Any ideas?

[EternalVetBills]

**disclaimer* yes I have a phone consultation booked with the vet tomorrow*

Over the last couple of weeks my little 13yo Jack Russell has started to drop weight over her back. It's not overly dramatic, just when I stroke her I can feel her spine more easily.

She's always been a super fit little dog and runs ever so slightly on the lighter side but it's always been quite evenly distributed and she just looked fit. Since the end of the summer however, I've noticed her starting to drop a bit. It's by no means drastic and she definitely doesn't look emaciated, but her spine is definitely protruding more. At most angles you probably couldn't tell just from looking at her, but when she stands or sits a certain way, it really sticks out. Her belly has also dropped slightly.

I can't work out whether I'm just being paranoid, but we lost her Mum in April last year due to stomach cancer and this was how her symptoms started off ?. She's behaving totally normal in every aspect of life, has been wormed recently and seems generally happy in herself. She is quite a stressy dog and we've had a lot of changes recently so I'm really hoping that's all it is, but it just seems so strange to me that she's not lost weight as such, it's just all dropped.

Don't think there was any point to this really, other than it's just helped me clear my thoughts a bit before bed. I know it sounds really trivial when it's written out like that, but this is the first dog I bred and she's very special to me. She's never really had anything wrong with her other than a pyometra about 5 years ago, so I do tend to go into slightly meltdown mode a tad prematurely when it comes her.

Can someone please tell me this is just where she's getting older? That this is just the shape she is now?

 

[Blanche]

It’s possible that she is losing muscle tone as she ages.

 

[Bellasophia]

I also think it’s age related..if vet clears her ,I would consider adding some high calorie food to her diet ( hills a /d tinned,for elderly,nursing,or convalescent dogs) .maybe she could also enjoy a biscuit or two before bed.
Your post has phrases like “ super fit...never had anything wrong “ so read these back and don’t worry...your vet will be able to reassure you and hopefully she will make old bones like your other dogs.

 

[deb_l222]

It's very likely just little old lady syndrome and nothing to worry about but your vet will put your mind at ease.

My oldest springer is like a rake these days. You can feel (and see) every bone and can cut glass with her hip bones but she's fed plenty and the vet isn't particularly concerned. I think they start to metabolise their food differently as they get older, just like some humans do.

I tried to swap Button onto a higher fat food but that just upset her tummy so we've kind of settled on a medium fat food and that's suiting her.