Hi, I've been thinking about this for a few days & thought I'd put it by some experienced dog people before going to the vets.

My Golden Retriever male is just 6 years old, neutered at 18 months, and generally fit and healthy. He is fed Arden Grange Lamb and Rice, occasionally with tinned Partners, or raw tripe added. The only other thing added is occasionally a week or so of Salmon Oil, and very occasional tinned oily fish. The dogs sometimes have raw carrot sticks & bits of apple/banana.

I have 3 Goldens, two bitches aged 4 1/2 and 16 months. The dogs are walked twice a day, a good hour in the morning and up to an hour before it gets dark. I would consider them to be pretty fit and healthy bunch, the girls are looking in fine fettle, well muscled with no fat.

So here's the problem. My male has previously had to be fed on a Arden Grange Light as his weight crept up to over 42 kg (normal fighting weight needs to be around 40 kg. He is a big boy). Because of OCD which resulted in an elbow operation when 6 months old, he needs to be kept "lean". The elbow is fine at the moment, although a lot of his other joints have been affected by the OCD, which will definitely result in him suffering Arthritis when older (all this info told to me by the Ortho specialist who operated on him).

He is fed twice daily, and loves his food, normally going round to lick out everyone's bowl after eating (all 3 do this). I've been feeding him more than the recommended amount for his weight, but despite his heavy coat, have noticed recently that he's really lost some weight. I can feel every rib, his backbone, and his muscle tone is pretty poor. I have heard that the lack of muscle tone may be due to him being castrated.

The only thing I can think of is that he has started running round much more when out and about. He has always been a happy soul but with our young bitch, they go racing off and bounce all over each other. He will stand in the middle of the lounge in the morning, and start "tiggering", so I'm fairly confident he's feeling fine in himself. He's such a lovely boy, a real character with not a bad bone in his body. He means a massive amount to me and my family...

I've looked up the symptoms of Hypothyroidism but the symptoms don't seem to match at all. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be going on? I am thinking of taking him to the vet to be weighed, but he seems so happy in himself. I'm stumped!

Thanks in advance.
Tanya

If it seems to be a sudden weight loss I'd get him checked by a vet.  However, if you think you've only just noticed and his exercise has been stepped up gradually by his younger pal, as you suspect, then this might just be enough to shed some lbs.  However the exercise would be good for muscle tone and wouldn't account for the loss of condition...

How is his output?  Studying poo - not in extreme close up! - can be a good indicator of problems.

I think I'd take him to see a vet to be on the safe side, you sound worried and it might pay to be cautious.  At the very least you can put a 'marker in the ground' of his condition and weight at the time of the visit - and give yourself something to measure against in a few weeks time perhaps.  Hopefully it'll be nothing that a bigger portion of food won't fix - incidentally I often have to increase food in the winter for my 3 dogs.  They all seem to need a little more to function at their best in the cold and wet weather :)

Thanks for the reply dogs a babe. You're right, I am getting a little concerned about him, as when I noticed he was feeling a little bony (looks fine due to the coat). Perhaps a trip to the vet if only to be weighed for the time being would be a starting point.

His output is normal, he's sleeping, drinking & exercising as much as the rest (ok, not as much as the pup, but she's like a rocket lol), would like there to be more muscle but as a neutered male, I'm thinking this may be why he's lacking.

> would like there to be more muscle but as a neutered male, I'm thinking this may be why he's lacking.

I'm not sure I'd agree with this - muscle tone is related to exercise and not anything that would be affected by neutering.  I have one of a different breed, neutered, but don't see any lack of muscle tone in him

If you're concerned go for a full check up with the vet.  They'll want him weighed as well, but bloods and urine might also be warranted as well as a listen to his heart,    ...and you know you're only going to worry about him over Christmas anyway! :)

You could try upping his food by a few grammes each meal time to see if it has any effect though - an increase of just 5g of kibble per meal would be enough to show you a change if it's simply food

If you are worried I would speak with the vet get some blood tests done to start with, neutering would not cause weight loss so it is either diet or something is not right.

I certainly don't think that neutering affects muscle tone. All my Goldens are neutered (bar one) and all very well muscled. Exercise is what develops muscle so I'd get the vet to give him the once over to set your mind at rest but I bet he has run off his weight with the youngster.  Maybe the diet is no longer suiting him and you could consider a change.

I too have a six year old GR who was neutered very young - 6 months old - as he is a rescue and we had no choice but to comply with their neutering policy. He weighs 32kg and is lean but very well muscled and competes in agility. I can feel his ribs but he is not too lean and my vet says he is in perfect condition. Most of the GRs I see out and about are very heavy and most are overweight so it may just be that your dog is just right but that you are comparing him to other males who tend to be on the heavy side. It seems to be that a lot of GR owners have dogs that could use losing several pounds,at least in the area I live in :-) One of my agility friends is also a vet and she commented on how unusual it is to see a GR nowadays that is not overweight - and she has also agreed that my dog is an ideal weight for his height and build.

I tend to go by feel - as you say the coat can hide/accentuate the build - and my dog feels as though he has a thin blanket over his ribs rather than a couple of duvets :-) At one of my training clubs there is a BC who is 4"inches shorter than my GR but weighs more and his owner didn't realise how overweight he was until it was pointed out by the trainer. The dog has just started his agility training and is not allowed to do any jumping what so ever until it has lost a lot of weight. The owner was really surprised to learn that my dog weighs less than hers.

I've looked up the symptoms of Hypothyroidism but the symptoms don't seem to match at all. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be going on? I am thinking of taking him to the vet to be weighed, but he seems so happy in himself. I'm stumped!

Did you look up HypERthyroidism rather than hypO? The symptoms wouldnt fit in hypo as that would cause him to put on weight rather than lose it.
My last bitch suddenly lost a lot of weight, a worrying amount and looked dreadful after a pyo but every test came back fine and it was pure nervous energy which eventually settled down but we did have to switch her to a higher calorie food for a while which helped a lot. Like your boy she was still energetic but I could have cut a loaf of bread with her backbone! The vet said it was an extreme case but probably a product of all the hormone changes she had been through. She went on to survive the removal of mass in her chest, umpteen attacks of vestibular Syndrome and we finally had her PTS at 14 1/2 with cancer again but still walking and waggy tailed.
Do you know what weight he was? Get him weighed and then weigh him again weekly for a couple of weeks, I suspect the vet will want this information before leaping ahead with tests so it would be best to go with it in hand if he seems well in himself and you have checked him over for lumps and bumps and signs of anything unusual that would need an urgent appt.