My dog is underweight

I have a male Staffordshire that is nearly two years old he is longlegged, and I am worried about him.

He is underweight as you can see his spine at the middle half of his back and his hip bones, he shakes his head for about 3-5 mins and his body jerks. I have thought the shivering is due to being cold but I have seen a weakness in his head (skull) where his eyes are on the top of his temples its sinking in and you can nearly put ur fingers into his head. His diet is not very good also as he eats one day and then the next day or so he will not eat. I have put him onto lambs hearts but Im not sure if it is his diet as he is on the same foods as my 13 year old jack R and my 12 month old **** TZu. Some times I have to hand feed/spoon feed him as he will just walk away. I put him in bed because he does this shivering thing with his hole body but I am worried as I have said above. I have wormed him and fleaed him with flea shampoo so I know he is clear from that. He tends to lap up water fast and then he burps alot some times. I think this is due to bloating his bowls. His stools are normal and worm free but I'd not know if he has tameworm as you can't see them in the stools.

What does anybody recomend?

Should I feed him 2-3 times a day and help him eat the foods given + veg to see if he needs greens.

Should I offer more water than I do?

Should I walk him more as I have not been doing because I have sciatica in my leg an bum.

Should I give him any bedding to rest on or sleep on.

please could you swiftly reply

[email removed] or on the forum

P.S im new to this

David

I would be making an appointment at your vet for him straight away.....sounds like there could be a reason for his lack of appetite.

Thank you for your swift reply....

Thank you for your advice on my dog (Brin)

I will book him into the vets A.S.A.P

Do you have any idea of why he would be going off his food?

And what about the other listed things I have posted.

The shivering
The smelly breath
The Drink lapping
The sunken in temple

IMO, there are lots of POSSIBLE reasons but really, only a vet who can examine your dog can give you a diagnoses as to what the actual reason may be. Once you have found or ruled out a medical problem which may require medical treatment, then you can look at other possible reasons for his problems. Vets first, definitely! Good luck with your boy.

All of those symptoms could be a number of things - sorry, I'm not experienced enough to speculate.
From what you have said, there is clearly something not quite right, so definitely vet ASAP.
In reference to your first post, it would probably be good to give him some bedding to sleep on - if he is that thin I'm sure he would appreciate some comfort.
Hopefully someone more knowledgable than me will come along soon....

Thank you....

I will book Brin into the vets soon as and get him looked at. I am really worried about him and it is making me upset seeing him this way.

He is on the bed now shaking his head like a nodding dog, while im on line looking for any little bit of info I can get. But I will be going to the vets.

In the mean time any advice on care for my baby till I get him into the vets....

P.S thank you all for replying to my posts its very kind of you, as I am new its a good help to get fedback off other dog owners.

David

all are not good signs for a two year old dog.. vet asap.
sunken temple is through atrophy..he has lost his body fat and is now wasting muscle away.
smelly breath can be worms/infection/kidneys...all manner of things
all are signs of him being malnourished too.

re worming ..u need a proper regime from a veterinary quality product dosed accurately to bodyweight.

are you only feeding hearts?

as said..he needs a vet,( not a forum )

please let us know how he gets on at the vets

good luck

please take him to the vet now!..he is weak,sounds like he needs ivft (a drip)

There is deffenetly something not right with Brin I will take him to the RSPCA thats where me and my parents go with our dogs and they are fantastic and I have my fingers crossed he will be on the mend.

Regarding his weight loss tokiayla all his legs are fine an musscle feels as they should do. Where his hips are they are on show and you can feel bone and hardly no fat that should be under the skin, im concerened about the weight and the shivering and skull temple.

I just cant understand how this is happening to him as when he was a puppy he was really shocky like a long legged staff should be, I do think its not helping with no excersice as I have sciatica in my leg an bum and its pretty hard to get around in the day. Im currently in bed now researching an on the this fantastic dog forum I came across by mistake. I'm very glad iv'e became a member to this sight.

I think what I'll do is tomorrow get all the dog beds sorted out and re-wash the two beds that are in the living room on the floor. I have loads of beds for the three dogs as I dont like the thought of them just lay down on a hard floor or to sleep on for that matter.

Its very upsetting to me this matter as I am a very to the three dogs they get lots of love, care, and I play with them all the time. reg baths when needed and treats when I ever go into Town I pick them up dog bones for a nice little quiet time. The 13 year old Jack R is old an full of life and the 12 half month old **** Tzu is fit an health but Brin is another case. I personally think and I say ''think'' im not sure but he could of been inter-bread with ansisters/etc as he was off my sisters neighbor and maybe his bodyly functions have not fully formed inside. But I could be wrong.

Thanks for the help... I hope you dont mind me commenting on to a reply of anybodys....thanks once again

David

I would just like to ask a question too about a diet.

What would be the best diet for my long legged Staffordshire Bull if he did'nt have this health issue?

Would Lamb hearts be alright and normal dog tinned food with dry multi buscuits?????

Any other foods anybody does use with a lot of goodness in could you please let me know what you all use if you dont mind.