Why is my husky losing weight

Why Your Dogs Losing Weight and What to Do

Its normal for a dogs weight to vary a little bit over time. If you change their diet to one that isnt to their liking, theyll probably lose a few pounds. Or maybe they are staying inside more during the winter; in this case, theyll probably gain a little.

But what about a dog that keeps losing weight and you dont know why? Unexplained weight loss can be the first sign that a health problem is brewing.

Why Is My Dog Losing Weight?

Weight loss in dogs has many causes. Problems with a dogs diet, environment, and health could all be to blame. Here are a few of the most common causes of unexplained weight loss:

• A problem with their food: Dogs may eat less when there is something they dont like about their food. A change in diet may be to blame, or perhaps a large bag of food has started to go bad before your dog has finished it. Feeding too little or giving your dog low-quality dog food can also lead to weight loss.

• Stress:A dog thats anxious or stressed may find it hard to relax and eat because they feel like they always need to be on alert.

• Exercise: Dogs that start exercising more but dont take in more calories will lose weight.

• The environment: Dogs require extra energy to stay warm when they spend lots of time in the cold. Conversely, hot temperatures can reduce a dogs appetite.

• Reproduction:Pregnancy and lactation (nursing puppies) put extra nutritional demands on dogs. If they dont take in more calories, they will lose weight.

• Dental disease and other oral problems: Any problem that makes chewing and swallowing painful or difficult will discourage a dog from eating.

• Intestinal worms and other parasites: Parasites get their nutrition from their hosts, which can lead to weight loss in dogs.

• Cancer: Cancer cells use energy to grow and divide, and this means that the energy is not available to the dog, so they often lose weight. Cancer can also directly affect a dogs digestive system and appetite.

• Gastrointestinal (GI) disorders: Problems that affect the functioning of the digestive tract can reduce a dogs appetite or their ability to digest and absorb nutrients. Inflammatory bowel disease, lymphoma, adverse food reactions, or partial intestinal blockages could be to blame.

• Nasal problems: Any condition that affects a dogs ability to smell their food can lead to a reduced appetite.

• Diabetes mellitus: The changes in glucose metabolism seen with diabetes mellitus frequently lead to weight loss in dogs, even when they have a good appetite.

• Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI): When dogs have EPI, they dont produce enough of the digestive enzymes needed to break down food and absorb nutrients.

• Infections: Bacterial, viral, or fungal infections can directly affect the GI tract and lead to weight loss. Fighting an infection anywhere in the body requires extra energy, and if dogs dont eat more, they will lose weight.

• Kidney and liver disease: When the kidneys or liver dont function properly, waste products of metabolism build up in the bloodstream, which can make a dog nauseated and not feel like eating. Dogs with kidney disease may also lose protein in their urine, which can lead to weight loss.

• Heart disease: Weight loss is common as heart disease progresses. The exact causes of this are unknown, but the condition goes by the name cardiac cachexia.

• Addisons disease:Dogs with Addisons disease (hypoadrenocorticism) dont produce enough of certain types of adrenal hormones, which can lead to poor appetite and weight loss.

• Hyperthyroidism: Although hyperthyroidism is rare in dogs, it can increase their metabolic rate and lead to weight loss.

• Neurologic conditions: Any disease that adversely affects a dogs ability to eat and swallow can result in weight loss.

Is My Dog Too Skinny?

Regularly checking your dogs weight by using an accurate digital scale is the best way to monitor for weight loss or gain. However, evaluating a dogs body condition score can also help you determine if your dog is too skinny. In general, a dog might be too skinny if:

• You can easily see their ribs or other bony points.

• When looking down from the top, they have a very pronounced waist.

• When looking from the side, they have an exaggerated abdominal tuck.

When to See Your Vet About Your Dogs Weight Loss

A little bit of weight loss isnt always an emergency. As long as your dog doesnt have any other signs of illness, you could try to change their diet or environment to see if it solves the problem. But there are times when you should get your dog to a veterinarian ASAP:

1. Puppies shouldnt lose weight! As they grow, puppies should be gaining weight, so call your veterinarian immediately if your puppy is losing weight or getting too skinny.

2. Weight loss in a dog thats older or has an underlying health problem is always concerning. The risk of serious diseases that cause weight loss increases as dogs get older.

3. Weight loss combined with symptoms of illness is never normal. Make an appointment with your veterinarian if your dog has difficulty breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, sneezing, weakness, lethargy, increased thirst and urination, or any other worrisome symptoms. If your dogs symptoms are severe, call a vet immediately to determine if you should head to the clinic right away.

4. Rapid or pronounced weight loss should always get your attention. Any health problem can lead to serious weight loss. Make an appointment with your veterinarian if your dog has lost more than 10% of their normal body weight or is losing 2% or more of their body weight per week. Heres what that can look like for dogs of different sizes:

Serious Weight Loss in Dogs

How Do Vets Treat Unexplained Weight Loss in Dogs?

A veterinarian will start by asking you a lot of questions about your dogs diet, appetite, environment, behavior, medical history, and any current medications (including parasite preventives) or supplements that you are giving. They will also determine how many calories your dog is taking in each day and if this amount should be meeting their energy needs.

Next, they will perform a complete physical examination and use the information they uncover to recommend treatment or further diagnostic testing. A basic laboratory workup includes a fecal examination, bloodwork, and a urinalysis. Additional testing can involve x-rays, ultrasound examinations, specialized lab tests for specific health problems, endoscopy, exploratory surgery, and tissue biopsies.

Whenever possible, veterinarians will recommend treatment for a dogs weight loss that aims to cure or at least improve its underlying cause. For example, they will prescribe a dewormer if a dog has intestinal parasites, dental care for damaged teeth, or antibiotics for a bacterial infection. Oftentimes, a change in diet can also help dogs regain the weight theyve lost. Options include:

• High-calorie, nutrient-dense dog foods for generalized weight gain

• Highly digestible diets when GI function is impaired

• Dog foods with added fiber may be appropriate for some types of GI problems or for dogs with diabetes

• Hypoallergenic dog foods made from novel ingredients, hydrolyzed proteins, or individual amino acids for food allergies and intolerances

• Disease-specific diets like those designed to help manage kidney or liver disease

The right food and other treatments will depend on the specifics of your dogs case. Dont wait too long to get your dog the care they need. Its easier to manage a dogs weight loss when it hasnt had a chance to progress too far.

Featured Image: iStock/Capuski

Why Is My Husky So Fat? 7 Real Reasons + 5 Tips

In this article youll discover:

• 7 real reasons why your Husky is so fat (#7 might surprise you).
• The super-easy formula to calculate the calorie needs of your Husky.
• 5 essential and doable tips to get your dog to lose weight if theyre so fat.
• The answer to your question How can spaying and neutering make my Husky fat?
• And much much more

Why is my Husky so fat?

Your Husky is so fat due to several factors. Too many calories and carbohydrates but not enough exercise are at the top of the list. These easily make any dog fat. Other factors are Cushings disease, hypothyroidism, gonadectomy, and age.

Why is my Husky getting fat?

Your Husky is getting fat because they eat too much. On top of their regular dog food, you could be giving them too many treats and even human food. With too many calories consumed but not burned, your Husky is bound to get fat.

How to tell if my Husky is overweight?

You can tell if your Husky is overweight by checking their body. Sometimes its not enough to rely on their weight alone. Instead, check their body from the top and from the sides. Their missing waist and abdominal tuck, plus ribs covered in fat, are the indications.

7 surprising reasons why your Husky is so fat/overweight

#1: Too many calories and carbohydrates

Is your Husky fat? Or is it just the floof?

What do you think is it for Vixy the Husky?

Your Husky may look irresistibly cute when their chubby bodies bounce as they sprint. But its not cute when your Husky is fat or overweight.

One of the reasons to blame for their growing waistline is food. Or too much of it anyway.

Dogs are similar to humans in this regard. Eating too much can make us pack the pounds.

Most of the time, pet owners dont know how many calories a Husky needs for a healthy weight.

Admit it. Sometimes you just pour dog food into the bowl. The amount of food is based on what you think is enough for your Husky.

Without knowing their calorie needs, you might end up overfeeding your dog.

In addition, too many carbohydrates in their diet can lead to insulin spikes. Insulin spikes further leads to 2 negative effects:

• Fat gain.
• Unstable appetite.

Some dogs even have a daily all-you-can-eat buffet. Their owners leave the food bowls overflowing. And the dog can eat whenever they want.

Which isnt good at all.

If your Husky eats like a horse, this buffet feeding can easily make them fat.

#2: But not enough exercise

Inadequate exercise PLUS too much food. Youve got the perfect recipe to get your Husky chonky.

With all the foods your Husky eats, they need exercise to burn the calories. Without adequate exercise, all those calories will be stored as fat.

Just take a look at this fat Husky. Its never a good idea to get them this fat:

Not only that. If your Husky is overweight, it can lead to a myriad of other diseases such as cancer.

Exercise needs

How much exercise your Husky needs depends on their age and size. Huskies are different from other dog breeds when it comes to exercise.

These dogs are built for endurance. They can go on and on without getting tired easily.

So you think walking your Husky around the block is an exercise? Nah, its just a warm-up for them.

You need to exercise them well. Many Huskies can do 2 hours of exercise each day. For some, thats just the minimum.

But of course, it still depends on your Huskys overall condition. Some cant go beyond 2 hours of exercise. The trick is giving them the amount of exercise they need.

#3: Cushings disease

Its not just the food and exercise that cause havoc to your Huskys weight.

There are also chronic illnesses that can lead to weight gain.

Lets start with Cushings disease.

This study mentions that in a year, Cushings disease afflicts 1-2 dogs out of 1000. The signs include:

• Fatigue.
• Weight gain.
• Skin changes.
• Muscle atrophy.
• Abdominal obesity.

This is what a 2019 research found out:

Cushings disease is more prevalent among middle-aged and older dogs. The research also found out that the mean age for dogs with this disease was 9.8 years.

Here are the other findings of the study, which observed 21,281 dogs with Cushings disease.

• Females are more prone than males.
• All neutered dogs are more prone than intact dogs.
• Neutered females are more prone than intact females.

How Cushings disease leads to weight gain

If your Husky has Cushings disease, their adrenal glands produce excessive cortisol. Cortisol helps them manage stress, control their weight, and keep off infection.

With Cushings disease, a Husky experiences excessive hunger, and thirst.

#4: Hypothyroidism

Yet another disease that could explain your Huskys fatness is hypothyroidism.

So whats the deal with hypothyroidism?

It occurs when the thyroid gland shrinks. You can find thyroid glands in the neck. These glands produce hormones that affect the functions of different parts of the body.

Dogs with hypothyroidism produce a low number of thyroid hormones. Thus, the disease affects how some parts of the dogs body function.

Medium to large breed and middle-aged dogs are more prone to this disease. Youll notice weight gain among them.

Aside from weight gain, other symptoms are:

• Thinning fur.
• Reduced activity.
• Getting cold easily.
• Excessive shedding.
• Thickening of the skin.
• Ear and skin infections.
• Excessive scaling of the skin.

How hypothyroidism leads to weight gain

Your Husky needs the thyroid hormone to keep their metabolism working fine. If there isnt enough thyroid hormone, metabolism will slow down.

If that happens, your Husky will experience weight gain.

#5: Gonadectomys link to weight gain

Is your Husky spayed or neutered? You may not be aware of what gonadectomy does to make your Husky gain weight.

First of all, gonadectomy is the general term for the removal of testes in males and ovaries in females. It puts dogs at an increased risk of weight gain.

This 2013 study proved that. But the study also emphasized that the risk was greater only within the first 2 years after gonadectomy.

The study included 1,930 gonadectomized dogs and 1,669 sexually intact dogs. The researchers checked the dogs medical records for 10 years or so. Or until a diagnosis of overweight was made.

In addition, the study proved that age does not affect a dogs risk of gaining weight. That is, whether the dogs were gonadectomized at 6 months of age or later.

How gonadectomy leads to weight gain

There are two possible explanations for a dogs weight gain after a gonadectomy.

First, gonadectomized dogs have lower energy requirements than intact dogs. They also experience decreased metabolism.

Second, gonadectomized dogs have their ovaries and uterus (for females) and testes (for males) removed. These parts are the source of sex hormones.

Because they are removed, the dogs body produces reduced levels of sex hormones.

Now, this has many implications. For one, decreased sex hormones lead to lower metabolism. You probably know by now that slower metabolism leads to weight gain.

Two, gonadectomized females are more likely to gain weight. This is due to the decreased levels of the sex hormone estrogen.

Among many functions, estrogen is responsible for regulating body weight and food intake.

With decreased estrogen, the brain doesnt realize right away that the stomach is already full. Thus, the female dog can experience an increase in appetite.

Three, reduced sex hormones make dogs more lethargic. If dogs feel this way, then theyd prefer to lounge around than be active. This, in turn, will lead to weight gain.

#6: Your Husky is growing old

As your Husky ages, many bodily changes take place. They can no longer run as fast as they used to. Old Huskies move as achingly slow as a snail.

Growing old can actually lead to weight gain. If your Husky is old, you wouldnt want them to over-exercise their joints. And so they dont do exercise as much as they should.

Unfortunately, this canine sedentary lifestyle can make your Husky gain weight.

In addition, metabolism plays a part here. It naturally slows down as your dog grows old. And many studies have proven this.

What studies say about a dogs age in relation to gaining weight

Lets look at this 2003 study involving dogs from Perth, Western Australia.

Households owning dogs were asked to categorize their dogs according to the following:

• Overweight.
• Underweight.
• Correct-weight.

Out of 860 dogs, 25.2% were categorized as overweight by owners. The researcher also reported that the risk of obesity increased for each year of age.

This 2006 study of dogs in France had the same observation regarding age. The researchers surveyed owners of 681 dogs.

Among the dogs, the mean age was 5.7 years old. The results showed that as the dog ages, the risk of being overweight increases.

Specifically, it increased from 2.74-fold at 2-3 years of age to 12.33-fold for 12 years and above.

#7: Treats overload

I have a friend who admitted to feeding her dog lots of treats. Now her dog is on the border of being fat.

Sometimes she jokingly blames her pooch for looking at her with those begging eyes. But of course, its the pet parents responsibility to keep their dogs healthy.

Though her dog isnt a Husky, overfeeding does not spare any dog from being fat.

Now

The amount of calories a Husky must consume depends on many factors. Age, sex, health condition, and physical exercise levels.

But lets say your Husky is 2 years old. They exercise a minimum of 2 hours per day and are generally healthy. Theyre gonna need 1300-1600 calories per day.

This is the same amount of calories they need to burn each day. Otherwise, your Husky will gain weight.

The case with treats

There are treats on the market with low calories. Thats good for your Husky. But treats such as pig ears? A piece can contain about 150 calories.

To make matters worse, we give our dogs human foods as treats.

In this study, 243 out of 681 dogs that were given extra food were obese. Another interesting result was that this practice of giving extra food increased with the dogs age!

No wonder your Huskys packing in the pounds with high-calorie foods.

See here:

A tablespoon of peanut butter has 96 calories. A piece of pork sausage has a whopping 150-300 calories!

And ice cream, which many dogs love? A hundred calories in 50 grams (1.7 ounces).

Well of course dogs dont wake up all fat and pudgy suddenly. They gain weight slowly but steadily.

In my friends case, she had been overfeeding her dog for more than a year.

Bonus: You feed them YOUR food

Eating high-quality dog food should be enough for your Husky. But if you throw in human food, that could make your Husky fat.

Imagine your Husky eating dog food, plus table scraps, plus treats. Without watching their calorie intake, theyll get fat!

Besides, human food is not designed for dogs. There could be ingredients that are high in fat or salt.

5 tips on what to do if your Husky is so fat

#1: Watch the calories

Did you know that in the US, more than half of all dogs are either overweight or obese? Your Husky might be one of them.

Being fat puts your Husky at risk for arthritis and other diseases. And it also shortens life expectancy.

To avoid getting fat

The number of calories consumed must be the same amount of calories burned.

But first, you should know how many calories your Husky needs daily. This is so you know how much to feed them.

In addition, dont rely too much on the feeding guides you see on dog food bags. The feeding guides are mostly for active, un-spayed, un-neutered adult dogs.

So if your Husky is a senior, spayed or neutered, or isnt active, you might end up feeding them too much.

The best thing to do is to ask your vets help. Have them calculate the number of calories your Husky needs on a daily basis.

Or you can do this formula:

Note: Its better to consult with your vet first if youll put your Husky on a diet.

#2: Always measure the meals

Giving your Husky freedom to eat whenever and how much they want is a no-no. This is one of the sure ways to make them fat.

How to determine if your Husky is fat

Huskies are big dogs. You might think theyre fat when all of it is just floof.

Here are the three things that say your Husky is fat:

Missing waist

Have your Husky stand. Then look at them from above. Theyre fat or overweight if you see no waist.

Missing abdominal tuck

Their stomach looks rounded from the side.

Not visible ribs

Ribs are covered in fat. Youll have a hard time feeling the ribs due to fat cover. They also have fat deposits in thoracic, spinal, and abdominal areas.

Use a measuring cup

Keep the fats at bay by using a measuring cup. Give your Husky the recommended amount of food and nothing more.

Heres if you need additional tips for the proper way of measuring your dogs food:

#3: Put a weight loss plan in motion

Formulating a weight loss plan specifically for your Husky? Get your vets approval first.

That said, avoid doing crash diets for your Husky. As well as drastic changes to their diet and exercise.

Remember: Losing weight isnt going to happen overnight. It took time to get all fat. In the same way, it takes time to remove excess fat. And there are safe ways to do it, which your vet knows.

In addition, your Husky wont benefit from a high-carb diet. The best choice is a high protein/low carb diet to lose weight.

For spayed or neutered dogs

Gaining weight after the surgery can be avoided. Pet owners must give their dogs the right amount and kind of food to keep the fats at bay. Especially in the first 2 years of surgery.

Note: Spayed and neutered pets also need enough exercise. Your pet may not feel like doing exercise. But they need it to stay healthy.

#4: Hustle, hustle, hustle!

Want a healthy and happy Husky? Exercise!

Exercise is your Huskys best partner aside from you, of course to keeping a long and healthy life. For most adult Huskies, they need 2 hours of exercise a day.

Now, this may seem like too much. But Huskies are not like other dog breeds that can do with a 30-minute walk.

Giving your Husky the amount of exercise they need is essential so they dont become destructive. Besides, daily exercise improves cardiovascular health.

Plus, it reduces a lot of behavioral problems.

#5: Watch the treats

Sometimes, the culprit is too many treats.

Remember the friend I told you about? She admitted to giving her dog treats every now and then. She also gave her dog table scraps.

I am not saying do not give your pooch treats. But if you do, steer away from treats that are sugar and fat.

Look for ones that are low-calorie and no-sugar. Or make some at home. Sweet potatoes, boiled bananas, and healthy frozen treats will be a hit among your dogs.