Hi everyone:
Iam new here, nice to meet all you here!

I have a two and half year old alsatian girl, unspayed, but still a virgin. resently, I find she loss weigh a litter bit, I can see her ribs clearly, which I never see before,

so I added her food every dinner, she was on Royal canin german shepherd before, and I change to Orijen two months ago, she is ok on food, good appetite, firm but large size poo, never diarrhea, she is active, high energy, her hair is shining, but sometimes itch skin, she scratch in summer , but I can' t find any abnormity in her skin, I tried boiled egg or boiled chicken mix in her biscuit every dinner and chicken soup instead of water for three weeks, but she just hard to gain weight.

today, I do some search on  her symptom (hard to gain weight), I think it is similar with Malabsorption syndrome, does anyone has some experience on this, I will take her to vet next week, before that I need to know what tests can clearly diagnose what is wrong with my girl? there are many blood tests,  she has insurence, but does anyone know, how much will all the tests take?

thanks a lot for all replys.

Hi Aaron1980 and welcome to the forum :)

It's well nigh impossible to pin point the cause here and really does need professional investigation.  Rather than waste more time, I'd recommend you take a faecal sample with you when attending the vet appointment and if your vet believes bloods to be beneficial when given the history and having examined your girl then I'd say go with that sooner rather than later. 

Clearly something is not quite right but much as we are all dog lovers on here and some have many years of multi dog ownership the causes of some problems are not always straightforward and health issues, other than very minor ones lasting 24-48 hours, really ought to be assessed by professionals.

Most blood tests come back the same day or within 24 hours.  Some tests can take longer - up to 7/10 days if requiring to be sent away to specialist labs for example.  Your vet will decide what range of tests need to be carried out (if any).  Fortunately your dog is insured as some illnesses can very quickly become expensive, and this is sometimes worsened by delay in correct diagnosis and treatment.

Please update on progress and good luck,
regards Teri :)

A blood test for B12 and Folate will tell you if she has malabsorption and which type it is. There are different types of malabsorption, the commonest being a bacterial overgrowth in the GSD. I would also ask your vet to do a TLI blood test at the same time to rule out EPI (Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency), which is also common in the GSD.

Blood test for B12 and folate levels are a must for Malabsorption.

my Leo has this and it isnt costly.

as Kesyra said you will need to rule out EPI and also Thyroid and Addisons.

hi :

thanks a lot..

yes , you are right Teri, I make an appointment this Fri. I think the professional investigations are needed, before that I think I should know some more information , and get my thought about what the vet will tell me. my girl has been 28kg since she 1 year old , and never gained weight from then. what ever I feed her, she just keep herself slim, she is active, naughty, and very playful. since I change the Royal canin to Orijen 6 fish, her ribs seems clear, 28KG in weight, I added more than the Orijen feeding guide for two weeks, but still the same weight. so I thought maybe something was wrong.

sum up what you said , I take a look at what blood tests I need to do: (http://www.langfordvets.co.uk/pdf/LVS_charges_2008-09.pdf)

Faecal parasitology/Faecal screen 

blood test for B12 and Folate +TLI  (make sure the Malabsorption type)

Thyroid : Total T4 + TSH    (only t4 is not enough)

Addisons: ACTH stimulation test   (she get the itching skin sometime, and hard to gain weight, there was no blood during her second season )

I think all these I need to check, anybody have any experience or advice me more? that would be grateful.

another thing is I have kept on her petplan insurance since she was a puppy, every year, but never used before,  I don't know are these tests insured ? what should I do to claim?

thanks again.

Aaron