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Originally Posted by reddobes  I just want to caution people about taking things floating around the internet as gospel. There is so much we don't know about GDV in dogs and the most recent studies mention nothing about cold/ice water. In fact, if you try to search the web about it, mostly what comes up are just links to this same letter. And in many of the post op treatment protocols they recommend starting with ice chips (like they frequently do in people who have surgery). If the letter is in fact a true letter, it is still only ONE vet's OPINION. Will I stop giving my dogs ice cubes because of this letter? No. Most of the studies on GDV in dogs are retrospective and they look at associations, not PROVEN cause/effect. The most recent prospective studies where done at Purdue university and found after following over 1600 dogs of large/giant breeds for 5 years that the only statistically significant risks were: raised food bowl, increased age, sibling/parent/offspring w/ GDV, and eating rapidly.
There have been a lot of conflicting papers/studies on GDV. Bottom line: there's a lot we don't know. IMO certain dogs are probably going to get it regardless of what we try to do to prevent it. My own Dobe had GDV surgery when she was 9. There was nothing specific that preceded it. She ate the same way and did all the same things she did almost every other day for the previous 9 yrs.
more info: http://www.addl.purdue.edu/newslette...canine-acd.htm
you can also search on www.pubmed.gov for abstracts of veterinary and human medical articles.
I don't mean to offend anyone, by writing this, but just think of all the emails that get passed around to all of us about "this test" or "that cancer" or whatever that have no validity. Or how we hear every other day on the news that this food or that food is bad for us, but then 1 year later...
It's so easy for misinformation to spread on the internet or in the dog world. All I am saying is look at the sources of info, research further, take things with a grain of salt  |
I am not preaching how to treat your dogs. I am not telling you to stop doing this or that. I am simply passing something on that I found interesting. You can take it or leave it. That is your decision. As you stated, there is a lot that we don't know about GDV. So, in knowing that, don't be so quick to push theories out the window. Just because it hasn't happened to you or a hundred other dogs, does not mean that it cannot happen.
I personally do not give my dogs ice water and have never given it to them. I do not feel that my dogs need ice water to cool off faster. I do give them ice cubes in moderation because they like to chew on them. Will I change my practice, probably not. I have used ice for teething when nothing else worked in the past.