A question for our resident vet techs

[Laurielee]

My 10 year old lab just had his senior physical. The did the full blood panel so things should be more definitive tomorrow when they come back.

But want to ask a question for now. Jake has lost 10 # without being on a diet. Now this is a red flag for me because I had a cat that did the same and was diagnosed with diabetes. But he also had exrtreme excessive thirst. Jakes thirst seem normal.

What the vet thought was very strange is his last check up he was 103 and his heart rate was 118. he is now #93 and his heart rate is 63. She was perplexed. Any thoughts on this?

TIA

Laurie

[Laurielee]

well a web search has turned up zilch, looks like a normal heart rate should be starting around 83 and hypothyriod can cause this, but its usually followed by excessive weight gain, not loss

Going to be frantically waiting for the test results tomorrow to see if anything turns up

Laurie

[beckms]

Hi Laurie--

It's the pits waiting for test results, isn't it? :(

Not a lot to go on, but it sounds like it was the right call to run some bloodwork. Weight loss could be due to a lot of things, even something as minor as an incorrect weight measurement or uncalibrated scale. Is he having any changes in appetite or eliminations? Any behavior changes?

The heart rate is quite slow, but I wonder if maybe it was counted wrong?

Sorry I can't really be much help. I hope you get some reassuring news tomorrow, and please update when you know more.

[cindy47031]

I would think a 10# drop in weight would be pretty noticable, so I doubt it's just a bad measurement. Does he still look healthy or is he scrawny thin all of a sudden? Over what time period did he lose the weight? Maybe he's just eating less as he gets older...

I would try taking his heart rate again, though. (I'm not a vet, but I can tell you labs have a pulse point on their inner thigh that you can probably find. Maybe beckms can tell you more specifically where to look. I've checked my dogs before but it's been a while. And their sleeping now, so I don't want to feel around on them.)

Good luck to you. Hope he's alright.

[Laurielee]

regarding the drop in weight, he is the stocky type of lab, like a huge teddy bear so its hard to notice a drop in his weight. People have commented he looks good and I have noticed back where his hind quarters are he has thinned out, but not along the ribs. He is a chow hound so eating is not his problem. That swhat is bothers me if he has dropped that much weight.


When they weighed him they they retested the scale because of the huge difference from what he weighed before. He hasnt weighed 93 # for years and then according to DH they also checked his pulse manually and showed him how to do it in the hind leg, so I want to do that this week-end. he gets his food from another vet so I may take him there to get his weight and pulse rechecked.

He was playing tonight, just his usual self keeping my fingers crossed

Laurie

[mcgeiger]

I agree, at this points blood results are really needed to go anywhere (other tests may also be needed too...). Sadly our pets can't really tell us anything verbally:( Weight loss of 10 lbs is significant so I'm glad your vet is working with you to find the cause. Please keep us updated!

[Laurielee]

I just heard from the vet, the good news is they found nothing, good kidneys, liver, etc which is also bad news. Nothing to explain the weightloss and heart rate so they are recommonding a cardiac work up. so it looks likeI will go this route

Laurie