My dog has hair loss, weight loss, and is acting hyper. Why?

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Weight loss can be a sign of intestinal worms, organ dysfunction or disease (pancreatic insufficiency, liver shunts, kidney disease, liver inflammation/infection, etc.), food allergies or poor diet, and many other conditions. Hair loss can be due to parasites (mange, fleas, etc.), hypothyroidism, allergies (food or environment), immune diseases, etc. Given that Kalu is 2 years old, I would start by getting him dewormed and also get a product that treats for fleas, ticks and mange. See if his problems resolve. If they do not, then see your vet about testing. Best of luck with Kalu!

Hi, I'm Dr. Johnson. I think I just answered a question about Aysha! The tail tip doesn't worry me, a lot of dogs get the hairless area. My own dog has it. The other picture of the moth eaten appearance to her fur is not normal. A lot of skin conditions looks the same unfortunately. The hair loss could be form a skin infection (bacteria or yeast), from demodex (a non contagious mite) or ring worm. Also I know we were discussing her being over weight and a low thyroid. A low thyroid can predispose dogs to skin infections. Also food allergies can also. I think you have a few reasons to see your Vet now! Good luck!

Those are all very general signs of illness, and I would be concerned there is a GI issue or underlying illness if she is both losing hair and unable to keep food down/losing weight. Parasites, obstructions, viral illnesses, infections, organ issues, metabolic diseases, etc can all be potential causes, so it would be best to seek out veterinary care from your vet or an ER clinic as soon as possible.

Poor girl. With her losing hair and possible weight as well as no appetite, I am concerned about an internal illness with Maisie. I would definitely recommend starting with some bloodwork on her to check her organs (liver, kidneys) to see if we can determine the underlying problem. Once we know a bit more about her underlying condition, then hopefully we have some treatment options for her. Best case scenario is that Maisie just has a skin infection, which usually responds well to a short course of antibiotics/anti-fungals. I hoep that Maisie feels better soon! Best of luck and take care.

Hello, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Yes, this unexplained weight loss in Mia definitely worries me. 2 lbs of loss in a large dog wouldn't be too alarming, but in Mia's case she's lost 25% of her original body weight and that should absolutely be investigated. It is never normal for a dog to lose this much weight and almost certainly indicates a medical problem. I recommend bringing Mia to the vet for evaluation. Anticipate that your vet will likely start with an exam, then will probably recommend checking a fecal sample and running bloodwork. Dramatic weight loss in young dogs can be due to problems with digestion (such as inflammatory bowel disease or pancreatic insufficiency), congenital issues (such as a liver shunt), intestinal parasites, and (less commonly) cancer, among other things. I hope this helps and you can get to the bottom of Mia's weight loss soon!

With the weight loss as well as the skin condition I would recommend a blood test to rule out internal diseases such as liver disease as well as a skin scrape and possible biopsy in order to fully investigate the underlying cause and to guide the most appropriate treatment

Hi. Sorry honey isn't feeling well. Being lethargic, quiet, and vomiting can occur for alot of different diseases or conditions. It can be from a dietary indiscretion, a food sensitivity, a GI infection,  pancreatitis, metabolic and endocrine conditions, foreign bodies in the intestines, and more.   The best thing for vomiting would be to get him seen and try to get to the bottom of the cause.  But he will need an exam and some diagnostics.  In the meantime, you can try a bland diet of boiled chicken and rice for 3-5 days, then slowly change back to her regular diet if doing well. The hair loss can be caused by bacterial infections, allergies, metabolic, or endocrine diseases. Your veterinarian may do some bloodwork to check for those conditions and also some skin testing. Good luck.