Possible fluid retention in dog

Hello, I am an aspiring vet tech and one of my friends I volunteer with mentioned that she had some difficulty with her dog and since I work in the field, I figured I could help, but I'm at a stump. She didn't mention her dog's breed and/or age, but she says about a month ago, she noticed he wouldn't touch his dry food, (grain free). She then added a dry topper, which he would eat but skip the dry food again. Then, this was followed by him vomiting in the house. Last week, she noticed he wouldn't eat OR take down liquids without mixing it into his food. She also mentioned that he seemed "bigger". After a trip to multiple vets and scans, blood panels, and x-rays, they all can't find anything. She was given meds for him but she says it seems to mask the problem than actually fixing it. He has normal energy, not lethargic, it's just the vomit and not taking down liquids. He doesn't produce urine or stool as much considering what's going on. The main thing that stuck out to me was the bloating, if he's not taking down as much fluid as usual, how is he getting bigger? She only has him on chicken mixed w water at the moment, but even then it couldn't be much to get him that big. At the very least, it could be Ascites, but the symptoms only check 2/4. I wonder if they did an EKG to be sure, she didn't mention anything about difficulty breathing. It's just odd. Any idea? I'm still looking!

Hello!  I wonder whether all of the tests that you mention included an accurate test (not a lipase, which was once thought to be helpful but is now thought to be inconsistent) for pancreatitis?  Pancreatitis is a common cause of symptoms such as you describe and doesn't show on normal blood tests. However, without understanding the tests that have been done, and having never examined your friends dog, I am fairly sure that their vets will be able to provide much more information than I can.  Questions like: what have you ruled out?  And what could it still be?  And what is the most sensible step to carry out next?  And what do you then expect to happen?  (And yes, could it still be pancreatitis?) can help to get a full picture of where the vet is in the diagnostic process.  'At what point should we see a specialist' is another good question. I hope that this helps your friend.

I was unclear about the fluid retention and have just read back and remembered the large abdomen.  Sometimes an ultrasound scan can be useful if the abdomen appears to be enlarged, but again the vets are the best people for your friend to ask.