[Melissaandcrew]

Well, the need for exploratory surgery has nothing to do with age. Its the fact that the vet has been unable to diagnose the problem that makes them want to do it-in hopes of finding an answer. However, if it were my dog, I would have started with basic blood work, tried different types of food9\(including the raw) and if food fails, I would move on to having malabsorption blood work done. For me, an exploratory would be a last hail mary play.