My senior pug eats a lot but isn't gaining weight. Why is she crying?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Gum seems to have a decreased appetite and is more lethargic. While these are vague clinical signs, these may be due to some sort of underlying disease of either the gastrointestinal tract, liver or kidney disease, and/or a possible neoplastic or cancerous process. Since he has had a decreased appetite long enough to lose weight, I recommend having him evaluated by your veterinarian at their next available appointment. Your vet can perform bloodwork to look for any evidence of systemic illness that may be contributing to his clinical signs. His clinical signs are unlikely due to behavioral changes alone. I hope this is helpful - best of luck with Gum!

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Unfortunately, cancer is not uncommon in older dogs and can cause weight loss. Weight loss can also be caused by conditions such as IBD, diabetes, or be a normal part of the aging process. I recommend having Milo seen by a vet for blood work and x-rays to check if he has any masses and make sure his organs are functioning normally. I hope all is well with Milo!

I am so sorry that your elderly pug is so ill. Her symptoms are highly suggestive of underlying heart disease or even pneumonia. I would highly recommend taking her to your vet for an exam and some diagnostic testing (i.e. bloodwork or x-rays) and to discuss quality of life. : ( Poor Luxy. I hope that she ultimately is able to pull through this and recover. Best wishes and take care.

This could be due to several things like age and losing some muscle mass, he may need an increase nutritional requirements, liver or kidney problems, cancer or something else. You could get a baseline weight and increase the amount of food you are feeding as long as there is no other symptoms to see if he puts on some weight. I would reweigh him in 2-4 weeks. If he is still loosing weight or not gaining any weight or if you start seeing additional symptoms, I would have your vet take a look at him. Your vet will be able to do a fecal, blood work and even x-rays if needed to help determine the cause of weight loss. I hope this helps and he starts to gain weight quickly.

If the weight loss is more than 10% of the her body weight, this could be abnormal and should ideally checked. Gastrointestinal abnormal absorption of nutrients may be present and should be investigated. Usually chronic gastrointestinal inflammations/infections are responsible for it. I would start with a blood test and some imaging procedures of the abdomen (an ultrasound).

Hi there. If you think that you're feeding Sophie a normal amount of food for a dog her size, then it's possible that she may have a medical problem such as hypothyroidism or Cushing's disease causing her to gain weight - these problems are more common in middle-aged and older dogs, but can occasionally be seen in younger pets as well. Your veterinarian can do lab work to check for these issues, and get her started on appropriate treatment if a problem is found. If her lab work shows that she's healthy, then this means she's getting more calories every day than she needs. In simple terms, this means you need to feed her less. You could do this by decreasing the amount of her regular food, or switching to a prescription weight loss diet and following the feeding instructions on the packaging based on her target weight.

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.