My rescue dog is skinny and won't eat or drink. Is this serious?

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Dogs that are not eating and drinking and look very thin and suddenly very thin are very sick. The biggest concern would be a 'foreign body'- a sock/underwear/toy that is stuck in the gut, preventing any food from being taken in and absorbed. Other concerns would be severe gastritis, a high worm burden (parasite infection), cancer in the gut, lack of enzyme production in the pancrease, and some other causes. I recommend getting your girl to a vet right away however, as it sounds like she is very sick. Best of luck with her!

Poor pup! It definitely sounds like something is wrong. There are many things that can cause dogs to lose weight, not eat or drink, and not want to move, so it's hard to say what might be wrong without being able to examine him and run some tests. He may have an infectious disease such as parvo, a systemic illness like liver or kidney disease, or may have ingested something toxic. This does sound quite serious, so I would recommend taking Boy to the vet for an exam as soon as possible. He/she can do blood work and x-rays if needed to help diagnose the problem and get him started on appropriate treatment.

Unfortunately, bloodwork will only tell us part of what is going on internally. Sometimes figuring out what is wrong can require additional testing such as urine samples, x-rays or ultrasounds. You didn't mention Luna's age, but have her listed as unspayed. Depending on when her last heat cycle was, you may want to discus with your veterinarian if she could have been bred or is having a uterine infection. Not eating or drinking is a serious medical problem, so I would strongly recommend contacting your veterinarian for their recommendation on the next diagnostic or treatment steps you can take with Luna to figure out what is going on and how to make her feel better. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello there! While Luna's weight loss and poor coat may be from malnutrition, the heavy breathing and joint pain makes me concerned about other potential medical issues that she may be facing. First, be sure that she was on proper heartworm and flea/tick preventative while she was on the farm. Dogs that spend lots of time outdoors will come into contact with mosquitoes and parasites, which could explain some of her symptoms, should she have contracted a vector-borne disease like heartworms, lyme disease, or rickettsial infections (rocky mountain spotted fever and ehrlichiosis). The symptoms Luna is exhibiting could be indicative of any or all of these diseases. I also worry about intestinal parasites potentially stealing some of her nutrition, which can cause weight loss and a poor hair coat. All of these disease processes can be ruled out at the vet's office. A small blood test can check for heartworms and tick-borne diseases, and a stool sample can check for intestinal parasites. I highly recommend that you bring Luna in as soon as possible to have her looked at. Good luck, and I hope Luna gets well soon!

Poor guy. You absolutely need to get some testing done on this guy. I would start with some bloodwork and x-rays to evaluate his organs and intestines for abnormalities. Then go from there depending on the results. There could be a number of things going on here including: pancreas issues, an intestinal problem, kidney disease, etc. So many disease can cause these symptoms, which is why it is so important to start off with some diagnostic testing to narrow things down. Once we know what the underlying problem is, then we will know how to best help Khan moving forward. I do hope that Khan is able to stabilize soon! Best of luck and take care.

I would actually recommend starting with a vet visit to confirm your concerns. Because so many dogs are overweight, sometimes ideal weight dogs look overweight to the general public. The vet can assess weight and hydration status to let you know if anything is wrong. If Barry is otherwise a healthy, normal dog, he's likely eating and drinking just the right amount for his body.

Hello there. That is a good question! Sorry to hear that Jax is not feeling well. You should definitely be concerned. It is really not normal for a puppy to not want to eat. One meal......not a huge deal but if this continues for more than 12 hours or if he starts vomiting, is very lethargic, begins having diarrhea or otherwise acts abnormal then you need to take him to your vet immediately! This can be an early sign of something more serious. Puppies can go from bad to worse quickly so you don't want to wait to long to get them medical help if they need it. I hope that a Boxer puppy at 8 weeks of age weighs more than 3 pounds so I hope that is a typo or I definitely think he is not getting enough food.... Jax will need to be seen by a vet at 12 weeks of age for vaccine boosters, a fecal test and dewormer so be sure to make that appointment. You don't want him to miss out on that - it is very important. I hope this was helpful. Best wishes to you and Jax. Dr. Amber