distended bowels

My 5 year old Pug he weighed 31 lbs at that time & he is now 19...in fact he lost 4 lbs in one month ...he had a enlarged stomach earlier this year...they said it was three times the size it should be...that was in April.  We had been trying to get it under control he took a turn for the worse and now has distended bowels we found out from the vet yesterday...she was going to take a barrium test but he could not keep it down.  She sent him home with us and said she was going to check out her medical books and call some colleges to see if they have any suggestions.  In the mean time & she would call me today.  He is somewhat active but mostly just lies around with a blank scared look on his  face.  Can you tell me anything about this?  Thank You  

[Jaybay]

It sounds like he has an obstruction somewhere.  I assume some kind of imaging studies have already been done like an x-ray?  If nothing obvious was found, maybe your vet is looking for a disease process like inflammtory bowel disease.  I just don't know.

Right now, the most important thing is to keep his fluids up.  Food will probably make him hurt worse so don't be surprised if he doesn't want to eat.  Maybe offer some low-sodium chicken broth and see if he'll drink some pedialyte to keep his electrolyte levels up.  It's going to be quite a balancing act until your vet (or another one) gets to the bottom of the problem.

Thank you so much for taking such great care of your dog.  :-)