What's wrong with my senior dog? Weight loss, bad breath, ear issues.

Bear may have an infected tooth that is painful, or there could be a growth in or around his mouth that is causing the pain. It could also be from his ear or neck pain. As he's an older dog I recommend a veterinary exam soon. He can get a heart, lung or organ problem from a dental infection, and I don't want him to continue having pain. They will examine his mouth and give pain medication and antibiotics if needed. They may also need to remove some teeth and check his heart and do a blood panel to make sure his organs are functioning normally. I'm not as concerned about the stool as this may be the result of the infection or pain. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Bear.

Oh my. Poor guy. The weight loss and his body condition score is very concerning. Gradual weight loss in older pets is highly suspicous of cancer unfortunately. Other possible causes are intestinal parasites, diabetes mellitus, etc. There is also possible arthritis which is causing Blue to become debilitated and unable to move around well; however, generalized weakness could also be a cause. You can try to feed Blue a high calorie diet (ie puppy food) to help with his muscle tone and try over the counter joint supplements (ie Dasuquin) to help with his mobility. Here is a website link with more financial resources to help you get him seen by a vet for further care because he really needs medical attention and testing to determine if this is something serious or not, and to pursue medical treatment. http://m.humanesociety.org/animals/resources/tips/trouble_affording_veterinary_care.html Best of luck to you and your pet Blue. I really hope he will be ok. Take care.

There could be a couple of things going on with Ben. The dry, cracked, and bleeding nose could be due to allergies, such as to plastic. Losing weight despite eating could be due to a medical issue, such as diabetes or kidney disease. The growths by his ears could be benign tumors, but in older dogs, there's always a chance it could be caused by malignant tumors. I would take Ben into the vet first thing in the morning for an exam. The vet can do a physical exam, blood tests, a urinalysis, and a fine needle aspirate (FNA) on the growths to diagnose the causes of his various symptoms. To do an FNA, the vet sticks a small needle into the lump to get a sample of it's cells, and examines the cells on a slide under a microscope. It's usually painless to the animal, and relatively quick to perform.

Poor Bear. He sounds sick, and his symptoms could be caused by a systemic illness, infection, or injury. I'm concerned this is going on, and I think it's best you take him into a vet today. To help diagnose what is causing his symptoms, the vet can do a geriatric blood panel and urinalysis. Once a cause is found, the vet can discuss treatment options. I hope this helps!

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.

Poor Layz! If her breath smells terrible and is eating less than usual, I would suspect that she may have a dental problem. Dogs need regular dental care just like humans, and if they don't get it, they can develop severe gingivitis, a tooth root abscess, or a rotten tooth among other conditions. She would be eating less because it's painful for her to eat. I would give your vet a call today to set up an appointment for her. The vet can examine her mouth, and if they feel that there is a dental problem, will want to do a dental scaling, cleaning, and polishing. It's best for her health to have this checked out as soon as possible, as dental problems that are left untreated can lead to further health problems such as abscesses on the liver and heart infections. Best of luck!

Hello. You are describing a pretty sick dog & there are just too many variables to even begin to narrow down the causes. This could be infectious, parasitic, inflammatory, metabolic, neoplastic or even more. So you see, the very best you can do for your companion is to see your veterinarian as soon as possible. The sooner your friend is seen, the sooner a diagnosis can be made & treatment started. Hopefully, your companion will be well soon. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.