home Endocrinology The dog loses a lot of weight for no reason. What to do if your dog loses weight but has a good appetite? Why does a dog lose weight and how to treat it?

The dog loses a lot of weight for no reason. What to do if your dog loses weight but has a good appetite? Why does a dog lose weight and how to treat it?

If a dog is losing weight and at the same time eating well and a lot, you need to immediately begin to figure out why this is happening.

It is quite easy to determine how well-fed a dog is. Its ribs and hip joints should not be visible through the skin, but should be easily palpable. In some breeds, thinness is a breed characteristic, for example, in toy terriers and greyhounds.

However, every attentive owner can notice when his dog suddenly begins to lose weight. This can be a very alarming sign of serious illness, so you should treat it carefully.

Reasons for a dog losing weight

Among the “easy” reasons may be insufficient variety of foods. The reason may be dry food that is poor in the components the body needs or a lack of vitamins in natural food. she should always have access to clean water.

Lack of water can lead to regurgitation of food and exhaustion. Natural food can simply go bad, especially in summer, and therefore the dog may refuse it. In general, in the summer heat, dogs' appetite decreases. Nausea and subsequent loss of appetite can be a side effect of taking certain medications.

If a dog is losing weight not as a result of an obvious refusal to eat, but looks quite active, this may indicate problems in the animal’s mouth - damage to the palate, teeth, and throat. In addition, the dog could have swallowed some inedible object. Refusal to eat and subsequent exhaustion can also indicate diseases of the gastrointestinal tract:

acute gastroenteritis,
gastritis,
stomach ulcer.

With such diseases, the animal also experiences other symptoms:

lethargy,
increase in body temperature,
vomit,
diarrhea,

The fact that the dog is in pain is indicated by trembling, difficulty breathing, decreased physical activity, breathing, irritability, hunched back, and drowsiness. A decrease in a dog's interest in food can also be caused by ear infections, which make it difficult for the animal to chew, especially dry kibble.

Often such infections are accompanied by allergic reactions to food or other allergens. Appetite deteriorates greatly in dogs with cancer, as well as those undergoing chemotherapy.

What to do if your dog is losing weight?

If the dog does not get enough from food, it is necessary to either change the food to a more saturated one, or add special mineral complexes for dogs to it. A bowl of water should always be available. Natural food should always be prepared fresh, and when buying dry food, check its expiration date.

If your dog’s appetite has disappeared after drug treatment, you should contact your veterinarian with a proposal to change the medication. The animal's mouth should be inspected for damage.

If, in addition to lack of appetite, the dog has other signs of the disease: lethargy, drowsiness, vomiting, increased body temperature, the dog cannot find a place to rest and whines in pain, it is necessary to contact a veterinarian as soon as possible and undergo tests to make a diagnosis.

Cachexia or wasting in a dog occurs as a result of slow or rapid weight loss for various reasons.

Exhaustion can be recognized by certain signs, in particular by clearly visible ribs, a strongly retracted abdomen, in addition, an exhausted dog exhibits lethargy and loss of strength. Exhaustion also affects the shine of the coat; the animal may refuse to feed.

However, visible ribs and a retracted abdomen may not necessarily be signs of emaciation. Some dog breeds are genetically predisposed to thinness, such as greyhounds.

Causes of wasting in dogs

As a rule, dogs with such diseases lose their appetite or eat too little, and as a result they lose weight. An animal may refuse food when under stress.

Pregnancy and lactation. During pregnancy and after childbirth, the bitch may experience hormonal imbalances. As a result, the bitch can suddenly lose weight. If the dog does not gain weight for a long time with proper feeding, then tests should be taken.

Lack of feed. One of the common reasons is insufficient feeding and improper maintenance of the animal. Dogs that were once pets, but then for some reason ended up on the street, especially suffer from hunger. As a rule, it is difficult for them to obtain food for themselves, because they are accustomed to the fact that food was always provided by the owner. Some unscrupulous owners deliberately starve their animals. In most cases, thinness in puppies with proper feeding is the result of a lack of food. You may need to increase your puppy's food intake.

Increased physical activity. Active, working or sporting dogs may lose weight if not fed enough, which is usually immediately noticeable.

Diagnosis and treatment

An accurate diagnosis can only be made by contacting a veterinarian. After all, if there are signs of exhaustion in a dog, this does not always mean that the pet needs to be treated by fattening it. In most cases, the cause of exhaustion in dogs is various types of diseases. Then you need to first eliminate the cause of exhaustion, and only then treat your pet for painful thinness.

If your pet is eating well, eating with pleasure, or even began to eat more food, then the cause of exhaustion may lie in problems digesting food. Perhaps the food is poorly digested and poorly absorbed. The cause may be enteritis.

If your pet has a decrease in appetite, then this is the reason for weight loss. It is necessary to find out why the dog has lost its appetite; such a phenomenon can be a symptom of various diseases, which only a veterinarian can determine.

Even if the cause of exhaustion is forced starvation, the dog should definitely be shown to a veterinarian, because under conditions of improper maintenance and feeding, serious diseases could develop.

You can fatten your dog yourself, but in some, especially serious cases, you cannot do without the help of a veterinarian. If the case is complex and the dog is severely exhausted, then it will need special nutritional supplements to maintain its vital functions. In addition, the veterinarian will advise the most suitable food depending on the nature of the existing diseases.

In the early stages of exhaustion, self-feeding is possible. Pet stores sell special medicinal or dietary wet food. It is important to remember that an exhausted dog cannot be fed dry food right away. If you have any doubts about your pet's recovery process, it is best to consult a veterinarian.

How and what to feed an exhausted dog

To restore the weight of emaciated animals, use only wet food, preferably natural food. The food, consisting of beef or chicken, boiled rice, and boiled vegetables, should have a consistency similar to liquid porridge. There must be at least 50% meat. Food should not be greasy or heavy. Fermented milk products (low-fat cottage cheese and kefir) are introduced gradually, separately from the main food for timely detection of allergic reactions.

Treatment with dry food is contraindicated. Medicinal or dietary dry food can be given only after the animal has fully recovered, gradually replacing natural products. Later, the pet is gradually transferred to complete dry food, since medicated food is not intended for constant feeding. The dog should always have water during the recovery period and after.

Feeding should begin with two meals a day, gradually increasing the volume of food and the frequency of feeding. With noticeable improvements in the pet's condition, they begin to feed 4-5 times a day, but in small portions, i.e., the daily portion intended for a healthy dog is divided into 4-5 parts and fed throughout the day. It is important not to overfeed an exhausted dog, especially if the exhaustion is severe.

The first signs of improvement in the pet's condition are manifested in activity, weight gain, and shiny coat. After the condition improves, deworming is carried out. Improvements are observed within the first month, but full recovery takes longer, and until this point the dog must eat a strict diet.

There are not always threatening reasons for a dog’s refusal to eat; often the reason for weight loss is the inattention of the owners or their careless attitude towards feeding the dog.

Establishing the causes of thinness

Its health and longevity depend on how well an animal eats. Sometimes loving owners feed their pets and then fight excess weight. But it also happens that they suddenly notice weight loss for no noticeable reason, so they worry why the dog is losing weight.

This condition has several causes, and not all of them are related to diseases and dangerous problems. However, nutritional disorders lead to malnutrition, and therefore to a lack of beneficial vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. And this already threatens a general weakening of the body, decreased immunity and the development of many diseases.

Therefore, you need to respond to weight loss as quickly as possible and identify its cause. It may be included in the following list:

If your dog is losing weight quickly but is eating well, this may indicate an increase in his nutritional needs. If your dog is actively growing, moving a lot and expending energy, is pregnant or nursing puppies, her usual food may not be enough to cover the increased caloric expenditure.
When a dog has lost a lot of weight and has a good appetite, this may indicate that its food is insufficient in calories. In terms of volume, she can eat a lot, but in fact the food turns out to be “empty”.
It is much more dangerous if the dog has become lethargic and lost weight. This condition may indicate the presence of a disease. It can be anything. A virus in the blood, a cold, diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, helminthic infestations, a foreign body in the intestines, tumors of various origins and other diseases can trigger weight loss.
The dog often refuses food if the usual diet is changed. When switching to another food, the animal may not accept it and may not eat it at all until its regular (or favorite) food is returned to it.
As in humans, the most common cause in dogs is a decrease in interest in food during and after illness. A sick animal may refuse to eat for several days, and this is within normal limits. It is important that the dog drinks water - dehydration, especially during illness and starvation, is extremely dangerous.
When a dog shows a lack of interest in food when poisoned, this is a normal reaction of the body that allows it to cleanse itself of toxins. The owner’s task is to start giving food in small quantities, in pureed or crushed form, to allow the stomach to get used to the normal digestion process. In this case, you need to use only high-quality dog food.
Weight loss can also be caused by health problems in older animals, for example, dental diseases or inflammation in the oral cavity, stomach diseases, and so on.

If the dog is cheerful and cheerful, eats well, but does not gain weight, you need to take care of its nutrition and review its composition, volume, quality and calorie level. But when weight loss leads to exhaustion, the dog’s ribs and pelvic bones and vertebrae protrude, nausea and vomiting occurs, and the condition of the coat deteriorates - such dangerous symptoms should force the owner to show his dog to the veterinarian.

In any case, you need to entrust the treatment to a doctor and not self-medicate, so as not to harm your beloved four-legged friend.

What not to do

If a dog has suddenly lost weight, this most likely indicates the presence of internal health problems. A specialist should treat the pet, and the owners themselves need to know what under no circumstances should they do:

Trying to give medications to an animal, especially those intended for humans, without the permission of a veterinarian.
Forcing a dog to eat.
Increase the calorie content of food by increasing its fat content.
Overfeed the dog.
Use monotonous food, for example, giving the dog only meat in large quantities or feeding it the same dry food for many years in a row.
Feed the animal too often.

The dog's nutrition should be correlated with its age, gender and size, and energy loss. It must not only be varied within the limits acceptable for the dog (not ice cream and candies with smoked fish and sausage!), but also balanced in the content of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. We also shouldn’t forget about vitamins and minerals, which are so important for your pet’s health.

When to fatten a dog

If the dog has lost weight, but eats well, you need to feed it more strongly, increasing the calorie content of the food or its volume. Most often this happens after an illness or injury, and the animal quickly restores its condition. However, you need to be careful not to overfeed your dog, as this can cause indigestion.

Food should be given often and little by little, its volumes should be increased gradually, allowing the weakened body to get used to food gradually.

Before an exhibition, the question often arises of how to gain weight for a dog so that it adds a little “roundness” to its shape and looks more advantageous. During such periods, you need to increase the calorie content of food, for example, add more cereals to it, and slightly limit the animal’s activity.

This is a good way for a dog that is overly energetic and active, but you cannot completely deprive it of movement, this will have a bad effect on both health and appearance.

If the dog is not gaining weight at all, you will have to completely change its menu. You need to monitor how quickly she eats her usual portion. If the food is destroyed in 5 minutes, the dog is given little food, if it takes more than 20 minutes to feed, then a lot.

Food should be balanced and selected according to the breed and age of the animal. When the owner cannot cope with such a task himself, a veterinarian will help him.

Thinness can be explained by the condition of the animal. If she is a lactating female with a large number of puppies, then the pet owner should feed her according to her lactation.

A healthy adult animal is fed twice a day: morning and evening. Very large dog breeds can be fed once a day, while small lap dogs can be fed up to three times a day.

After the animal eats and moves away from the bowl, it is taken away, the remains are thrown away, and the dishes are washed and put away. Food should not be constantly in the animal’s immediate access; this disrupts the diet and disrupts proper digestion. Ideally, feed your pet at the same time - it will develop a habit. Clean drinking water should always be freely available, especially during the hot season.

By taking care of the proper and rational nutrition of his pet, the owner will not only preserve his good health, but will also make the dog beautiful, strong, and looking great.

The caring owner of a four-legged friend will definitely notice that for some reason the pet, who eats regularly and with appetite, has begun to lose weight. Naturally, this will cause concern and anxiety, especially if there are no apparent reasons for this. Why does a dog lose weight with a good appetite? When is this normal and when is it a sign of illness?

How can you determine if your dog weighs the right amount? Of course, you can look into the standard and find out the parameters of representatives of a certain breed. But the height and gender of the animal should be taken into account, since the weight located at the upper limit will not be normal if the pet’s height is located at the lower limit. In addition, many pets do not have a breed, being mestizos or mongrels. In this case, there is no data or tables - everything is strictly individual.

In a dog of normal build, the ribs, croup bones and moslaks - the heads of the hip joints - should be palpable. Upon visual inspection, protruding bones are a sign of excessive thinness. However, it is worth considering that there are a number of breeds that are naturally thin. Even when eating well, Salukis, Great Danes, Greyhounds, Italian Greyhounds and others remain slim and lean. And this is considered normal. There are also dogs of the same breed, but with different builds, for example, there are shepherd dogs that are tightly built, and there are “dry” ones.

Of course, it is easier for owners of a short-haired pet to notice that their pet has lost weight. Whereas long-haired individuals retain their appearance for a long time, regardless of body weight. But if weight loss is associated with a pathological process, then the animal will certainly show accompanying signs:

deterioration in the quality of wool - it loses its shine, becomes faded, dry, thinned, and may fall out profusely;
change in behavior - the pet is lethargic, irritable, does not show interest in others, is more often in a lying position, does not participate in games, and even a call to go for a walk does not evoke positive emotions in him;
vomiting, diarrhea occurs;
increase or decrease in body temperature;
tremor;
breathing disorder.

Some serious illnesses can provoke aggression and inappropriate behavior. In this case, even emergency delivery of the dog to the clinic does not guarantee a good outcome.

Why does a dog lose weight quickly?

What should an owner pay attention to first if their dog is eating but losing weight? First of all, you need to look into his mouth, assess the condition of his teeth, tissues of the palate, pharynx, and gums. If their color has not changed, there is no plaque or inflamed areas, you can proceed to examination and palpation of the peritoneum.

Unintentional weight loss can be associated with a number of pathological conditions.

Gastrointestinal diseases

Normally, the dog's stomach remains soft if you gently press on it. If the abdominal muscles tense when touched, this may be a sign of illness. This is observed with inflammation of the stomach, the presence of a foreign object in this organ, ulcerative damage to the walls, intestinal blockage and other pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract.

With diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, the dog develops diarrhea, he becomes lethargic, apathetic, and suffers from vomiting. If any of the symptoms occur, it is recommended to measure the pet’s temperature and assess the condition of the mucous membranes - their blue or yellow discoloration is a serious symptom of the disease.

Almost any disease associated with disruption of the gastrointestinal tract is accompanied by pain of a different nature. You can usually tell that a pet is in pain by its reactions. If the dog is trembling, irritated, behaves cautiously, and his breathing is shallow, we are talking about severe pain. In this case, the dog, when standing, begins to hunch his back, and his steps are small, without scope.

Ears or teeth hurt

If a dog is bothered by a toothache or earache, it refuses to eat. In such cases, the problem can be identified by pressing on the base of the ears - a sharp reaction from the pet will confirm that this is where the inflammation is localized. It is important to seek help from a veterinarian immediately.

Allergic reactions

Food allergies are another reason why your dog eats and loses weight. With this pathology, the animal’s body begins to function in emergency mode, which leads to increased energy consumption and a decrease in body weight.

This condition is accompanied by certain signs: the dog begins to actively itch, the flow from the eyes and nose intensifies, and the appetite worsens. Irritated areas may appear on the skin, and hair may fall out in places.

Worms are frequent guests of the dog’s body, eating what is intended for the normal functioning of the animal’s organs and systems. In this case, the dog eats with increased appetite, but important substances are provided not by it, but by its “neighbors.”

There is a schedule for deworming dogs, according to which pets are given anthelmintic drugs, usually this event is carried out once every 3-4 months. If you follow this rule, the helminths that have entered the body will not have time to actively multiply and cause serious harm.

If the owner forgets about the procedure or ignores it completely, the worms can spread throughout all systems, consuming vital components before they are digested and absorbed into the intestines. Some of the worms can seriously damage the tissues of the liver, lungs, heart and even brain. And if this happens, you can expect serious changes, including metabolic disorders.

In such a situation, the pet sharply loses weight, lacks vitamin components and microelements, and organ failure develops. Such conditions often lead to irreversible consequences and death of the dog.

Contacting a veterinarian will help save your pet’s life, but the consequences of helminthic infestation can subsequently cause various complications and periodically remind themselves. So it is better to take care of prevention; this will not 100% protect the dog from worms, but it will reduce the likelihood of them staying comfortably in the pet’s body.

Postoperative recovery

Any surgical intervention, even minimally invasive, is stressful for the animal’s body, and weight loss during this period is considered normal. But, of course, we are not talking about critical weight loss, when only “skin and bones” remain from a well-fed pet.

Unfortunately, four-legged friends tolerate anesthesia worse than humans. This applies even to physically strong, young animals, but they have enough internal reserves to recover. Much depends on how complex the operation turned out to be, and during this period it is important that the pet is monitored by a specialist.

If a dog is losing more weight than expected, an experienced doctor will definitely pay attention to this fact. If he does not consider this sign dangerous, it is worth consulting with another veterinarian.

Viral infections

Viruses are very dangerous for dogs, regardless of the age and breed of the animal. The risk group includes puppies and older dogs. A sharp decrease in body weight can be caused by any viral pathogen, but vaccination can protect against some of them:

rabies– the disease is dangerous for humans, but fatal for dogs;
carnivore plague– can be cured only at an early stage of development;
enteritis– even vaccination will not protect your pet 100%, but it will help avoid acute manifestations of the disease;
adenovirus– rarely detected, requires serious, long-term treatment;
leptospirosis– the disease is dangerous for people, treatable, rarely diagnosed;
piroplasmosis– with the help of a vaccine, acute manifestations of the disease can be avoided.

Oncological processes

Malignant formations and metastases also lead to a sharp weight loss in the animal. The danger lies in the fact that in most cases it is possible to identify the disease only in the later stages. The initial stages of cancer are latent, without pronounced symptoms, so they are often discovered during diagnostics not related to oncology.

Late stage cancer is not curable, but stops. The animal is prescribed a course of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. These methods are quite harsh, they harm not only malignant cells, but also healthy ones, so the dog loses weight and feels unwell, both during treatment and after it. With the help of competent restorative therapy, it is possible to restore the dog’s strength and appetite.

Incorrect feeding regimen and diet

Any veterinarian who did not identify pathologies during diagnosis will be interested in what the owner feeds his pet. It's not uncommon for a dog to lose weight by not eating a balanced diet or sticking to a schedule. What should an owner pay attention to when feeding a four-legged friend?

Variety should be moderate. With natural feeding, you should not give your dog everything, trying to keep his menu varied. In fact, a balanced diet for these animals consists of 5-6 products, and the list of prohibited foods is quite long. But if your dog consumes only 1-2 products, it is worth reviewing its diet and including a few more components in it.
You need to be more careful when selecting food. Low-price products consist of cereals with a small content of meat processing waste. Naturally, such food cannot be called suitable for a dog, since most of the ingredients are not absorbed by the dog’s body. In this case, even increasing the portion will not help your pet gain weight. The food must be of high quality, consisting of meat components, vegetables, a small amount of cereals, and vitamin and mineral supplements. Premium and super-premium brands meet similar requirements. It is recommended to periodically give your pet canned food to diversify your pet's diet. It is advisable that it be of the same brand as the main one.
It is important to take care of your pet's access to water. If during natural feeding the animal receives part of the moisture from food, then when eating “drying” it comes mainly from a separate bowl. The owner must remove the remains of uneaten food, but this does not apply to water - it must always be in the bowl so that the dog can drink at any time. Otherwise, the animal may experience dehydration, which may result in vomiting, regurgitation of dry, undigested granules, difficulty defecating, etc.

Losing weight in a pet is an alarming sign, especially if its appetite does not deteriorate. The owner should take a closer look at the behavior of his four-legged friend, and for his own peace of mind, take him to the veterinarian.

The owner usually judges the health of a pet by its appearance, and in particular, taking into account the dog’s fatness. In this regard, a downward fluctuation in weight should be regarded as an alarming signal, often indicating the development of an illness. The owner will be able to recognize the disease not only by understanding the physiological condition of the pet, but also by understanding the reasons for the development of thinness. The greatest concern is cachexia when the dog has a good appetite.

Read in this article

Normal dog weight

The owner, before sounding the alarm about the appearance of thinness in his four-legged friend, needs to know what a dog with a normal weight looks like. When determining the degree of exhaustion, the breed, age, and sex of the animal should be taken into account.

Representatives of some breeds - greyhounds, toy terriers, Italian greyhounds, Chinese Crested due to genetic prerequisites and choleric temperament characteristics with normal weight may seem thin.

Young individuals of large breeds (German shepherds, Rottweilers, Great Danes) in adolescence look thinner compared to adult pets. As a rule, females look lighter and smaller compared to males.

To be sure that the dog is in good physical shape, the owner just needs to take a close look at its shape from above when the dog is standing quietly. The outline of the animal should normally resemble an hourglass. The ribs and bones of the pelvic area should not protrude, but can be easily felt. There is a small amount of fatty tissue in the abdominal area.

Thinness is indicated by prominently protruding ribs, spinous processes of the vertebrae, and pelvic bones. This picture is especially pronounced in short-haired individuals. If the animal has thick hair, then sharp corners of the bones can be felt upon palpation. There are no fat deposits in the chest and abdomen area.

In general, there is a lack of muscle mass. Having discovered signs of exhaustion in a pet, the owner must find out the reasons and, if possible, eliminate them himself or seek qualified help.

The main reasons why a dog loses weight

According to the observation of veterinary specialists, experienced dog breeders and dog handlers, a pet can lose live weight for the following reasons:

Errors in feeding. This group of factors includes, first of all, insufficient intake of nutrients due to underfeeding.

Often the owner does not know the animal’s needs at a given age, and regular inadequate portions lead to the pet losing kilograms.

A novice dog breeder does not always adjust the dog’s diet and portion size in the winter, which can negatively affect his muscle mass. A four-legged friend can lose weight due to an unbalanced diet not only in protein and carbohydrates, but also due to a deficiency of vitamins and microelements in food.

Feeding a dog monotonous food, for example, only fish, disrupts the function of digestion and metabolism, which manifests itself in weight loss. Illiterate use of dry food (failure to comply with dosage, small amount of water consumed, incorrect selection of composition) is a common cause of weight loss in dogs.

Dental problems. , caries, wounds and abscesses in the oral cavity are often accompanied by pain, which makes eating difficult.
In addition to dental sores, they can lead to refusal of food and rapid weight loss. ear diseases. When a dog has inflammation of the middle ear, severe pain makes chewing and swallowing difficult.
The most common cause of weight loss in dogs is diseases of the digestive tube. , liver diseases, pancreatitis, inflammatory processes in the intestines are often accompanied by impaired digestive function in the form of,.

A decrease in enzyme activity, disruption of intestinal motility and its absorption function lead to the fact that the nutrients entering the body are not used.

Allergic manifestations. Recently, veterinary specialists have observed many clinical cases where a dog’s weight loss is caused by food allergies. A large amount of synthetic dyes, flavor enhancers and antioxidants in ready-made food, which increase the shelf life of the product, lead to serious disruptions in the pet’s body due to an allergic reaction.
Diseases of oncological nature. Tumors and neoplasms consume large amounts of nutrients while simultaneously poisoning the body with toxic substances. Muscle mass in dogs decreases not only with oncological pathology, but also during its treatment with chemotherapy.
For viral infections(adenovirosis,) due to the development of diarrhea and severe intoxication, the animal quickly develops cachexia.

Experienced dog breeders and veterinarians include such factors as the hot season, change of teeth in young animals, the period of estrus, and the rehabilitation period after surgery to the group of physiological reasons for weight loss in four-legged friends. After the physiological causes end, the dog’s body quickly returns to normal, and the lost kilograms return.

If he eats well but loses weight

In some cases, the reason for the causeless weight loss of a four-legged friend is diseases of the digestive system. A comprehensive examination in a specialized clinic will help to establish the exact cause of cachexia.

Taking a medical history, analyzing the nutritional value of the diet and biochemical blood tests will help determine the cause of muscle loss. Based on the research results, a veterinary specialist will give recommendations on improving the quality of nutrition, the use of feed additives, multivitamin and mineral complexes. In some cases, switching your pet to a specialized food from a medicinal line will help solve the problem.

Ultrasound and endoscopic examination of the abdominal and thoracic cavity organs will help to rule out the oncological nature of exhaustion and identify problems with the gastrointestinal tract. In case of diseases of the digestive tube, the dog will first be prescribed a therapeutic diet, enzyme preparations, and hepatoprotectors. The radical method of treating cancer is surgery followed by chemotherapy.

To learn why a dog is losing weight but eating well, watch this video:

With a good appetite on dry food, but loses a lot of weight

In a situation where exhaustion is observed against the background of preserved appetite with a concentrated type of feeding, the owner needs to analyze the correctness of the chosen product and compliance with the feeding regimen. In some cases, cachexia when feeding a dog dry formulas is caused by the following reasons:

Incorrect selection of dry food. The composition may not correspond to the age, breed and physiological needs of the pet. For example, it is unacceptable to feed food intended for adults to puppies, and vice versa.
Cheap economy-class food is a common cause of exhaustion of an animal with a satisfactory appetite. Such compositions do not correspond to the declared nutritional value; they contain few protein ingredients, but many ballast and harmful substances.

Non-compliance with feeding regime. The owner’s ignorance of the amount of nutrients required can lead to exhaustion in the pet. Regular underfeeding leads to a decrease in muscle mass in a dog. Violation of the diet, feeding your pet at different times has a negative impact on fatness.
Violation of drinking regime. In order for the beneficial substances of dry food to be effectively absorbed by the body, it is necessary that the animal has free access to water. A normal digestion process is possible only when dry food swells in the stomach under the influence of liquid. After this, digestive enzymes begin to work.
If an animal receives a limited amount of water, nutrient absorption processes are disrupted, which is accompanied by cachexia.

A four-legged friend can lose muscle mass for many reasons - from violation of feeding rules to serious health problems. A timely visit to a veterinarian and carrying out the necessary diagnostic procedures will help determine the root cause.

Adjusting the diet, adding multivitamin and mineral complexes to the dog’s diet, switching the pet to specialized premium and super-premium food will bring the animal into the desired condition if the cause of exhaustion was due to errors in nutrition. If a disease is detected, a veterinarian will prescribe appropriate treatment.

Useful video

To learn how to choose dry dog food, watch this video: