Why is my dog losing weight, lethargic, and breathing heavily?

I would recommend that Rex have a thorough checkup with a vet. Gaining weight and lethargy can be a symptom of hypothyroidism, which can be confirmed easily with a blood test. However, the shortness of breath has me a little concerned that there could be heart or lung disease also at play. Heart disease can cause fluid build-up in the lungs or abdomen, which can easily be confused for weight (fat) gain. After thorough examination, the vet may recommend bloodwork to check for internal medical illness, and x-rays or ultrasound to see what is going on inside the body. After your vet has a better idea of the cause of Rex's symptoms, then an appropriate treatment plan can be discussed.

She may have intestinal parasites or not get enough or proper puppy food. Trouble breathing and weight loss can also point to congenital heart disease or a liver shunt. You need to take your dog to a vet for an exam and worming.

These are alarming symptoms indeed. For an older dog with coughing and lethargy, my top suspicions would be: heart disease, heartworm disease (if he is not current on heartworm prevention) primary lung cancer, pneumonia or a heart based tumor. He is at risk for all of these based on his breed. I would highly recommend taking him in to your vet for bloodwork analysis and chest radiographs to properly diagnose him based on the many possible causes stated above. Poor guy. He sounds very unstable for now and the quicker you can get him in to a vet the better. I hope that this is something you can treat for, but the odds of it being something major are high in an older large breed dog. I send you all my best in getting Casper well again. Take care and best wishes.

Oh my. Poor guy. The weight loss and his body condition score is very concerning. Gradual weight loss in older pets is highly suspicous of cancer unfortunately. Other possible causes are intestinal parasites, diabetes mellitus, etc. There is also possible arthritis which is causing Blue to become debilitated and unable to move around well; however, generalized weakness could also be a cause. You can try to feed Blue a high calorie diet (ie puppy food) to help with his muscle tone and try over the counter joint supplements (ie Dasuquin) to help with his mobility. Here is a website link with more financial resources to help you get him seen by a vet for further care because he really needs medical attention and testing to determine if this is something serious or not, and to pursue medical treatment. http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html Best of luck to you and your pet Blue. I really hope he will be ok. Take care.

I am sorry to hear about Eevee! This must be very worrisome to you! I would recommend having her examined by a veterinarian and having some comprehensive bloodwork done as a baseline. With waxing and waning symptoms such as this we do worry about things like Addison's disease https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4951484 which is a problem where the body doesn't produce enough steroids. Most often we see it in dogs around 4 to 5 years old but it can happen at any age. We would also worry about some infections that can wax and wane, such as tick borne infections. Your vet can get a more thorough history and do a physical examination which may further help guide testing they may recommend or possible diagnosis.

Cough can be caused by an infection, heart problem or lung condition, it is important to first know the cause before treating it as treatment is different from condition to another. As weight loss is involved it is likely to be a chronic condition, i strongly recommend taking Hannah to the vet ASAP in order to get it treated.

According to the symptom of weight loss, otherwise normal and elevations on bloodwork, I would advise having your pet checked for Cushings disease (due to elevated ALP) via a specific test that your vet can go over with you. Also an abdominal ultrasound should be considered as well to check for any obvious masses since the Globulins were a bit high. Weight loss can also be caused by a change in diet as well, especially if your pet was once overweight, so its best to discuss this possibility with your vet as well. Also it is worth mentioning that none of the medications you listed would cause weight loss as an adverse effect. I do hope that things work out well for your pet moving forward. Best wishes and take care!