Why is my 3-month-old puppy sick, losing weight, and has many ticks?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Maxi! There are many reasons for a senior dog to become weak: kidney, liver problems, arthritis, neurological degeneration of the spine, cancer. Tick infestations, if severe can make any age dog weak by removing too much blood and causing anemia. Also ticks carry infectious diseases like Lyme, Ehrlichia, anaplasma and many others. I recommend, ideally, to have Maxi seen by a Vet and have blood work done and check her for the above 3 tick borne diseases. Then if healthy enough give her a flea and tick preventative. There are great drugs out now for fleas and ticks, like Nexgard, Simparica, Bravecto and the Seresto collar. I am so sorry that Maxi is sick and I wish her a speedy recovery! If you need anything else please contact us, we are here to help!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry you are going through this. It sounds like they started the vaccination earlier than usual. Usually the second round of vaccines is applied at around 10-12 weeks. However, you should be ok as long as you continue the vaccine schedule as recommended by a veterinarian. The next step is having them provide you with a vaccine record. If you have recently started using Frontline, then it is fair to give it a few weeks to see if it helps. If you see ticks it is important to remove them. If you see more fleas, I recommend a product called Capstar which can help kill a lot of fleas at once. I do think that it would be best to have Teddy evaluated by a veterinarian sooner than 3 weeks as he is likely due for the next round of vaccines. Good luck and have a great day!

Hi there. Coco really needs to be hospitalized for this condition as soon as possible. If she has shown no improvement she may be having a delayed reaction to the tick bite (or something else) and need a course of steroids, etc along with her antibiotics and iv fluids. If she cannot hold down food, low glucose is a huge worry with a puppy this small as well and can lead to seizures, lethargy, etc. she is also anemic-which your doctor has probably informed you. It may be that she ends up needing a blood transfusion. I hope this helps and she gets help quickly. My best to you both.

Thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Your puppy has very vague symptoms of vomiting which can mean she has an upset stomach. I believe I see milk in the bowl you have in the picture there. If that is the case I would stop giving that right away. Domino is more than old enough not to still be getting puppy milk. If she continues to vomit after stopping the milk, then it's best to take her to your vet for a full examination and possible testing to determine why she is vomiting so that we know how to best help her. Also I would recommend bathing her in Dawn dish detergent to strip all the fleas off her for now. Make sure not to get any in her eyes and follow up with an oatmeal based or aloe based shampoo and conditioner to prevent her skin from getting too dry. She is old enough for Revolution topical flea and heartworm preventative from your local vet, so I would recommend getting her hat to protect her from the fleas here moving forward. I hope your puppy gets better soon. Best wishes and take care.

No, if you got the tick off within a day they generally don’t get sick from ticks. If there is any question you can get a tick infection test done at your veterinary clinic. I recommend starting a veterinary oral tick and flea prevention product when he’s old enough, like Bravecto or Nexgard so he doesn’t get more ticks. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Boa.

Based on what you are describing I would be concerned that Ellie has either a heavy intestinal parasite burden or parvovirus. Both can cause weight loss, dehydration, vomiting and diarrhea. I would recommend taking Ellie to be examined by a veterinarian as soon as possible. She will likely need treatment (for either disease) to be started right away since she is losing weight already. Your vetnwill probably recommend checking a fecal sample and running a parvo test. At the very least she will need to be dewormed and, if healthy enough, start her vaccines. I hope this helps. Best of luck with Ellie. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

These signs could be compatible with an inflammation infection of the gastrointestinal system and surrounding organs (like pancreas and liver). A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is immediately essential to confirm these clinical suspicions and treat appropriately. Antibiotics and possibly further investigations (like abdominal imaging as ultrasound or radiographs and fecal analysis) may be needed. 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.