My dog is sick

[Emned]

Someone help!! I have a 4 year old Jack Russell Chihuahua who was given to me just 7 months ago by a family member. He is extremely smart energetic and loyal. He loves to eat and always does whenever he pleases but for the past few weeks he has barely touched his food and has lost some weight as well. We've switched foods tried playing with his food nothing is working . He also has minor diahrea however I cannot take him to the vet yet. Until I can any ideas on what might be wrong?? I'm worried

[Harley PoMMom]

I'm so sorry your boy is not feeling well and I know how worried you must be. Loss of appetite and diarrhea can be symptoms of many illnesses or diseases so it is very hard to say what is going on. Do you think he could of gotten into the garbage can and eaten something he shouldn't have? Does it seem to bother him if you touch his tummy?

Regarding the diarrhea, and I know this will sound gross :eek: but what color is it and is it real runny of just soft?

Hugs, Lori

[Squirt's Mom]

I'm sorry your baby is not feeling well! Has he had any labwork done? If not, I would have that done asap - in particular his blood sugar checked asap. Let us know how things are going!

[labblab]

Has your dog been diagnosed with Cushing's Disease? We will do our best to help you, regardless, but our forum's focus is on the treatment of Cushing's Disease, so that is the area about which we have the most knowledge. :o

Marianne

[Emned]

I have no idea whether or not he has had blood work, his previous medical history if any was never given to me. I know he is wild though he ran away once before I got him and he was found 30 miles away and bitten by a coyote. So he sometes acts like he's wild and eats dead animals or things on the floor he thinks is food. His diahrea is straight liquid very dark and he splurged in the middle of the night. The next day still wouldnt eat and yesterday he had diahrea again. Today hesbvery tired sleeping a lot and looking for food on the floor like he is starving . I'm confused because he has food and when I try to feed him he will not eat. I've never seen him like this before now maybe 5 pounds lighter and looks very exhausted but still plays throughout the day. I can't take him to the vet because I can't afford it

[labblab]

If you would be willing to tell us where you live, even generally, I'm hoping we can help you find a low-cost vet clinic. Unfortunately, without seeing a vet, I don't think anybody can know what is causing these internal problems for your boy. But especially if you live near a big city or a vet school, it's possible that we can help you find a walk-in clinic where you could take him for a basic exam at a much lower cost than usual.

Marianne

[SasAndYunah]

It could be so many differant things. But I think that, apart from a physical exam, a vet's first action would be to examine the stool. I am not sure if it is possible, but here in The Netherlands, I just can collect some stool samples (from 3 differant times) and drop them of at the vet clinic and ask if they will check the samples for internal parasites (it's something that simply has to be ruled out) That way, you'll have to pay for the stool check but no other costs like for a vet visit ect. It will give you and a vet, a good place to start...

You could also check his temerature yourself, it would help a lot to know if he is running a fever or not...

So I would say, check his temp, have his stoolsamples checked for parasites and then go from there...

Saskia :)