Another email to Debbie

I welcome any thoughts you have. And it is liver. :-( The vet that did the U/S said all of his other organs except the liver looked fine. He did not see any tumors. He has chirrosis of the liver and they all expect now that his liver is very small. The ALB is the key to most things going on. The vet had explained to me that he was loosing fluid via his blood vessels because of the liver damage. That is causing the fluid build up. I am really thinking a lot of this is due to malnutrition. He won't eat and this AM he threw-up his puppy milk with the meds. Tried the pumpkin after you told me about it, he won't touch it. No apple sauce either. Vet suggested eggs but he won't touch that either.

Albumin is a small protein produced by the liver. Albumin acts as a sponge to hold water in the blood vessels. When blood albumin is decreased, the pressure created by the heart forcing blood through the blood vessels causes fluid to leak out of the blood vessels and accumulate in body cavities such as the abdominal cavity or in tissues as edema. Albumin is decreased if the liver is damaged and cannot produce an adequate amount of albumin or if albumin is lost through damaged intestine or in the urine due to kidney disease. The only cause of increased albumin is dehydration.

Of course this info kills my theory of dehydration. And you are right it's a terrible cycle.
From what I have read Liver damage can cause kidney problems. It causes a lot of issues like diabetes. I think he is in pain now. He bit someone today and snap at my granddaughter. Not like him at all.

We'll go back to the vet tomorrow..