My dog is too thin

[SirVixofVixHall]

Just that really, I am really worried and I wonder if we are missing anything. She is having more bloods at the vet this week, she has seen the vet regularly about this, and is getting weighed every couple of weeks.
She is prone to colitis, and a few years ago started regurgitating her food undigested. This stopped after a few months, she hasn’t done that for ages - she had investigations at the time which showed nothing apart from low B12.
Since her first episode of colitis, she has lost weight and not regained it. She should be at least 13kg. She went down to 11.5 and was that weight for quite a while but this past year or so she has lost another kg, and has gone down a little bit more from 10.5 to 10.4 over the past fortnight.
She is very thin, ribs sticking out, hipbones protruding. She is on three smallish meals a day , we changed food as suggested by the vet as she kept getting loose poo or diarrhoea on her old food. She has been on this new food , (arrives frozen, basically chicken with vegetables, no grains), for about six months and it doesn’t irritate her gut, it looks as though she is digesting it, yet she is slowly getting thinner.
I am wincing when I stroke her or pick her up, as she is so much lighter than she used to be. She is on the recommended amount of food for an underweight dog of her size to gain weight. If we increase it much more or give her anything extra eg biscuits with grains in then she gets diarrhoea, so we can’t just give her more food.
Any thoughts appreciated. She is averagely active, snoozes a lot at home but will run on her walks. Not a hyper dog like a collie.

@SirVixofVixHall > Your comment, '...must be an absorption issue as she should at least be maintaining her weight but she isn’t ...' struck a cord with me. I had a whippet that was scarving down his food (at age of around 11) but looked like we were starving him. He'd always loved his food (we adopted him when he was around two), and that never changed. On a visit to the vet the vet said he probably wasn't absorbing protein from his food, so basically he was starving. I have no idea how that worked, or what the health problem was, but it made no difference what he was eating; it was how his body was processing it.

@SirVixofVixHall this stuff is fantastic

Dorwest Tree Barks Powder for Dogs and Cats, 100g, Slippery Elm Powder – Soothes Digestion & Upset Tummies, Eases Discomfort, Natural Formula https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003ZJDF96?ref=cmmswrrapindpp_SWQRR4QDXSMSSJXSSHC3

Low vitamin B12 is not a diagnosis in itself in dogs, it is a symptom indicating small intestinal disease preventing absorption. There are several different conditions that can cause a lack of absorption so further investigations are indicated

Thank youLonecat I think you are a vet aren’t you ? Last time her B12 was tested it was alright, but she had been having injections before that so possibly her stores had been replenished. We don’t have her bloods back yet, but we should see what it is like now.
It was low though, when she needed jabs, so yes, I agree there is something going on. At the time it was put down to her diet -a dry food, and our vet suggested a different food. She is now on a different food again, Butternut , as she seems to have fewer bouts of Colitis on this.
We should have the bloods back any day, and then she will get the referral.
justgettingthroughtheday I will order some of that as probably good to give if she gets a colitis bout ?

@SirVixofVixHall a good quality dry food is highly unlikely to give you a low B12, it is the underlying problem that is causing it. Referral is probably a good plan to get an internal medicine to review everything.

Her bloods have come back and everything is normal. That is good, but it doesn’t tell us anything. The vet was confusing, (it was over the telephone though, so in person will hopefully be better) vet said that she doesn’t need scanning now as clinically everything is normal, but suggested a gut biopsy. We are going to talk in person to the vet who has known her for her whole life as she might have some different suggestions.

As you say, that’s good…… but at the same time not helpful! I hope things are clearer when you have seen the vet in person, do report back.

Its only my own experience but after a (lack of) recall incident with mine 6 months ago (hammering with rain, mud up to knees, dog having a brilliant time chasing rabbits, came back without harness-again) I went back to basics, always had a pocket of decent treats, started by being really generous. Recall improved, as hoped, but in a short space of time the dog gained 10% of her body weight. I do of course appreciate that if nothing is absorbed, whatever you get in won’t help but if you do get answers, perhaps it’s something to think about.

I'm going to look like I work for dog food companies (I don't!) as I've just said something similar on another thread - but would you try a veterinary kibble? PURINA/Royal Canin/Hills all do them. Ours is now on the PURINA gastrointestinal one and I wish I'd tried it sooner. He just didn't thrive on other foods and didn't seem to be digesting then properly - the weight was visibly falling off him. He's now thriving - poos are good and he's keeping weight on well. I was so reluctant to try as I was worried the ingredients looked poor but I was so wrong - it is clearly very well formulated and unless something changes I now wouldn't use anything else.

An update. She had an ultrasound locally and there is a tumour of some kind in her small intestine. No way of knowing of it is malignant or not, but the vet said in her experience it is more likely to be malignant.
She is now going to the city for more extensive scans . The vet mentioned surgical removal , I suppose that depends on whether it has spread or not. I am very worried.

@SirVixofVixHall I am sorry to read your update. Such a worrying time waiting to hear the treatment plan. Really hope it can be removed successfully.

Thank you. This has been my worry for a while, we are trying not to panic until she has had further examinations.

SirVix so sorry to hear this. Well done you for keeping pushing for answers. I hope you find out more soon, and that it’s better news than you fear.

Thank you everyone. I will update as soon as we know more. She was weighed on Tuesday and her weight hasn’t changed.

So another update. She had an MRI and a needle biopsy. There are no signs of spread, the tumour is grade 1. The vet wasn’t convinced that this would cause her weight loss. However she has continued to lose weight, and last week she was around 9.5 kg.
Our usual vet, and the vets at the hospital all agree that although the tumour might not be the reason, she has been tested for everything else anyone can think of and so it is looking probable (although they think around a 30% chance that it isn’t the cause). Everyone is in agreement that removal of the growth is the only course of action now, other than doing nothing, which as she is carrying on losing weight is very risky. They feel that she will hit the critical low point in her weight pretty soon, so essentially she would starve to death.
So we have decided to have the surgery , although I am really scared she will die in the vets, a long way from home, without us. She is extremely thin and so not robust. Vet says normal risk for the surgery ( stitched gut not knitting well and causing death) is about one in ten, but greater for her because she is frail. As he thinks she will die without it I feel that we have to take the risk.
Surgery later this week. Worried sick tbh.

Hand hold here for you. Sending positive thoughts for you and your girl 💐

Thanks for the update @SirVixofVixHall
Don’t know what made me check the thread but I’m glad I did.
Have a hand hold from me too, such a worrying time for you. Please do let us know how the op goes and let’s hope this is the reason for the weight loss.

Sending positive vibes for you and your girl.

Sending positive thoughts for you and your dog. Our last dog had extremely similar issues with food and weight. She thrived on a diet of raw beef mince from the supermarket, it was the only thing that maintained her weight. Our vet always said it shouldn’t work but it does so don’t change it and she lived to a tip old age.

You said surgery was this week @SirVixofVixHall so I’m thinking about you and hoping it went well.

Personally, id be ditching the veg and just giving her pieces of meat. I add vetzymes and salmon oil too, but there may be an allergy here so i'd be making changes carefully to monitor anything that might trigger, too.

Oh, i see the update is a tumour - i hope theres a good outcomefor you :(

Surgery is today, thanks so much for all the good wishes. I am very worried, but feel we had no choice really.

Fingers crossed for you all today

Hoping for the best OP 🤞

Well she got through the surgery , a few scary moments since but brighter this afternoon. Now a few days anxiety about infection risk, and then if she gets through those, the wait to see if this was the cause of her weight loss.
She isn’t home yet, but will be later.