Dear all,
We have a 13 year old, much loved, Lhasa called Lucky. He is still very fit, but sleeps quite a lot in between activity! However, just recently he has begun losing weight and has become quite boney under his fur. He uses his bowels daily and still has an appetite for his favourite things, i.e. a fish finger or sausage, depending on our meal. These are of course just a treat, but his regular food is "Pedigree puppy", Winalot "Shapes". We have tried him with "Iams" for small dogs, but he's just not interested. We are in our mid 70's and don't have much money for costly Vet's consultations, however we are registered with the PDSA, who have looked after him very well so far. He is quite happy in himself and has no other symptoms of any illness. Any ideas? We'd be very grateful for your comments.
Yours sincerely,
Jim & Sybil Burrow.

Welcome to the forum Jim and Sybil.

Your dog does sound like he is indeed, a very 'lucky' lad :-)
I am not a vet, neither do I have any qualifications in that field, but all my dogs have lived to see their old age. I have found with my own dogs, that once they reach a certain age (10-14) it is very hard to keep weight on them.They all eat well, but they still drop weight at an alarming rate. And it doesn't matter what or how much you feed them, nothing seems to help. All I do, is get a vet to check them over to make sure that there isn't some underlying problem. Then make sure that they have a balanced diet,exercise and love. Some dogs get obese in their old age, mine get skinny :rolleyes: It's not easy seeing them like this, but if the vet has given them a clean bill of health, and they are eating, happy and well in themselves, then I don't think that there is much more we can do for them. Old dogs do sleep a lot of the time, my lot usually find the warmest place, be it by the fire or in the sun ......and spend most of their time snoring and 'chasing bunnies' :D

For your own peace of mind, I would get the PDSA to have a quick look at him and make sure that he is ok. Apart from that .......enjoy him :-)

Leigh

What a lucky lad to have such a devoted owner. Have you checked his teeth? My vet cleans the tartar off for free. Sometimes tartar build up, or simply the teeth wearing down to little stumps can discourage them from eating. You could try soaking his biscuit in hot water or the stock that chicken has been simmered in. I dont have much spare money either, but buy the cheap "value" bags of frozen chicken joints from the supermarket ( about £3.50 for 15-20 joints)- almost all dogs love chicken - and boil a joint for 30 minutes and take off the bone. If you have a Kwik save near you or Tesco store, thats where I get mine from.