Sudden weight gain that isn't visible - cause for concern?

Paviche

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#1
I took the boys to the vet today for updated vaccinations + to get a couple of Rowan's new little growths checked out. We went to a new clinic that I've heard good things about. Rowan has weighed between 38-42 lbs the whole 5 years I've had him. 38 is too skinny and 42 is fat on him. I last weighed him a couple months ago and he was 40.2 which is pretty ideal. They weighed him today and he's 47 lbs! He has not visibly gained any weight at all. In fact, he looks good. My concern is now some kind of internal tumor/growth... honestly I'm kind of freaked out. I tried to talk to the vet about it and it's like he wasn't listening at all. Kept going on about how to tell if a dog is a good weight, last couple ribs, tuck etc etc. I kept trying to express my concerns about something inside and he'd just say "no, he's in good shape now, just watch his food intake." Uhhhh.

I weighed him as soon as we got home in case their scale was off and I got 45-46 lbs. I'm going to take him to our regular vet as soon as I can to talk to them about it and maybe get some X-rays done. In the meantime, what do you guys think? Am I overreacting? What could this be?
 

Paviche

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#4
It's really unlikely that he's put on any muscle. When I weighed him last he was going to daycare every day, and for the past month he's been at home all the time doing pretty much nothing. They go to the dog park 1x/week and we play some fetch around the house, but their activity has been decreased a lot.

That's good to know about a discrepancy. Riff's weight came out just about right, though, which makes me think their scale wasn't all that much off, if at all. I weigh him at home every few months and he's been weighed at the other vet and in the past couple of years it's always been 39-41 regardless of which scale was used.

That's kind of how I'm feeling about a second opinion, too. I'd rather be safe than sorry!
 

*blackrose

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#5
If it were me, I wouldn't worry. If there was a 5 pound tumor inside of him, that is a pretty significant tumor, IMO. I think he would be showing symptoms of some sort.

That being said...you know your dog and you know what is needed to not only make sure he is in the best health possible, but that you will have peace of mind!
 

Paviche

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#6
If it were me, I wouldn't worry. If there was a 5 pound tumor inside of him, that is a pretty significant tumor, IMO. I think he would be showing symptoms of some sort.

That being said...you know your dog and you know what is needed to not only make sure he is in the best health possible, but that you will have peace of mind!
Haha, this is what I need to hear. Thinking about it logically, something that big would have to present itself SOMEHOW. But my paranoid brain doesn't go for the logic, just the panic. Still gonna take him in just in case, but that made me feel better, thank you. :)
 

Laurelin

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#7
How old is he? In my experience dogs can fill out up till even 6 years old. Mia's gained a lot since she was 1-2 years old and although she has a touch more padding than I would like to see, she's not overweight. Just in this last year she's gained a half a pound or so (a lot for a small dog like her).
 

Southpaw

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#8
The other thing to consider would be checking his thyroid, if you can't account for why he gained that weight and if you have a hard time getting him to lose.
 
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#9
5 pounds is a lot of weight on a 40ish pound dog, and it should be noticeable. If he looks exactly the same to you and he's acting totally normal, I'd honestly be thinking about differences in the scales or a weighing error. I'd just weigh him once every couple of weeks to get an idea of whether there's a trend or not.
 
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#10
Make sure that they recaliber their weighing machine.
It happened to me,once where the dog had lost 10 pds,in 3 days(the dog had been operated on) so I ask them to check their machine,just,to make sure cos a dog can't lose so much weight and not look it and I was right.
If the machine was correct & you are still worried,do a chest x-ray and a full blood test as it will reassure you.
How old is he?.
 

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