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My dog's belly is swollen with fluid, and now his leg is too. Why?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Male | unneutered | 4 years and 10 months old | 31 lbs

My 4 yr terrier mix that I adopted from a shelter at 6 wks has swollen abdomen or stomach with neg heart worm test and fecal test. Told he has free flowing fluid in his chest but heart sounds good. She gave him a diuretic yesterday for it. Just awoke and right rear leg slightly swollen. (First brought in for swelling and he was dewormed and given a pill for hook & tape worms. They are now gone. After I noticed stomach still swollen and then testicular swollen, he was given carprofen.) Help us.

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Rodrigo Roca, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on December 12th, 2017

Hello, sorry to hear about Prince. It sounds like he may have right sided heart disease in which the blood backs up into his veins and the vascular fluid begins to leak out of the vessels. This generally leads to fluid in the belly causing abdominal distention, fluid in the chest, and subcutaneous fluid. Other causes of 3rd spacing can be associated with a low protein level either due to liver disease or loss of protein through the kidneys or bowel. It sounds like prince needs to have a full evaluation of his vital organs and this may include bloodwork, an abdominal ultrasound, a heart ultrasound, and blood pressure monitoring. Ultimately, Prince may need to be evaluated by his veterinarian or an internist to determine why he is having fluid accumulation outside of his vasculature. Hope this helps and best of luck.

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