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14 year old dog with diarrhea and weight loss

Species: Dog
Breed: pomeranian
Age: 11-15 years
I have 14 year old pomeranian. for the past 1 month, he is suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting(yellow) 2-3 times a day, huge amount of weight loss, also lost appetite, he feels depressed and also extremely weak and also experiencing some pain in his stomach. Vet had him on drips twice a day but there is no improvement in his condition. now his belly is also swollen. After the X ray, it looks like he is suffering from inflammatory bowel disease. There is only one vet in our area and clearly he is not been able to cure him even in 20 days. I request you to kindly recommend me some medications to cure this things.

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Online vet, Dr. Marie

Dr. Marie replied:

Sorry to hear that Ivee is having problems.

I am concerned about the symptoms that you have described. Any time I have an older animal who is losing a large amount of weight I get concerned about serious diseases like cancer.

If he has a swollen abdomen then this is usually due to either fluid or a tumor. Do you know if your vet has done an aspirate (put a needle into the abdomen) to determine if there is fluid present? Fluid is usually a sign of either serious liver disease or cancer.

While it is hard for me to say without actually seeing Ivee, what you are describing sounds like something more serious than inflammatory bowel disease. IBD should not cause the abdomen to be swollen. I am wondering if your vet is suspecting a cancer in the bowels rather than IBD.

Does your vet have access to ultrasound? This may tell us more than an xray especially if we are looking for cancer.

Another thing to consider would be to have your vet do an exploratory surgery to determine if there is cancer there. If there is no cancer then they could take biopsies of the intestines to determine what is going on. Obviously this route would be expensive though.

In cases where I am suspicious of inflammation in the intestines, if surgery is not an option I will often prescribe prednisone which is a steroid which helps with inflammation. If there is cancer it often helps with this as well, but only temporarily.

I wish I could give you more hope or treatment options but what you described does not sound good.

Dr. Marie.


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Disclaimer: Although Dr. Marie is a qualified veterinarian, the information found on this site is not meant to replace the advice of your own veterinarian. AskAVetQuestion.com and Dr. Marie do not accept any responsibility for any loss, damage, injury, death, or disease which may arise from reliance on information contained on this site. Do not use information found on this site for diagnosing or treating your pet. Anything you read here is for information only.

Customer reply:

Thanks for your advice on Ivee. I just want to inform you that Ivee passed away 3 weeks ago. The Vet diagnosed the case of interception of intestines and the age of 14, it was unoperable. And now i just brought home a german shepherd puppy(EDDIE). The mother when the puppies were 3 days old. Eddie is now 4 weeks old. He doing great. From last 2 days, i noticed some change of color around his penis area, it turned slightly blue, but there is nothing in his urine and also this is not caused by any bruise. Is it normal for a 4 week old puppy to change its skin color around that particular area and suddenly his breath started smelling really bad. Is it natural at this age????


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Dr. MarieDr. Marie is a veterinarian who practices in a busy animal hospital in Ottawa, Ontario. She created Ask A Vet Question as a resource for good, accurate veterinary advice online. Dr. Marie treats dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, and rats. She has been a vet since 1999.

Is an online vet visit just as good as a trip to your veterinarian? No! But, many times, asking an online veterinarian a question can help save you money. While Dr. Marie can't officially diagnose your pet or prescribe medications, she can often advise you on whether a vet visit is necessary. You can also ask Dr. Marie for a second opinion on your pet's condition.