My senior pitbull is hiding, not eating. Is she deaf or sick?

Poor Kardie! You could try to offer some plain boiled boneless, skinless chicken and white rice to see if this entices her to eat. There are so many things that cause decreased eating and drinking including but not limited to parasites, liver or kidney disease, bacterial or viral infection, toxins, foreign bodies, and much more. I strongly recommend to have her seen by your vet. Your vet will be able to do a fecal, blood work and every x-rays if needed. If left untreated, she could become very dehydrated and keep getting worse. I hope this helps and she starts to feel better really soon.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This is a quite generic but concerning presentation. Differentials are many, from gastrointestinal diseases (infection/inflammations often dietary related) to any disease that can spread systemically (causing lethargy for example) like infection, and anything that can cause pain/discomfort. The approach must be logic, starting from offering different kind of food. A check up is needed if inappetence lasts for more than 24hours. 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. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If she is having difficulty urinating, I would recommend having her examined by a veterinarian so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I would recommend having her urine tested and abdominal x-rays taken. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hello, sorry to hear about Trig-z. She could be eating slower because something is bothering her mouth. Things to consider include dental fractures (especially if she chews on rocks or bones) and tooth root abscesses, especially if she has not had teeth cleaning recently. She could also have a systemic illness such as liver disease or kidney disease, but these typically cause inappetence or vomiting. If these signs persist longer than 2-3 days, or if her signs worsen, then she should be seen by her veterinarian soon. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Hi and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Although Mya is still eating, drinking, and having normal bathroom habits, the shaking and lethargy is a concern. Shaking can sometimes be an indication of pain or discomfort in dogs or can be a symptom of certain endocrine diseases. I would recommend having her seen by a veterinarian as soon as possible. In this case, it is very hard to say for certain what is going on with Mya without examining her first. A veterinary exam would be a good place to start so she can be evaluated head to tail. Your veterinarian may recommend blood work and/or x-rays be run on Mya as well to help determine a diagnosis. I hope this helps and thanks again for posting!

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.

Cats can be very sensitive to changes in their environment and will often display this behavior during times of stress. Considering that Kylie is nine years old and your pit was 14, it would be a major change (assuming they lived together this whole time) for the dog to suddenly be missing from the environment; not to mention how stressful this must have been to you and your family. This could be causing her a fair amount of anxiety/stress. As a vet, I always worry about a medical condition causing this, so the best thing that you can do is take her for a vet exam to ensure there is nothing else wrong with her. If it happens to be stress that's causing her to act like this, then it will take some time before she gets back to normal - sometimes a couple of weeks, sometimes a couple of months. One thing that may help reduce stress is a Feliway pheramone diffuser (can get this at the pet store). These create calming pheramones in the environment, that may help her relax and start acting more normal again. I'm really sorry to hear about the loss of your dog and hope you and Kylie feel better soon.