# Connor Losing Weight - Worried



## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

He does indeed look very thin in that picture. I would say first step is to get him to the vet for a full senior work-up, including full blood work. But also, can you just increase his food? Add a bit to each meal. I know you probably can't add a lot at one time. Could you add a sixth meal?


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

We have been adding more the his other 5 meals. Increasing from a can total per day to a can and a half total per day. Prior to switching to the blend of foods he was getting a total 3 cans per day. I hope this is just a matter of not enough food/calories, but hoping to get him to the vet this week. What do you mean by senior check up?


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## waltrav (Nov 15, 2018)

I too believe that you should get a comprehensive exam & tests by the vet.


As for the Acid reflux. I personally began having issues, not from the food (which is definitely a cause), but because my work shift changed, combined with before sleeping eating habits. As a result I inclined my bed to 10 -20 degrees and I have been fine for years. 

My Happy never showed signs of Acid reflux, However, when she reached 14 years of age I always flipped her around when on incline surfaces. Elevating her head towards the incline, that would include bed, in order to help her digestive track. When she couldn’t walk well (15 to 15 ½ yrs old), I fed her in her bicycle/Walking Chariot, supported by ridged foam with2 pillows and let her digest for 20 -30 minutes. She had another 2-3 hours during the day/night in the chariot on her bike rides/Walks. In the house I used the single sofa chair. 
I hope Connor is Ok or it’s just something minor. WM


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Your boy looks terribly thin. I hope you will have him seen this week or get him to an emergency vet if that's not possible. If he's licking bowls and licking the floor, can you bump his food up a bit? I'd be worried about how thin he is.


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

nolefan said:


> Your boy looks terribly thin. I hope you will have him seen this week or get him to an emergency vet if that's not possible. If he's licking bowls and licking the floor, can you bump his food up a bit? I'd be worried about how thin he is.


We're worried too. Fortunately he's normal in all other respects. We have increased the amount of his canned food and I expect he'll see his vet either Wednesday or Thursday, Friday at the latest (this is why I hate holidays when it comes to my doggies).


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

ggdenny said:


> We have been adding more the his other 5 meals. Increasing from a can total per day to a can and a half total per day. Prior to switching to the blend of foods he was getting a total 3 cans per day. I hope this is just a matter of not enough food/calories, but hoping to get him to the vet this week. *What do you mean by senior check up*?



Once a dog is a senior, there are certain exams and blood work that are done on an annual basis (some people do it every six months) to look for issues that affect dogs as they age (kidney issues, growths that could be cancerous, thyroid issues, etc). Your vet should be able to tell you what it involves, though it surprises me that your dog is 10 and has not had one. Once a Golden is 8, he is considered a senior. (I'm surprised your vet has not talked to you about your dog being a senior is what I mean, not blaming you).

How big are the cans of food you are feeding? My dog recently had a bout of bad diarrhea and I was feeding her a can of EN prescription food a day, and I could tell she was hungry. It was not enough (but I was feeding her small amounts slowly so as not to upset her system). And she is very small - just 45 pounds. The cans I was feeding are 13.4 ounces. I very quickly had to start adding the EN kibble to satisfy her.


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

Sweet Girl said:


> Once a dog is a senior, there are certain exams and blood work that are done on an annual basis (some people do it every six months) to look for issues that affect dogs as they age (kidney issues, growths that could be cancerous, thyroid issues, etc). Your vet should be able to tell you what it involves, though it surprises me that your dog is 10 and has not had one. Once a Golden is 8, he is considered a senior. (I'm surprised your vet has not talked to you about your dog being a senior is what I mean, not blaming you).
> 
> How big are the cans of food you are feeding? My dog recently had a bout of bad diarrhea and I was feeding her a can of EN prescription food a day, and I could tell she was hungry. It was not enough (but I was feeding her small amounts slowly so as not to upset her system). And she is very small - just 45 pounds. The cans I was feeding are 13.4 ounces. I very quickly had to start adding the EN kibble to satisfy her.


Connor (10) and Duke (11) both had their annual wellness exams with full blood panels back in July. I am a hypochondriac on behalf of my boys so I'm quite taken aback and worried about Connor's weight loss. The canned Science Diet i/d is 13 oz. cans. We've upped to him a total of 1.5 cans per day along with a 1/4 cup each feeding of his pulverized Royal Canin gastro fiber response. I expect he'll see his vet this week still. My hope is it's a thyroid condition, but my fear is cancer.


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## MegabyteBob (Aug 3, 2018)

How are his gums in color? Pink? They should be. Is he constantly panting or has no energy?

In any case get him to the vet. Sooner NOT later.


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

His gums are great - wet and pink. Every other aspect is normal: eat, drink, play, poop, pee, being silly.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

My Toby was thin like that, too, the last 2 years of his life.
Have you actually had him weighed? Petsmart will usually let you weigh them.


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

hotel4dogs said:


> My Toby was thin like that, too, the last 2 years of his life.
> Have you actually had him weighed? Petsmart will usually let you weigh them.


I’m going to PetsMart tomorrow to weigh him. In July he weighed 68.7 pounds. Why was Toby thin?


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

My Tawny got thin like that through her back above her hips. The vet said it was age related loss of muscle tone that made her look so narrow. She stayed healthy for a year or so after that and died at 12.5 years old. I am glad you are taking her back to the vet to know for sure what's going on. Best wishes for you and your boy.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Also age related loss of muscle mass. He had bad hips, too. Because of it, I let him stay thin.
Toby lived to be a few weeks short of 14.




ggdenny said:


> I’m going to PetsMart tomorrow to weigh him. In July he weighed 68.7 pounds. Why was Toby thin?


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

ggdenny said:


> Connor (10) and Duke (11) both had their annual wellness exams with full blood panels back in July. I am a hypochondriac on behalf of my boys so I'm quite taken aback and worried about Connor's weight loss. The canned Science Diet i/d is 13 oz. cans. We've upped to him a total of 1.5 cans per day along with a 1/4 cup each feeding of his pulverized Royal Canin gastro fiber response. I expect he'll see his vet this week still. My hope is it's a thyroid condition, but my fear is cancer.



At this point, best thing will be to see the vet. I'd increase the food a bit more if you can - interestingly, I just looked at the feeding guide for Hills ID canned food. For a 50 pound dog, adult maintenance is 3 cans a day. A 60 pound dog, 3.5 cans a day. So it sounds like he just isn't getting enough calories.
https://www.hillspet.ca/en-ca/dog-food/pd-id-canine-canned#accordion-content-0339478883-1


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

Sweet Girl said:


> At this point, best thing will be to see the vet. I'd increase the food a bit more if you can - interestingly, I just looked at the feeding guide for Hills ID canned food. For a 50 pound dog, adult maintenance is 3 cans a day. A 60 pound dog, 3.5 cans a day. So it sounds like he just isn't getting enough calories.
> https://www.hillspet.ca/en-ca/dog-food/pd-id-canine-canned#accordion-content-0339478883-1


He’s seeing his vet this morning. Hopefully it’s not something serious.


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## Neeko13 (Jul 10, 2010)

Good luck tomorrow w your guy....


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

At vet now. Connor has lost 16lbs. since July.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Figure out how many calories a day you are feeding him. My guy is almost seven and gets about 900 calories a day, which is probably about 50 too much.
Hope things work out at the Vet!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Waiting to hear


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

The vet said other than weight Connor presents with nothing remarkable - no swollen lymph nodes or other signs of disease. They took blood for a complete panel including thyroid but said they'd be surprised if anything came back abnormal. Based on my description of his meals they calculated he's getting a total of 700 calories per day and told me to increase his intake of the moistened and pulverized Royal Canin dry food. The plan is to monitor his weight and if it continues to drop do imaging studies in 2-4 weeks time. I'm less worried now, but still on edge. If/when there's more I'll post here. Thanks SO MUCH to everyone for helping!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Thanks for the update. Sending continued good thoughts.


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## Neeko13 (Jul 10, 2010)

I'm glad it's good news... hopefully he gains weight now...


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

murphy1 said:


> Figure out how many calories a day you are feeding him. My guy is almost seven and gets about 900 calories a day, which is probably about 50 too much.
> Hope things work out at the Vet!


This is what I was thinking too; understanding you have to balance against his sensitive stomach/digestive system.

My two 6 year old guys get 1,000 calories a day per the vet's recommendation and one has IBD. The other has had an FHO so I watch his weight especially. I dial it back to 900 calories a day when I want him to lose a couple of pounds - trying to keep him around 65 lbs.

My 10 year old guy that I just adopted was pretty underweight when I got him (65lbs but tall and long and should be closer to 75 lbs) and the vet provided some guidelines to increase his calories (over 3 meals a day) to 1,500 - 1,600 calories. He's gained 7 lbs in two months and now we'll move to maintenance. I think he looks pretty good at 73 lbs and I worry about his hips as well. I can tell when he's on stairs that they're getting stiff on him.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

jennretz is right on with that. The average Golden or Lab will generally take 900-1200 calories a day based on age, metabolism and activity and maybe even more if they're spending 5+ hours in the field hunting or training.


The obvious thing to me is to increase the amount of food if he is otherwise healthy. unless something is wrong (which you've had him cleared) then there's no reason increasing his intake shouldn't add the weight back on.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

That's good news. I hope the increase in food will help put some weight back on him.


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

I got this email from Connor's internal medicine vet this morning:

_I also saw primary care recommended feeding extra food, which I agree, the calories were calculated off of Connor's current weight but I would like to calculate this off of his ideal weight (~68lbs he was in July). This would be about 1400 calories/day, minimally 1000kcal/day (resting requirement). Each can is 365 cal/can and each cup of dry food is about 382 cal/cup. Ideally, this would be around 2 cans per day and 2 cups of dry food (made into his water mixture) per day split amongst the 5 feedings._ 

She would also like him to have an abdominal ultrasound. Back to being worried again.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

The ultrasound is the vet being thorough as he is already pretty thin and it's going to take a few weeks to get the weight on him. If something was going on and you waited, that would put you and him that much further behind knowing what was going on and to start the correct treatment. I think performing the ultrasound the vets being a good vet and think it's probably a good idea.


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

Maggie'sVoice said:


> The ultrasound is the vet being thorough as he is already pretty thin and it's going to take a few weeks to get the weight on him. If something was going on and you waited, that would put you and him that much further behind knowing what was going on and to start the correct treatment. I think performing the ultrasound the vets being a good vet and think it's probably a good idea.


His ultrasound is scheduled for Monday at 1p. His fecal came back normal. Keeping fingers crossed.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

ggdenny said:


> I got this email from Connor's internal medicine vet this morning:
> 
> _I also saw primary care recommended feeding extra food, which I agree, the calories were calculated off of Connor's current weight but I would like to calculate this off of his ideal weight (~68lbs he was in July). This would be about 1400 calories/day, minimally 1000kcal/day (resting requirement). Each can is 365 cal/can and each cup of dry food is about 382 cal/cup. Ideally, this would be around 2 cans per day and 2 cups of dry food (made into his water mixture) per day split amongst the 5 feedings._
> 
> She would also like him to have an abdominal ultrasound. Back to being worried again.


Honestly, if this is what his vet recommends vs. what you told us above: "Increasing from a can total per day to a can and a half total per day. Prior to switching to the blend of foods he was getting a total 3 cans per day. I hope this is just a matter of not enough food/calories'' I think you can try to put the worry away - (I know it's easier said than done) but try.... I bet you the ultrasound will put your mind at ease, he's just not been getting enough calories. Compare the vets recommendation of 2 cans plus 2 cups of dry per day with what you said, 3 cans per day for a while and then just 1 or 1.5 cans per day... that's a pretty big difference. I bet you this is going to be just fine. I'll be thinking of you, hang in there. My money is on Connor being just fine with the adjusted food amount.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

I know it's a huge worry, but please try to keep in mind between now and Monday that the primary symptom of most of the horrific things we Golden owners fear is a loss of appetite.
Caveat--there are certainly exceptions, but it really is the majority of the time in lymphoma and hemangiosarcoma, the 2 biggies for us.


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

nolefan said:


> Honestly, if this is what his vet recommends vs. what you told us above: "Increasing from a can total per day to a can and a half total per day. Prior to switching to the blend of foods he was getting a total 3 cans per day. I hope this is just a matter of not enough food/calories'' I think you can try to put the worry away - (I know it's easier said than done) but try.... I bet you the ultrasound will put your mind at ease, he's just not been getting enough calories. Compare the vets recommendation of 2 cans plus 2 cups of dry per day with what you said, 3 cans per day for a while and then just 1 or 1.5 cans per day... that's a pretty big difference. I bet you this is going to be just fine. I'll be thinking of you, hang in there. My money is on Connor being just fine with the adjusted food amount.


I so appreciate your thoughts and input. Connor and Duke mean the world to me and I just want them to be healthy, happy and live long lives.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

ggdenny said:


> I got this email from Connor's internal medicine vet this morning:
> 
> _I also saw primary care recommended feeding extra food, which I agree, the calories were calculated off of Connor's current weight but I would like to calculate this off of his ideal weight (~68lbs he was in July). This would be about 1400 calories/day, minimally 1000kcal/day (resting requirement). Each can is 365 cal/can and each cup of dry food is about 382 cal/cup. Ideally, this would be around 2 cans per day and 2 cups of dry food (made into his water mixture) per day split amongst the 5 feedings._
> 
> She would also like him to have an abdominal ultrasound. Back to being worried again.



So glad to see this. It makes total sense. Hoping that increasing his calories will be the key. Try not to stress about the ultrasound. It is better safe than sorry. In the meantime, he will be thrilled to get more food!


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## MegabyteBob (Aug 3, 2018)

That sounds like a plan. Wishing you the best for Conner.


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

*Update*

Connor had his abdominal ultrasound and chest x-rays today. Everything came back within normal limits for a 10-year old golden retriever. They ended up doing a fine-needle aspiration on a portion of his spleen that appear "mottled" but feel the biopsy results will be benign. So, it looks like the conclusion is that Connor was simply not getting enough calories per day. The plan going forward is to increase his daily intake to 1200-1400 kcal per day and reach an ideal weight of 65-70 pounds.

We are SO relieved and also feel bad about starving him. We're glad to have him home, playing, eating and soon to be seriously cuddled in bed.


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## jennretz (Jul 24, 2013)

He’s going to be in heaven with the extra food 

It’s taken 2 months for my 10 year old to gain 7 lbs eating 1500-1600 calories per day. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

That's good news. I agree he will enjoy those extra calories.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Give him all the goodies he wants along with some soft boiled eggs and sardines. He'll be in heaven!


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Great news!!


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

So glad to hear it, Cheers to a great 2019 for Connor


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