Bloated with fluid

Am at the vets now but I have a chin with obvious signs of bloating. She is acting the same just huge. She is pooping normally.

So xray done and she is full of fluid. Not looking like it it is from her bladder. No stones. So they are doing an ultrasound now to see better.

Anyone deal with something like this?

I'm guessing it's her abdomen that is full of fluid (ascites)? It could be caused by a number of things such as heart failure, liver damage, kidney disease, abdominal trauma...many things really. Hoping you get more answers soon.

So after the ultrasound we know where the fluid is. In the cecum. No gas showing up in either the x ray or ultrasound. Treating it as bloat but still don't know the cause. If we can get the fluid down then she will have another ultrasound to see if anything shows up. I will post the ultrasound and x rays once they email them. It is so bizarre looking!

That is very odd. Definitely keep us updated! Hope she recovers easily.

Sounds like cecal dysbiosis. Usually when cecal dysbiosis occurs, its in rescues who have had a poor diet rich in starches that results in a change in the pH of the cecal contents, thus changing the balance of cecal flora. The bacteria interupt and screw up the timing of contractions in the large intestine which results in food particles not being sorted and broken down as they should be. The cecum then releases contents randomly instead of producing nicely formed cecotropes.This release usually results in relatively formless, “pudding like” cecotropes or often just mucus, often with foul smell.

Not all chins with cecal dysbiosis will have obvious pudding-like cecotropes or mucus. Some chins will have a gradual decline in appetite and develop smaller and smaller poo, ending eventually with a complete cessation of food intake and a eventually stasis. The fluid will accumulate in the cecum since it can't be expelled due to the cessation and/or incorrect timing of the contractions of the intesitial tract and the chin will eventually die.

Thanks Dawn.

She was a rescue but has been on Oxbow pellets, timothy hay and occasional orchard grass hay. The only treat is a once a week pinch of rosehips.

With rescues it's hard to know what she was fed previously!

My vet will be in tomorrow so I will get the x rays and ultrasound then.

Good thing we had a snow day yesterday and I was home to get her to the vets!

Thought I should update as it has been a while! So we redid the ultrasound as nothing was changing.

She had a thorough ultrasound and the fluid is not in her cecum. They then ruled out many other areas and decided to drain some fluid and send it out. Clear fluid and it appears to be in her uterus.

The text came back today as Hydrometria. So the thought is to either treat it chronically or spay her.

I will post all the x rays I had from before! She is going back tomorrow to get drained and we will go over all the courses of action.