My dog is underweight and won't gain weight. What vet tests are needed?

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I can see that Stone is a little thin from the photos, and the amount of weight he has lost in the past 3 weeks is definitely cause for concern. The next steps after checking for intestinal parasites include blood work to make sure that there isn't an underlying infection present and that organ function is normal. It can also determine that food is being digested and nutrients are absorbed appropriately. X-rays and an ultrasound can rule out masses, obstructions, and inflamed bowels. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you may have!

The first things to rule out would be gastrointestinal parasites, this is usually easy to test and treat. if this is not the case there are many gastrointestinal diseases that could cause that, each has different testing protocols, most have special foods that need to be tried. if he is not neutered, having him castrated can also help him gain some weight.

Hi. For weight loss, we would want a CBC checked, a full chemistry to check liver/kidneys/electrolytes/and glucose, a thyroid, and a urine test. If those are all normal, xrays will need to be done in weight loss cases. Good luck

The best next steps would be more tests to help get to the bottom of her symptoms. Typically we start with xrays and ultrasound if bloodwork is normal. Mainly looking for any cause as lethargy and weight loss are non specific. If nothing is found on imaging then loss of nutrition via the GI tract is possible and so sometimes additonal testing is needed to assess this. If your family vet is stumped, some pets get referred to see a specialist (a veterinary internist) for additional help in diagnosis. Additionally medications can be tried to help with any nausea/stimulate the appetite but if an underlying cause can be found and treated that will always be better. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

More testing needs to be done to find out what is going on. You cannot allow her to continue to barely eat food. I suggest x-rays and/or abdominal ultrasound as the next steps in finding out what is going on.

Unfortunately, there is no pill or medication that can make Lil gain weight. There could be an underlying malabsorption or maldigestion condition. This may require special blood tests or biopsies to diagnose. You could try a high performance or high protein diet to get the weight on. Any diet change should take place gradually over 7-10 days to avoid stomach upset.

If he isn't the appropriate weight then there is likely an underlying cause for this. Most healthy pets should be able to remove all the vital nutrients from their food and use it for energy; however there are certain disease processes that can interfere with this, including intestinal parasites, malabsorption/maldigestion issues, certain endocrine disorders such as Addison's disease, and pancreas disorders like Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. So I think the first priority here is to get Peanut examined by your vet to determine if he is ind Ed underweight to begin with. We achieve this by determining his current body condition score, where 3/5 or 5/9 is considered ideal weight. Then determine if the pet needs specific testing to look for certain disease processes that would lead to the weight loss, such as decal examination, pancreas testing and so forth. And of course generally speaking you should be feeding your pet a high quality adult small breed formula, such as Royal Canin, Hill's Science Diet, Evo or Natural Balance just to name a few. I hope Peanut turns out to be ok. Best wishes!