Why is my old dog not eating, drinking more, and losing weight?

I would have Molly seen by a vet as soon as possible. It sounds like she has a few things going on at the moment that need to be diagnosed and treated medically . The problems using her back legs could be due to arthritis, or problems with her hips, spine, and/or joints. Drinking a lot more and peeing a lot more can be due to diabetes or kidney disease. That would also cause weight loss. The bad breath could be caused by diabetes and dental disease. Finally, peeing her in sleep could be caused by incontinence. She needs a physical exam, geriatric blood panel, and urinalysis to diagnose what is causing all of her symptoms. Once a cause is found, the vet can discuss treatment options with you.

She is getting to be consider a senior pet. Due to that they can develop diabetes or kidney disease or cancer or some other metabolic disease causing the weight loss. A vet is the best option to run blood work to check for these disease as some are more manageable than others. If she goes untreated, you may notice the weight loss continue and even vomiting or diarrhea ensue due to advanced disease. On average it is more economic to treat and manage a disease when they are healthy, so the sooner the better you can find a way to take Roxy in the better. Different clinics might accept different forms of payment, so it may be worth checking around

I would be very concerned about that amount of weight loss and I doubt it would be related to fleas alone. Kidney disease, diabetes or certain types of cancer could cause weight loss and an increase in water consumption. I would recommend seeing a veterinarian- they may recommend checking some blood work after a physical exam.

You need to get Missy to your vet for an exam and some blood testing to start with. Some rule outs: * underlying endocrine disease (like diabetes, thyroid disease) * kidney disease * liver disease * cancer Just to name a few. Some of these diseases can be ruled in/out with simple blood testing. Some need additional testing like x-rays or ultrasound. It will depend on what your vet finds on the exam. I don't think this is something you should wait on. You need to get a diagnosis so the proper treatment can be started ASAP. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

I am sorry your dog is not feeling well. The information provided and picture don't really match. If a patient is drinking more and losing weight I would be concerned about endocrine diseases like diabetes and cushings disease. However the picture looks more like possible skin mites or an underlying autoimmune disease I would recommend taking her to a veterinarian to help you resolve the issues. They most likely will need to run basic bloodwork and possible a skin scrape to determine if mites are present.

These signs are usually related either to urinary tract infection, or to kidney problem (failure) or to urinary incontinence. A blood test and urine analysis can rule out kidney failure and urinary tract infection. Urinary incontinence usually derived from a weak urinary sphincter (quite common in old age females). A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. Please find the time to give us a feedback about the consultation as that will be used to improve our service.

I would definitely recommend some blood work, if this hasn't been done recently. Older dogs are prone to a number of health issues that can cause decreased appetite along with being less active - chronic kidney disease and hypothyroidism are two possibilities that are both very common. In many cases, these issues are treatable (at least to some extent) once a diagnosis is made, so it's well worth checking for them if you can - hopefully, there are some things you can do to make him feel better for as long as possible, even though he's getting older.