Fuzz's suddenly very swollen belly - advice please

[arseovrteakettl]

Hi everyone - I have not been here for ten years, since Fuzz was a pup!

Yesterday morning, Fuzz suddenly woke up with a very swollen, hard belly - as if he had swallowed a fully inflated soccer ball. He seemed normally active, not in any pain or discomfort, drinking water and eating, no vomiting, but his belly was shocking. I took him to the emergency vet yesterday, and she said his abdomen was full of fluid surrounding all his organs and with some in his lungs. We decided on a course of steroids - prednisone - and careful watching for a few weeks then a recheck. The alternative she offered was a couple thousand dollars of diagnostic testing - and a recommendation of steroids anyway, most likely.

He's has 3 doses of the steroid now. This morning he woke up with his belly even more distended, it seems to me. But he still seems to feel pretty good, is peeing and eating and normally active.

I am wondering if others have experienced this with their Cairn. I have never seen this before in any dog. Do you have any advice or recommendations or experiences you can share with me?

Thanks so much in advance.

Edited April 19 by arseovrteakettl

[bradl]

No particular experience with this, sorry! I fear that many if not most of the causes of distended abdomen are concerning. Small dogs are apparently not particularly prone to bloat which is good because bloat is outright emergency. The vet would have addressed that immediately if concerned. Other sources of excess fluid can include disease process, organ failure, tumors, Cushings, etc. - all of which require some level of diagnostic testing to confirm. More imaging and/or blood tests targeting specific hypotheses might get you closer to knowing what's going on. 

All good thoughts to Fuzz (and you)!

[Sam I Am]

If you can have them at least do an X-ray or ultrasound. Most vet clinics beside emerg have imaging tools and less expensive than  an emergency clinic.  It will give them a clearer picture of what is going on.