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My dog has cancer and is getting skinny. How can I help him?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Dachshund | Male | neutered | 9 years and 7 months old

My dog,Panpan, has prostate cancer and is just getting skinnier and skinnier. He doesn't eat in the mornings so we feed him wet dog food when we get home from work and school. What can I do to help him maintain a healthy weight?

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on November 2nd, 2016

Poor Panpan! Unfortunately, weight loss is part of the cancer process. It's called cachexia, and the dog loses both fat and muscle even if an adequate amount of food is fed to the dog. It becomes worse when the dog won't eat. First thing I would do is feed Panpan twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. Then I would feed him a high calorie and high fat dog food, such as Eukanuba premium performance dry food. A high endurance or active dog food would also be good for him. If Panpan continues to keep getting skinnier, it would be a good idea to look at his quality of life. It's an extremely hard decision to make, but there are times when it is kinder to let an animal go peacefully. I work for an home euthanasia business, so I come across these kinds of issues all the time. I'd be happy to consult with further on this issue, if you'd like. Simple click "consult online" under my answer.

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    Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Unfortunately cancer causes the patent to lose weight. The body tries to fight it and needs a lot of energy to do that and the cancer also uses up a lot of energy. You can try feeding Panpan a good quality senior food, and feed it several times a day.

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