Quote Originally Posted by farmgirl
He has to go in for his shots soon, anyway. I wish I could remember exactly which month we got him, but the old couple's daughter took him in for his shots right before she brought him over. I think it's coming up soon.

I'm actually kind of scared it's a medical thing, and that's making me scared to bring him to the vet. I had the sweetest old dog who got cancer, and the vet pushed me to put him to sleep. She said our choices were to go through chemotherapy and the whole nine yards, or put him to sleep. She didn't seem to think allowing him to die naturally was a choice at all, and I was such a pushover. I still think my old guy could have had a few more happy days in this world and regret having him put to sleep that day.

What if I go in and they tell me he has some terrible disease? Then I'll have to choose between treating it and extending his suffering, putting him to sleep, or bringing him home and letting him die naturally. He's so old, I know it's likely that something is very wrong. He's old and slow and probably arthiritic.

Maybe I'll just try the canned food and see if he eats better, before I bring him in. Then, if it doesn't work, at least I'll be prepared.

He's such a sweet old dog.
First "soon" is not soon enough. Try the alternate Vet. Any Vet who does not "push" for Chemotherapy per your prior dog, when it's a viable option, should be avoided.

Most Vets I've run into will give a direct answer to a direct question. The task that we as dog owners must do is to educate ourselves, so that we know the right questions to ask.

It is very unlikely that it's cancer. Most canine cancers if untreated will run their course in just a few months. If the dog has been losing weight for a year and cancer was involved it would be dead long before now. On the other hand if the dog has really only been losing weight for past month then cancer can not be eliminated as a possible cause.

There are many other possible causes. It may be due to parasites either directly in the intestine, whipworms, or heartworms. Likewise anatomical problems such as heart or liver disease can cause weight problems. Finally metabolic diseases such as diabetes, or Addison's disease, malabsorption (e.g. low pancreatic enzymes) may cause loss of weight.

Your plan when the dog visits the Vet is to make sure a heartworm test is performed, a fecal sample is examined, and a full metabolic blood panel is run. This may get you a hit on the problem or additional tests may be needed. If the Vet seems unable to diagnose after the initial tests, add for an immediate referral to a specialist.

Once you have identified the underlying cause with your Vet, then you can address the appetite based on the condition. You may want to ask your Vet as to how to stimulate the appetite more be it with Vitamin B12 shots, or even Valium. Assuming it isn't determental to the underlying condition discuss with your Vet the wisdom of changing the dog to a high performance (high protein/high fat) diet. But again the protein and fat in the diet will be determined by the underlying condition which must be defined first. For example if the dog is in early kidney disease increasing the protein is the last thing you want to do.

In summary: Get the dog to a Vet immediately. Don't wait for when it's due for its yearly examination. Your dog has more than a simple appetite problem.