Hello Ashleigh, I’m sorry to hear this. You don’t say how old your dog is or if he is still eating and drinking. However, with symptoms like this you need to take him to a Vet urgently and have some tests done to see whats causing his weight loss. Please do take him,  weight loss like this means theres something serious going on. 

Ashleigh please do NOT worm him at the moment unless you are 100% certain he has worms and they are causing his weight loss. You could make his problems worse and scouring his stomach with a wormer will not help him at all. Please do not put any further strain on his already weak system. 

Please….you have to find the money from somehere to take him to a Vet. Borrow it, phone all the Vets see if they will let you have a payment plan….sell something..anything to get him to the Vet. If you don’t get this problem treated he will become even more ill than he is now. If all else fails take him to  shelter where he will receive the treatment he needs and let them rehome him with someone who has the funds to care for him properly. 

As I said he will continue to go downhill unless you get this treated. Phone Animal Charities to see if they will help with the Vet bill…but he needs to see a Vet. Simply saying you are not rehoming him is not solving the problem …and you are not putting your dog first.

From the symptoms you described your dog needed a Vet urgently. He obviously had worms. I’m pleased hes recovered. I would advise anyone who cannot care for a sick dog properly i.e. take him or her to a Vet…then let him or her go to someone who can.
You should not have a dog if you cannot afford Vet fees.

Stop taking it so personally Ashleigh. Its the same as I would say to anyone who couldn’t afford Vet bills. It wasn’t intended to offend you. To answer your question, yes I’ve struggled too…like most people these days. I’ve had situations where my dig needed the Vet and I didn’t have the cash…but I’ve robbed Peter to pay Paul, begged and borrowed to get them there. When you get a job I think you should consider getting him Insured. You won’t have this situation then..Vet fees will be covered. As I said you should always put your dog and his needs and care first…and that includes visits to the Vet if he needs them.

We all panic with our first dog its a big responsibility having an animal.you love totally dependant on you. You won’t get unconditional love from a person like you get from a dog though….and its all worth it. You will learn as you go along like we all do…and 40 odd years down the line you’ll be answering questions on her too lol
I’m really pleased hes ok now and take care ok ?

Yes so be careful with your pet try to avoid bee stings and poison ivy if they do get allergy give them Benadryl

Yes give him Benydrl mix with water

Gave him Benadryl. He is on the couch with his blankie now.

Sorry pressed wrong button! 

I don’t know what Melina is telling you to be honest but your dog needs more than Bendryl. This doesn’t sound like allergies to me it sounds like infection.  Sneezing, runny eyes, cough and enlarged lymph nodes, sluggish? ..you need to take him to a Vet before he gets any worse. 

He is on antibiotics so hopefully he will perk up soon. Thanks everyone! He has never been sick before.

So pleased you saw Krista and my replies….I’m sure he will recover soon with antibiotics. Can i just say some Probiotic would help while hes on the meds. Natural live yoghurt on his food, a couple of teaspoons a couple of times a day. Hope hes better soon!

I have probiotic tabs. Will that work? He really isn’t hard to give oral meds to.

We can’t tell you what it is, it could be anything from a large skin tag to cancer. It looks like he keeps catching it as its bleeding or has been.

Please take him to a Vet and have it investigated, looks like it needs taking off. 

Anymore thoughts

Hopefully

Dear Casey,

Have you tried any of the canned foods?  In regards to dry foods, Pro Plan’s and Rice has freeze dried chicken in it, and is a widely accepted food.  Usually with hip dysplasia we have to fight to kee dogs light- not beg them to eat 🙁

I am so sorry your dog went through this, you must be devastated to have lost him in this traumatic way.

If you want to take this further then I suggest you write to the Organization who deals with Veterinary Complaints in your Country. I’m in the UK so don’t know who it is, but I’m sure you will find them online. 

You would need to send all the notes/invoicss from the Vet who dealt with him and also possibly a Report from the last Vet you took him to. 

It is really not ethical for us to comment about this on here. However, I am very sad this has happened to your dog. My thoughts are with you. 

did you get a necropsy done?  that’s the only real way to determine what caused the death of your dog.

i am very sorry for your loss.  it hurts, when we lose them young.  i know your pain – i lost a puppy to a birth defect a couple of years ago and it still hurts to think of him.  please give yourself time to grieve.  if you truly feel the vet didn’t do everything he could to save your dog, then yes, contact the governing body in your country.  if your location is correct, and you’re in Tanzania, here’s the website: http://www.mifugouvuvi.go.tz/vertinary-council-of-tanzania/

this is going to sound really, really weird, but…if you have grief counseling in your area, consider it. it was one of the best things for me. it really helped me deal with the death of my puppy. he was my first dog, and the suddenness of it was such a shock to the system that i really didn’t know what i was going to do or how i was going to recover.

i wish you solace, Ankeet.

Counselling helped me too Laura though my boy was 16 and had always been there. Its very hard to deal with.

Well I can’t know if it’s too late to examine his body because he died on sunday 30th Aug 2015 now I don’t know if it’s body will be ok or not if yes then I will go for examining the body so that the other Vet who gave injection should be stopped from practising his services he is not a qualified one I think so .

i read an article that i agree with quite a bit…it said that people grieve as much for a lost pet as we do for lost people. i think it’s because we spend SO MUCH time with our pets, and they give so much love to us.

it hit right as i was dealing with my loss, and it helped.

Ankeet, this might help you like it helped me. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-death-of-pet-can-hurt-as-much-as-the-loss-of-a-relative/2012/02/21/gIQALXTXcS_story.html

people who say “it’s just a dog” or “it’s just a cat” or hell, “it’s just a turtle” really don’t understand. and i pity them. they’ve never experienced that kind of love or grief.

there needs to be more dialog about the grief that comes with losing a pet.

HI Betsy,

Anytime a pet isn’t peeing or pooping, you need to get them to see a vet. Is your dog eating and drinking? Peeing?

I would call your vet and get him seen.

~kelly

Vets , it’s the best option .