Hello  

I haven't posted on here for ages although I often read through the posts.

Our dog Pip is a terrier cross,  looks like a Parson Jack with a thick wiry coat.  He was from the Rescue and was a complete maniac for a while but much improved with training classes and general care.  We have had him nearly three years and he must be about 5 or 6 now.

We have noticed recently that he seems to have a much reduced tolerance to exercise ie when we take him out he starts off quite bouncy but very soon starts to lag behind and looks generally lethargic.  Our 8 year old Westie runs like a greyhound still which make it much more noticeable.

I have just taken him to the vets.  He examined Pip thoroughly but said he didn't seem anaemic and his heart was fine.  He took some blood tests and they have come back pretty much normal but the vet said that his glucose levels were low which could cause the lethargy.

In himself Pip seems bright enough, still chases the cats etc.  He has always been a poor eater (except of our dinners which he wolfs down given the chance) and he is quite a slim dog.  Next week the vet is seeing him again to check the glucose levels and thinks he may do a chest x-ray as he felt the dog was panting quite a lot.

It all seems a puzzle -wondered if anyone else has encountered similar (vague) symptoms with their dogs? 

Leonora::rolleyes:

Sorry to hear about Pip :(
I haven't experienced anything similar so no advice but just hope he gets back to normal quickly.

I would ask the vet to check for addisons, lethargy and poor eater are possible symptoms wouldnt do any harm to mention it too him.

Some dogs like humans aren't as efficient with their glucose metabolism as they age.

I have a rugby playing friend and he says that he has to take energy drinks to get him through a whole match which he didn't need when younger.

Some toy dog breeders may know what to do about Hypoglycemia which is a problem in toy breed pups.