Our favorites are often sick, this is a fact. Not all owners know what abdominal ascites in dogs is. The treatment of the disease because of this is often put off the shelf. This leads to serious complications, and sometimes to death, and this is far from uncommon. It is important to monitor the health status of the dog, to observe changes in its behavior and appearance. The pet usually lets you know if it is uncomfortable. Ascites in dogs is a dangerous condition, the essence of which every owner of a four-legged friend should know about.
What is ascites in a dog
Ascites is a pathology that is characterized by the fact that a certain amount of fluid accumulates in the abdominal cavity of a dog. Often this phenomenon occurs in a healthy pet. But at the same time, there is very little fluid in the abdominal cavity; it does not prevent the body from fully and regularly performing its functions.
The liquid does not just cause the pet discomfort. It disrupts the full and continuous operation of many systems and organs. In this case, the dog suffers from shortness of breath. She suffocates very often, as a result of which she develops fast fatigue, her body weight decreases sharply, and sometimes it rises, since water weighs a lot.
In fact, this phenomenon is not considered a disease. Various symptoms may indicate the presence of complex pathologies. Such signs include ascites in dogs. Fluid builds up in the abdominal cavity due to other diseases. You need to know what causes this deviation.
Dog ascites: causes
As mentioned above, ascites is a symptom, not a disease. It is extremely unpleasant and can lead to sad consequences. To eliminate this phenomenon, you need to know the cause of its occurrence. The most common factors that cause ascites are:
- Various tumors. They grow in the body, press on the abdominal cavity. Accordingly, outflow of lymph is disrupted, which leads to fluid accumulation. A particularly difficult situation occurs when a tumor is opened. Then the fluid that accumulates in the abdominal cavity may contain toxins and other harmful substances that cause concomitant complications.
- Pathologies affecting the liver. Since this body is responsible for filtering lymph and blood, with its defeat, these functions are violated. The required amount of liquid is not filtered, resulting in stagnation. Then water begins to leak through the walls of the organs, causing ascites.
- Heart diseases. This is the most common type of pathology. Cardiac ascites in a dog occurs when this organ cannot cope with a large circle of blood circulation. The vascular bed is overflowing, as a result of which fluid begins to accumulate.
- Diseases associated with the functioning of the kidneys, which are responsible for the excretion of waste products, toxic and other harmful substances from the body. Sometimes they begin to remove beneficial elements, including protein, which contributes to the accumulation of fluid.
- Peritonitis is a condition whose main symptom is ascites. In this case, the walls of the abdominal cavity lose elasticity, as a result of which water is not removed from it.
- Exhaustion or protein starvation lead to similar consequences.
To begin the treatment of the disease, you need to accurately determine the cause of its occurrence. Of course, at home it is impossible to do this qualitatively, therefore, at the first symptoms indicating the presence of pathology, you need to take the dog to the veterinarian. The signs of this disease are easily distinguishable, it is impossible not to notice them, but you can be confused with another deviation. In this regard, you can not self-medicate.
Dog ascites: symptoms
Unlike other diseases, with ascites, all of the following symptoms are observed:
- Heavily swollen belly. Unfortunately, in overweight dogs this symptom is not very noticeable, so you need to monitor the pet's diet.
- Severe shortness of breath without any cause.
- The mucous membranes turn blue. If ascites is caused by liver pathologies, then they turn yellow.
- The pet spends most of the time in a sitting position to facilitate the breathing process.
- The occurrence of edema. But be careful. This symptom can also manifest itself as an independent, non-ascites disease.
- If the pathology is caused by kidney failure, the dog consumes a large amount of water. As a result, she often goes to the toilet.
- The pet becomes passive , any movement gives him discomfort.
- The dog becomes indifferent to all surrounding processes.
- The animal does not eat anything , because of which it loses much weight.
- Despite the fact that body fat decreases and muscle mass atrophies, the dog gains weight , because there is too much fluid in its body.
- Vomiting may often occur. This can be explained by the cause of the disease.
Before giving the pet medicine, it is necessary to diagnose ascites in the dog. Treatment of the disease is prescribed after this.
Diagnosis of the disease
You should be prepared for the fact that they diagnose the disease in several stages, which can take a lot of time. Usually the whole process goes like this:
- The veterinarian carefully listens to the owner of the dog, writes down all the information and clarifies some aspects, if necessary.
- The doctor carefully compares and analyzes all the signs of pathology.
- The doctor draws conclusions and makes a diagnosis after some research.
You must understand that examining a dog may require some financial investment. This is due to the fact that more than one analysis is needed to determine the disease.
What kind of research is done in a veterinary hospital?
If the doctor suggests the presence of ascites, he gives a referral to such studies:
- Ultrasound of the abdomen.
- X-ray of the abdominal cavity.
These methods can show if there is fluid in the animal’s abdomen. The difficulty is that the accumulated water in the body does not necessarily indicate the presence of ascites. This may be blood resulting from internal bleeding. Also, urine collected in the body as a result of improper functioning of the kidneys may be liquid.
Therefore, for a full examination, the doctor should take a sample of fluid in the abdominal cavity. If it is light in color and odorless, then the diagnosis is correct.
Establishing the root cause of ascites
The liquid, which is taken as a sample, is sent for further research. Depending on the cause of ascites, it is divided into such subspecies:
- Exudate or hemorrhagic exudate is a sign of peritonitis or tumors in the body of the animal. If there is blood in the liquid, then there is a pathology of the internal organs.
- Transudate is a sign of infection with parasites, pathologies of the liver, kidneys or intestines.
- Altered transudate is a sign of heart failure or hypertension.
Based on the results, the doctor prescribes the treatment of ascites.
Treatment of ascites in dogs with pharmaceuticals
Unfortunately, ascites cannot be eliminated without curing the root cause of its appearance. The main disease that caused the complication of abdominal dropsy is treated according to the doctor’s recommendations. Usually he prescribes such drugs:
- Veroshpiron.
- Furosemide.
- "Losartan."
Dosage and route of administration are determined by the veterinarian. However, these medicines are not a panacea. They can only alleviate the condition of the pet. Simultaneously with their intake, the underlying disease must be treated. In a very deplorable state, a technique such as pumping fluid from the animal’s body is used.
Laparocentesis as a way to fight ascites
Laparocentesis is a temporary measure of ascites treatment that involves pumping fluid from the abdominal cavity. It is used to eliminate the discomfort caused to the dog for a short time. After a certain time, the fluid will accumulate again, so you need to treat the underlying disease without delay.
The procedure has a side effect. Together with the liquid, protein is also excreted from the body. In this case, the pet is given pharmaceutical preparations containing it. Often a liquid contains toxic substances. Then it makes sense to take a course of antibiotics.
Concomitant Therapies
A concomitant method is the administration of diuretic drugs to animals. However, you can not use this method for a long time, since along with harmful substances, potassium is excreted from the body.
Cardioprotectors and hepaprotectors are a treatment method that is able to maintain a good level of heart muscle and stabilize the liver. This is important in the treatment of ascites.
It is also necessary to change the diet of the dog. Most salt should be removed from it. Also, limit the amount of fluid your pet can drink.
Unfortunately, sometimes ascites is a symptom of an incurable disease. However, the veterinarian and the owner of the dog are able to maintain the vital activity of the animal for some time. To do this, create favorable conditions for the pet.
Ascites prevention
Certain preventive measures for this phenomenon do not exist. To avoid it, it is necessary to carefully monitor the pet's health status in order to notice the appearance of the main pathologies in time. Their timely elimination will allow you not to worry about the state of health of the dog.
Thus, ascites is not a disease, it is a symptom that indicates the presence of other pathologies. To eliminate it, it is necessary to cure the underlying disease, as well as undergo diagnostics to determine the type of fluid.