My 2-month-old puppy's stomach feels tight and heavy. What's wrong?

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Enlarged, hard belly often results from eating too much and too quickly. In this case, the belly all of the sudden gets big, about 20-40 minutes after eating. As long as your Ziggy is comfortable, not crying and his energy level is normal you just need to monitor him at home. The mild bloat should get better in 4-6 hrs time. Chronic abdominal distention in puppies in most cases is related to gastrointestinal worms. If Ziggy has not been de-wormed yet, please do it as soon as possible. You can buy worming medications at the vets but also in pet shops and online - you can get them over-the-counter.

If she is acting normal otherwise than it might just be that her stomach is full from the feeding. She could also have a parasite causing her stomach to be enlarged. Have a vet take a look at her to determine if she needs treatment. She may need to be dewormed with a broad spectrum dewormer.

Without seeing Diesel it is hard to say. I would first make sure he is intestinal parasite free. There a several different parasites and there is not one deworming medicine that treats them all. I recommend bringing a stool sample to your vet to look at under the microscope. Otherwise the issues could be coming from his food. Make sure you are feeding a high quality puppy food like Iams, Science Diet/Hills, or Purina One. Good luck and kisses to Diesel!

I would get him checked by your vet as soon as possible since he seems painful. It is odd that he ate well but his abdomen seems painful, but he could be at the beginning of an infection, he may have eaten something he shouldn't have that is causing the pain, there are a number of possibilities, especially since he is so young. Your vet will do an exam and possibly x-rays and/or labwork to try to determine the cause of his discomfort. Based on these results your vet will be better able to tell you what is going on and how best to treat it.

8 week old puppies, even large breed ones, have pretty tiny stomachs, and they also have poor abdominal musculature development at this stage. Those 2 factors can cause you to really be able to see their abdomen bulging when the stomach is full or water or food. So that might be one reason you're seeing this. The other reason could be that Mishka has intestinal parasites. They are very common in young puppies, so if she hasn't been dewormed, this should be done, at least twice (3 - 4 weeks apart). It's also a good idea to have your vet check a stool sample. You can buy dewormer over the counter in most pet stores; follow the directions on the package.

Hi there! Ali is a very cute pup :) From what you describe, I'm not hearing anything that sounds particularly abnormal. Many young puppies will have a noticeably round, firm belly after eating - this is because they don't have much abdominal muscle or fat yet, so you often notice visual changes like this when they are "full" from a recent meal. Intestinal parasites can sometimes contribute to a rounded belly in puppies, so I would recommend having your vet do a fecal exam to check for this problem. As long as her poop seems to be a normal consistency (not overly hard, or diarrhea) and she doesn't seem painful or uncomfortable when she goes to the bathroom, I wouldn't worry too much about whether she poops in one large piece or several smaller pieces. Since you mentioned that she has not had any vaccines yet, I would recommend taking her to the vet as soon as you can to have her vaccinated, as she is at risk of getting serious diseases like parvo and distemper.

I would recommend a vet check to determine if there are nay underlying medical causes but the fact she eats well is a good sign. Monitor for regular stools and no pain or vomiting and ensure she is dewormed regularly with an appropriate puppy wormer (every 2-4 weeks depending on the product). Keep her isolated from other dogs (especially dog parks etc) until she is fully up to date with her vaccines