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Disappearing Dachshund

bobcouch
Explorer
Explorer
The doxies in my signature turned 14 this past summer. For their age, both seem healthy, but at ten, they both weighed about 10 lbs. Dusty has gained weight, now weighs just over 11, but over the last four years Tinker's weight has steadily declined. She now weighs just over 7 1/4 lbs. which means that she has dropped 1/4 of her body weight.
She remains active and otherwise healthy, and our Vet can find no cause for the weight loss.
The pups eat the same stuff, share the same bowl. But one is gaining while the other is disappearing an ounce at a time.
Any suggestions?
Bob and Honey Couch
2008 Keystone Everest
2007 Dodge MegaCab w/ 5.9 Cummins
http://boggythicket.blogspot.com/
9 REPLIES 9

BCSnob
Explorer
Explorer
A bad tooth (for example a molar) can cause a dog to eat slower and/or eat less.
Mark & Renee
Working Border Collies: Nell (retired), Tally (retired), Grant (semi retired), Lee, Fern & Hattie
Duke & Penny (Anatolians) home guarding the flock
2001 Chevy Express 2500 Cargo (rolling kennel)
2007 Nash 22M

nineoaks2004
Explorer
Explorer
Have you took him to the VET for a checkout ?
By the time you learn the rules of life
You're to old to play the game

dturm
Moderator
Moderator
bobcouch wrote:
dturm wrote:
I agree with BCSnob - first you need to know who is eating how much.


Also consider a digestive enzyme/probiotic supplement to help him utilize and absorb the food being fed.

Doug, DVM


Any specific recommendation?


Vets do sell lines of products made specifically for professional sales. They may or may not be better than OTC products so I'd do a search on Amazon and try one (get the combination - both probiotic and digestive enzyme) and try it for a month.
Doug & Sandy
Kaylee
Winnie 6 1/2 year old golden
2008 Southwind 2009 Honda CRV

DownTheAvenue
Explorer
Explorer
bobcouch wrote:
The pups eat the same stuff, share the same bowl. But one is gaining while the other is disappearing an ounce at a time.
Any suggestions?


And therein lies your problem. You have no idea how much either dog is eating. Separate the food and the dogs and monitor how much each dog eats. Then go back to your vet with the information. You may have your answer without consulting the vet.

bobcouch
Explorer
Explorer
dturm wrote:
I agree with BCSnob - first you need to know who is eating how much.


Also consider a digestive enzyme/probiotic supplement to help him utilize and absorb the food being fed.

Doug, DVM


Any specific recommendation?
Bob and Honey Couch
2008 Keystone Everest
2007 Dodge MegaCab w/ 5.9 Cummins
http://boggythicket.blogspot.com/

dturm
Moderator
Moderator
Deb and Ed M wrote:
I agree with BCSnob - first you need to know who is eating how much.

That being said, as my Aussie got up there in years, his digestive system just didn't utilize food as well (after my Vet ruled out a whole bunch of other ideas), so in his last couple of years, I was pouring the food to him. Also gave him Sam-E to help his liver. Lots of easy-to-digest stuff - I made HIM a scrambled-egg breakfast every morning, but didn't for Ed and myself....LOL! He also received limited-ingredient dog food for lunch, and dinner with people-food scraps added. Any other dog would have weigh triple what he did - but he still lost weight a teeny bit at a time. When I had to put him down do to a hip injury, he was thin, but still a happy guy.


Agree with all of the above.

Also consider a digestive enzyme/probiotic supplement to help him utilize and absorb the food being fed.

Doug, DVM
Doug & Sandy
Kaylee
Winnie 6 1/2 year old golden
2008 Southwind 2009 Honda CRV

Deb_and_Ed_M
Explorer
Explorer
I agree with BCSnob - first you need to know who is eating how much.

That being said, as my Aussie got up there in years, his digestive system just didn't utilize food as well (after my Vet ruled out a whole bunch of other ideas), so in his last couple of years, I was pouring the food to him. Also gave him Sam-E to help his liver. Lots of easy-to-digest stuff - I made HIM a scrambled-egg breakfast every morning, but didn't for Ed and myself....LOL! He also received limited-ingredient dog food for lunch, and dinner with people-food scraps added. Any other dog would have weigh triple what he did - but he still lost weight a teeny bit at a time. When I had to put him down do to a hip injury, he was thin, but still a happy guy.
Ed, Deb, and 2 dogs
Looking for a small Class C!

BCSnob
Explorer
Explorer
Feed in separate bowls so you can monitor the calorie intake for each dog. I would not be surprised if the one loosing weight is eating slower than the one gaining weight; but there is no way to know for certain if you don’t know how much food each dog consumes.
Mark & Renee
Working Border Collies: Nell (retired), Tally (retired), Grant (semi retired), Lee, Fern & Hattie
Duke & Penny (Anatolians) home guarding the flock
2001 Chevy Express 2500 Cargo (rolling kennel)
2007 Nash 22M

Lwiddis
Explorer
Explorer
Get a second Vet opinion.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad