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ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by Tina Ashford

My 9yr Maltese, Stafford, became very bloated last week. He is so bloated that he weighs 11 lbs, whereas he normally weighs 8! We've gone to the vet where they prescribed diuretics and antibiotics, suspecting pancreitis. This therapy has been ineffective so far, with the fluid retention as bad as ever. They drained off 8oz of clear fluid from his abdomen three days ago, and he's been "leaking" from the puncture, yet the swelling persists.

He remains bright and alert, but refuses almost all food. He drinks a lot of water, but the tests for diabetes was negative. His heart is also in good shape. Any thoughts or suggestions?

DISCUSSION:

I have bred and bought Maltese for 15 years here in Sydney. My now departed Toby was 14 when he was put to sleep. When he was 9 he started drinking a lot of water and put on a huge amount of weight too. After many (and expensive)tests with various vets, he was diagnosed with Cushings Disease. The treatment was initially very difficult. The tablets called Lysodren were expensive and had to be given in trial dosages whilst charting the dogs daily intake of water. To cut a long story short, we finally acheived a good balance and Tobys bloat finally reduced. One bad side effect from the drug was that he developed a necrotic tongue...the vet had to slice about half an inch off the tip of his tongue . However, bearing all of this in mind he survived to a good age and never looked back.. I hope this might help with your diagnosis.
-geoff sloman