Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

tanusreebnrj · Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 3

hi two months back my dog started losing his appetite he stopped eating and losing weight and becoming weak.. the doctors couldnt detect what was wrong and a few weeks later the doctor purely by chance discovered his gums were swollen and he had very bad breath, the doctors put him on stomach infection medication, liver tonic & multivitamin syrup, his diet had slightly improved but not to his full strenght, ten day back the doctors discovered his weight had reduced to 12.8 kgs.. he is a average sized dog usually weighing around 20 kgs, he has become thin and lost a lot of muscle, the doctors put him on another round of stomach infection medicine + lupizyme syrup + live 52 and multivitamin syrup... he seems to be improving but very slowly, yesterday his hind legs suddenly became weak and collapsed for a few mins but he was soon back to his normal composure... although his gums are still swollen he does not have bad breath anymore.. pls help, worried about him

Dr csh · Joined: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 427

- deleted by dr csh for personal reasons -

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 472

Hello,

From your descriptions, there are many things that can happen. From the "package" of presenting signs, there are a few possibilities. Basically your dog is losing weight, losing muscles, means losing protein. THat's why the gum is swollen, due to facial oedema (accumulation of water in the skin). Losing protein can be due to (1) Kidney disease, (2) Tick fever, (3) Heart problem, (4) Tumour, (5) Others....

A few question for you. Any ticks? Pot bellied? Panting? Coughing? Urination pattern? Heartworm prevention?

In kidney problem, your dog can have a kidney that are "leaking" protein into urine. That's why your dog is losing weight. Also that explain the smelly mouth due to urea in the saliva.

Chronic tick fever will also lead to "leaky" kidney. Therefore, again protein losing, oedema.

Heart problem. I think it is the most likely problem here. Strong odour from the mouth due to severe dental tartar formation. The "condominium" in the tarter is fully occupied by different types of bacteria. Many times tartar is always associated with heart problem, especially valve disease. The valve problem, depending on which valve, will always cause a "back flow" and turbulence in the heart chmaber. Lead to unwanted high blood pressure. So facial oedema. Insufficient heart also lead to syncope " suddenly collapse". Heart problem can also be associated with leaky kidney due to the high blood pressure, resulting in protein losing problem, in this case weight lost.

There are other causes of protein losing like losing protein in the intestine, mal digestion/ malabsorption. No complain about stool and not common, there is no need to explain about this. I don't think there is any fit/seizure because your dog can get up right after collapse.

If you have more questions and would like to know more, update your vet regarding your dogs situations and may be furhter diagnostic work...

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

When you say that the doctor couldn't figure out what was wrong, did they conduct any diagnostic tests before coming to that conclusion? Diagnostic tests meaning a blood test, urine test, x-ray, etc. And how old is your dog by the way?

tanusreebnrj · Joined: 29 Aug 2006 Posts: 3

hi

thanks a lot... sandy is around 11, the doctors havent conducted any tests yet... he has another check up on tuesday... will get more advice...
should i put him on a only protein diet...

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 472

Nope. Never put on pure protein diet, not even on food high in protein before you rule out kidney problem. Go for senior dog food. Lower protein, low salt, high fiber.

Dr Nat · Joined: 07 Dec 2005 Posts: 1834 Location: Klang Valley

If you want, you could request for further diagnostics tests to be conducted. In that case, we'll have a better idea of whats going on. However, as dr csh has already said, just because you know the problem doesn't mean it can be cured. 11 years can be considered old, and old dogs can have multiple organ failures. It depends on how far you are willing to go for your dog. If you don't want to continue with the diagnostic tests, then all you could do is to ease his suffering and prepare for the worst.