JustAnswer > Dog
Ask A Question|Register|Login|Help
JustAnswer

Dog

Ask a Dog Question, Get an Answer ASAP!

Have your own Dog question?

17 Vets and Dog Experts are Online Now
characters left:
Not a Dog Question?
Bookmark and Share

Question

my wiemaranar has been sick the past few months. His symptoms are lathargic, loss of appetite, voimitting, excessive weight loss, sore joints, limp on and off, excessive drinking and urinating, no bowl movement in 4 days, discharge from eyes and nose. he is getting worse with time. have had a lot of blood work done but i found out is he has an underactive thyroid (which doesn't make sense with the weight loss) and he is anemic. But i know it's much more then that. any suggestions, time is running out.

Submitted: 323 days ago.
Category: Dog
Value: $30
Status: AWAITING CUSTOMER ACTION
+
Read More

Optional Information

Breed: weimaranar

Already Tried:
lymes disease and diabeties has been ruled out.

Posted by Dr. Debbie 323 days ago.

Info Request

What age is your dog?

Has he had any xrays or ultrasound?

Is it just the rear limbs or all 4 that are sore?

323 days ago.

Reply

he's six and a half. seems to be just back legs, he limps for days then sometimes not at all. the only testing he's had is blood work.

Accepted Answer

I wouldn't count the thyroid test, there is a condition known as euthyroid sick syndrome in which a normal thyroid tests abnromal due to another underlying disease. Your dog is definitely not symptomatic for low thyroid, so in this case you would discount this test.

 

The fact that he is anemic is probably due to "anemia of chronic disease" or it could actually be due to blood loss. Usually a test is added to find out if the anemia is "regenerative", or if your dog is trying to make more red blood cells or not. This helps classify why your dog is anemic.

 

The combination of symptoms you are seeing can be any of a number of things. If the bloodwork did not show up any infection then that rules out several things. I think your next step would be ultrasound or possibly endoscopy. The wieght loss and GI symptoms can indicate things such as irritable bowel syndrome or even things like lymphoma or ulcers can be in the GI tract causing these symptoms. You are definitely going to need more diagnostics to find out what the problem is to see if it is something treatable and how to best treat it.

 

Let me know if you have more questions,

 

Dr. Debbie

Picture
Expert: Dr. Debbie
Pos. Feedback: 99.2 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 1/4/2009

Veterinarian

Full time practicing companion animal veterinarian.

323 days ago.

Reply

I don't know if this matters but all he will eat is chicken, usually he eats anything. also do you think it could be some sort of autoimmune deficiency? I have never seen him this way before. He's usually overily active and now he lays down all day looking so miserable.

Posted by Dr. Debbie 322 days and 23 hours ago.

Answer

Definitely an autoimmune disease would be on the list of possibilities. Your classifiication of the anemia will play an important role in determining this. Also a blood test called ANA can help identify this.

+
Read More

Related Dog Questions

  • is parvo contagious to small children?
  • I have a year old male and female dogs and I have left them
  • Why is my Doberman drooling?
  • how long are dogs in labor before they give birth
  • I have a 12 year old Italian Greyhound who has a mast on the
  • I just removed a tick from my dog, should I have the tick te...
  • I have a blue heeler, she is 8 months old. She came in heat
  • why do you let Shelly Davis give advice



Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.
Question List | Become an Expert | Terms of Service | Security & Privacy | About Us
© 2003-2009 JustAnswer Corp.