Dog has fluid in belly, weak pee, slow. Vet suggests surgery. Why?

You do need more testing to find out what is going on. It can be fluid build up but you need blood work and an ultrasound to see if the fluid is leaking from the intestines or liver congestion secondary from heart disease. sometimes a diet change can help or the fluid may need to be drained to have it evaluated for cells. Without a diagnosis and more testing it is hard to help you further

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It sounds as though the veterinarian has performed a lot of testing but has not been able to come up with a diagnosis. Exploratory abdominal surgery is beneficial in helping diagnose disease. However, I always warn pet owners that there is the potential for a negative exploratory, meaning that nothing was found during surgery. The same holds true for Izzy. The veterinarian may or may not find a reason for the symptoms. 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.

I am sorry to hear that. Presence of urine in the abdomen is a very serious problem resulting from leakage of urine from the urinary tract (typically from ruptured bladder, but it could be from ruptured urethra or ureter). It is possible do some damage to the bladder and urethra during removing a stone, which will result in the leakage. In my opinion, Rollo must have a surgery asap (ideally today) to investigate the leakage. Abnormal kidney results is a common feature of urine leakage into the abdomen and it not necessairly means that Rollo is kidney failure. Please, take Rollo to your local vet (or your emergency service provider) today.

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 and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Kane. Fluid in a body cavity could be blood, body fluid, pus from an infection, lymphatic fluid (chyle). Probably not blood since you said the bloodwork was normal. If bleeding occurred Kane would most likely have a lower than normal red blood cell count. Possible causes include liver disease, heart failure, heart base tumor, low protein levels in the blood secondary to liver disease or protein loss into the intestinal tract or through the kidneys (kidney disease), tumor, pancreatitis, leaking of urine from the urinary system, bile leakage, intestinal perforation (hole in the intestinal tract), foreign body, among a few other causes. Your vet can perform an abdominocentesis (stick a needle into the abdomen) and collect some of the fluid and have it analyzed and cultured if needed. Once a diagnosis is made a treatment plan can be put into place. An echocardiogram of the heart may be needed to evaluate the heart for a problem or tumor. I wish you the best of luck with Kane.

It is all dependent on the cause of the liver failure. Is the liver failure due to a primary tumor or other cause? Prognosis varies from pet to pet. Whether it is cirrhosis of the liver or a tumor causing the problem, the prognosis can be days to years depending on how severe it is. What I would recommend is further testing to help determine if there is a primary cause. You can drain his abdomen periodically to make him comfortable. If there is a liver mass, some liver tumors can be removed surgically by removing the affected liver lobe. Not that long ago, I removed a large tumor on a friend's dog that was causing fluid in the abdomen and also the mass / cyst contained approximately 750ml of fluid! The dog is doing great and the prognosis is very good as the tumor was benign. Some outcomes are favorable and others are unfavorable. It would be best to seek further testing to help get a better grasp on what the prognosis will be for his dog. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions / concerns and I would be happy to help you further.

My biggest concern is that your vet is talking about hyperadrenocorticism also known as Cushing's disease. This is what I think of when you discuss those symptoms, liver enzyme elevations and adrenal issues. Cushings is where they produce too much cortisol in their system. You can do a test to rule this in or out. You can have your vet do a low dose dexamethasone test OR a ACTH stimulation test. If it comes up positive then you can treat with the disease with a daily medicine called trilostane to help the symptoms. But you cannot cure cushings. I hope this helps and will help guide you in a conversation with your vet if this is actually what your vet thinks is going on.