My dog's bloated, has swollen legs, and ribs show. What's wrong?

I'm so sorry that Cash is not doing well. His clinical condition is very concerning and makes me worry about a significant chronic disease such as heart failure, protein-losing diseases, or a cancerous process. I highly recommend Cash be evaluated at a veterinary emergency hospital with internal medicine capabilities. He likely needs x-rays and bloodwork alongside a potential abdominal ultrasound or echocardiogram.

You need to get your dog to a veterinarian right away. Something serious is going on causing this dramatic of a change in her behavior and appearance. This could be a sign of a serious infection, systemic disease, or cancer.

Hello, sorry to hear about Prince. It sounds like he may have right sided heart disease in which the blood backs up into his veins and the vascular fluid begins to leak out of the vessels. This generally leads to fluid in the belly causing abdominal distention, fluid in the chest, and subcutaneous fluid. Other causes of 3rd spacing can be associated with a low protein level either due to liver disease or loss of protein through the kidneys or bowel. It sounds like prince needs to have a full evaluation of his vital organs and this may include bloodwork, an abdominal ultrasound, a heart ultrasound, and blood pressure monitoring. Ultimately, Prince may need to be evaluated by his veterinarian or an internist to determine why he is having fluid accumulation outside of his vasculature. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Fluid in the abdomen is usually caused by either heart failure, low blood protein levels, or cancer. Blood work should be done to check protein levels. A follow up appointment with your veterinarian soon is important, and more work up should be done to identify the cause. Blood work, urinalysis, and ultrasound are the steps I would usually take is a case such as Major to find the problem and develop the best treatment options. Best of luck and I hope you find an answer soon. Thank you for using Pet Coach.

Fluid accumulation in the abdomen is often secondary to heart disease (valvular disease, heart worms, cardiomyopathy) ..or...some type of malignancy. Tumors in the abdominal cavity can sometimes be associated with fluid build up. It is important to do some additional diagnostic tests. Survey radiographs to start, then it may be advised to move on to an ultrasound....either of the heart or if the abdomen depending on radiograph findings. The ultrasound can be particularly helpful in cases like this where fluid accumulation reduces the ability to see vital structures on radiographs. This most likely had nothing to do with a case of overeating. There is likely some disease process that has been going on for some time. I hope you can get some answers soon. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. With these symptoms, I would recommend having a veterinarian examine Dangly so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. With the swollen leg and vomiting, there could be a systemic illness or infection going on. I would have his blood tested and have x-rays taken of the leg and abdomen. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Based on your description, I would recommend having a veterinarian recheck Duke so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. The leg swelling could be due to an injury or a systemic illness. The coughing could be related to heart disease, respiratory disease, infection, allergies, etc. The coughing and leg swelling could also be related to heart disease. I would recommend chest x-rays to assess the heart and running what we call a ProBNP test to check and see if Duke is in heart failure. The sooner he is seen the better. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.