Dr. Amy Kaplan, DACVECC here today! In today’s VETgirl online veterinary CE podcast, we’re going to explore the various diagnostics tools available to us to workup nonhemorrhagic ascites in dogs beyond our initial physical examination. Now in the ER, when I tap an abdomen and it comes back as blood, I’m all over it – the majority of the time, it’s often secondary to hemangiosarcoma or less common causes such as hemangiomas or hematomas (which DO happen!). Less commonly, I’ll see patients present with abdominal effusion that is considered a nonhemorrhagic ascites (what we’ll call NHA from now on) – this is fluid with a packed cell volume of < 10%). A variety of diseases can cause NHA including right-sided congestive heart failure, neoplasia, liver failure, hypoalbuminemia, pancreatitis, chyloabdomen, uroabdomen, or septic peritonitis. So, when it’s NOT blood, how do you figure out the cause of the ascites?
