she's down to 8), and even then she seemed to worsen--that's when she became lethargic and confused because of the ammonia in her blood. In May of '06 the vet prescribed a couple of new medicines, and told us that if they didn't work, she probably only had a couple of weeks left. I'm happy to say that she's still with us, and the bloating, confusion, and lethargy are gone. Her weight is still lower than it had been before she was sick, but she happy and still enjoys playing in the yard.

If she does have liver disease, the outlook is not good because my dog is the exception, not the rule. Most dogs in her condition don't last this long--but there is hope.

Like I said, her symptoms could be caused by something else entirely, so don't get scared, but definitely talk to your vet about this.

Answer 3

Did the vet do bloodwork? A urinalysis? At the very least he would have done bloodwork to help find out what is going on with your dog.

Since no one here can help you, why not call the vet and ask? If you're not happy with the one you have now, get a second opinion.

Answer 4

1. Make sure the food is not contaminated and she eats proper amount. Give her what she likes.
2. Have blood test done to see if she has any infection or any abnormal test indicating kidney or liver disease
3. Give her some vitamins and keep her hydrated. Do not take her out in hot weather.
4. If this does not work, take her to specialist.

Answer 5

there are also some dry foods, cat foods and treats that were on the recall. I recently read something today about acemethaphine .. the drug thats in tylenol, being found in pet foods.

Get a second opinion! She is young enough to develop a tumor. It could also be a contaimanant in the pet food.

Answer 6

I would demand answers from your vet...or find another one. Tumors can show up in any age. Have him tested for tumors as well as a thyroid condition. Blood work, x-rays and CT scans will tell alot. Insist on answers.

Answer 7

i would take her too another vet and see what they say. I had a 5 year old Rottwieler, and he was sick, when we took him to the vet they gave him cold medicine, and anti-biotics, and he was just getting worse so we took him to another vet and they said he had some type of cancer in his throat. and he didnt make it. Take him to a different vet just to be safe, have them do x-rays, get his blood tested, and all that stuff.

Answer 8

sounds like u need a second opinion try taking her to another vet and see what is wrong

Answer 9

are you feeding her canned dog food, and if so get her to the vet immediately......the dog food might be on the recall list.
I had to put my dog down because of the food. He had the same symptoms.......

Answer 10

She is getting old you are just going to have to face it