Penny has Fluid in abdomen

She's a Field Bred Cocker Spaniel. I watched her for about a week thinking she was pregnant but could not figure out how. Turns out she wasn't. Took her to the vet this morning. Fluid in abdomen and low protein and albumin. Had to leave her for more tests. All the rest of the blood is good. Heart looks good. Dreading the answer. I'm thinking maybe cancer in intestines. She has no symptoms like diarrhea or vomiting. Just the fluid. She has gained about 3 lbs. So not losing weight. 3lbs of fluid. Temp was good. Just fluid in abdomen and low protein in blood.

Anyone else ever have this?

I hope everything works out, Bobby. It sucks when our little buddies get sick.

No experience, but hoping everything checks out for her!

Have you ran her around any spear grass?
If its a possibility look up Nocardia.

No Kindall, I haven't. She's a Mama's dog so far. LOL She's a little soft around the gun and I am bringing her along slowly. The vet put her on a low fat diet...I mean real low fat 4%. Sent more blood, urine and stool sample to internal medicine specialist. She has no symptoms other than a fluid filled abdomen. Low protein and albumin in blood.

Sorry Bobby. I hope they get it figured out soon.

Have you pulled an abundance of ticks off her? My GSP was lethargic at the trainers and had a bloated abdomen full of fluid. It would actually slosh around and you could hear it. My trainer said he was just being thorough working the field. I was bringing him home to go hunting any way. When I got him home I pulled 20 something ticks off of him. Took him to my vet, and he had him on antibiotics for a month, his blood still shows positive signs of the tick sickness but it's not active.
What ever it is I hope they get it cleared up.

Have they done an ultrasound to look for the source of the fluid? How old is she? In older dogs it's very common to find a mass on the liver or spleen, and when it ruptures, there's excessive fluid. This will often not show up in blood tests etc.

http://www.drjudymorgan.com/why-are-more-dogs-dying-of-this-deadly-cancer/

As far as I know she has never had a tick on her. We keep them on ivermectin once a month and some kinda stuff from the vet for their backs. We also keep the yard sprayed. Thanks

She is 1 year and a half old. They did an ultrasound. No protein in urine. Waiting on more tests to come back. The vet did call today to check on her. If she didn't look pregnant you would not notice anything wrong with her. I hate waiting worse than anything.

Sigh. This kinda fits her. I'll mention it to my vet.

Sorry about your situation, hope it ends well for all

That's a bad deal, hope it turns out well. Their like family.

At least at her age, she should be able to handle surgery if it is a mass. We lost our old girl to a mass on the spleen last year. She was almost 14yrs old. Surgery would've been tough on her. But a year and a half dog is young and outcome of surgery would be a lot better.
How's her gum color? Activity? Food and water intake?
Please keep us posted. I hope it's an easy fix.

Gums are lighter than usual but still pink. Activity is normal other than harder to jump up on bed and in my lap in recliner with a 4lb fluid gain. Eating okay and drinks tons of water. She acts like nothing is wrong actually. Retrieves the dummy just fine to hand like always and runs just nearly as fast. Looks pregnant but shes not. And as with all cockers tail never stops wagging. I'll let you know as soon as I know. Thanks for the concern.

Well no protein in the Urine so kidneys are ruled out Liver is all good. So now they want to run $3100 more in tests to try to narrow it down. I told them I could not afford that and we will have to take the wait and see approach with the low fat diet. That is all the $3100 tests will determine and that would be the only treatment so we will have to let it run it's course. It's called lymphangiectasia.

"Living and Management

In most cases there is no cure for protein loss through the intestines. Your veterinarian will work with you to develop a treatment plan to help you manage your dog's symptoms, including exercise, and a diet that will ensure that the best possible amount of nutrients are being absorbed by your dog's body. During follow-up visits, complete blood counts and biochemical profiles will be done to make sure that your dog's blood protein level is stable and not becoming dangerously low. Your veterinarian will also check your dog to make sure it is not having trouble with breathing and does not have fluid built up in its belly."

It sounds like a rough go. Peace be with you and your pup.

Hate to hear this Bobby. Hope she is ok.

Sorry to hear this...hope a solution is found.




I think I'd be having some words or more with my trainer....I'd be pissed if I brought my dog back from the trainer and she was sick with ticks all over.

Lost my lab to cancer in his stomach, he was almost 11. He did go down in about 5-6 months. I put him on pain meds around the 3rd month. When he no longer wanted to get up on his own, I knew it was time. My vet here is very reasonable. He told me for several thousand the cancer could be removed, buying me another 4 to 5 months. I passed. Good luck and I hope something works for your hunting buddy.