MY69RS

Hello all im kinda new here and i have heard everyone talk about bloat. It sounds horrable. I understand it has to do with gas and maybe the stomach torquing. My question is 1# how can you tell if your pup has it 2# how can you prevent it form happining 3# what do you do if you think they have it.

Julie W

They will show very visible signs of being in extreme discomfort and their sides will be distended.


Follow those rules of swimming your mother used to drill into you....don't go swimming right after eating. Don't exercise your dog on a full stomach, or feed them immediately after exercise before they are completely cooled down. Feed a couple of smaller meals a day instead of one large one.


Get to the vet IMMEDIATELY. Every single minute counts when you are dealing with bloat.

I have dealt with bloat once. My last doberman bitch was doing a cow immitation and grazed on enough grass to fill up any self respecting bovine. Problem being she didn't have those 4 handy stomachs to digest it all. It was a sunny, warm day and the dogs were spending the day outside lounging while I was doing housework. I brought them all in, fed them dinner, took a shower, and sat down to watch some TV. A little later when I went to go let all the dogs out I noticed immediately when she stood up that Lucy looked like her puppies were going to be born any minute. Would have been exciting if she were pregnant. She was in obvious pain and extremely distended. I used to be a vet tech, so I grabbed a handful of large needles and de-hissed her, which gave her a little temporary relief and rushed her to the emergency clinic. She spent the next three days hospitalized, they didn't expect her to make it. Thank goodness she did. The Dr. said he pulled out handful after handful of fermented grass. I had mowed that day and instead of doing their usual grazing off of growing grass I believe she sat out there and ate clumps of the cut grass. That was the last time I used that lawn mower. I went out that week and got a mower that did a much better job of mulching without leaving big clumps behind, or if the grass gets too tall then I use the bag.

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MY69RS

Thank you!!! i have been wondering about it but i can now say you have scared me... maybe thats a good thing. I have two that think they are billy goats :-) i spend all my time outside fishing sticks leaves and rocks from there mouths. It seams like a fun to them. im not to sure if i should let them chew on these things or not

Julie W

All of my dogs still go out and graze all of the time and I would give myself ulcers if I worried too much about it. There is a difference between plucking growing grass and eating big clumps of cut grass. I still discourage them from it, and I never leave them out for as long as I did that day without being out there with them, but dogs will be dogs and they will eat things that just don't make sense to us.

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Murreydobe

Some common symptoms that can occur with bloat are a belly as tight as a drum and non productive vomiting. Their gums can change color, becoming very dark in the early stages, pale in the latter stages. The dog might lick at the air.

But sometimes it's not that clear. When I had a dog bloat, I walked into the vet saying I wasn't sure whether he was bloating or not-his belly wasn't really that rigid. The only thing I was sure of was he was in pain..he couldn't settle anywhere, his back was roached up when he stood up.

Sometimes the dog gets some relief from the pain when the stomach torsions-so that has to be considered as well.

Even after years of study, no one really knows why dogs bloat, or why they bloat when they do. There are some risk factors that appear to increase the risk of bloat: feeding one meal a day, feeding kibble where citric acid is used as a preservative, using raised feeders, having a deep and narrow chest, close relatives who have bloated. A popular theory (that I agree with) is that stress can cause a dog to bloat-with stressors varying between dogs.

But there really is no guaranteed way to actually prevent bloat.

If you even have a suspicion your dog is bloating, the best thing to do is get to a vet as soon as you can. You could give the dog Gas-X, or activated charcoal as you're doing that, but transport to medical care is the number #1 thing to do.

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CH. Birchrun Who's On First, aka Razzle
Foxfire N KO Simply Madness WAC, aka Connor

Doberdog

??????????

Is this where you stick a needle in the stomach and draw back air?? I think I actually read that in one of the bloat kits advertised, they had these needles and tried to describe which rib to go between with the needle. I could not imagine doing this in the car while trying to read directions, actually I could not imagine doing it at all. The kit also had a small piece of wood with a hole in it and you were supposed to put the wood between the dogs teeth and pass the tube through the whole, into the mouth down the esophagus and into the stomach. I would be scared I would go down the trachea instead. I have seen feeding tubes on people (I used to be an X-Ray Tech), in the trachea instead of the stomach, so I can image how hard it is to do on a bloating dog. I say more power to anyone with experience enough to do this and save their dog but in reality I would be terrified to try. If I was alone with no transportation, I would try.

So another question, Is there a certain way the stomach usually turns? Could you somehow manipulate the stomach to flip back from deep massage on the outside. I do know it is best to throw them in the car and speed to the Vet, but if you could not, what is the best thing you can try to do.

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Have a great day, Sheila-owned by Quentin (b&t,M, dobie), Maggie Mae(1/2 shar pei, 1/2 ?, F, from the pound), and Peaches (red dobie, F)

triciakoontz

Link to a great explanation of bloat including illustrations, risk factors, etc. Note that it is titled: Bloat - the Mother of all Emergencies.

Bloat

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Best Regards from Trish & The Zoo
* Bella, Amazing Dobergirl
* Zen, Super Doberpup
* Bailey, Wolf Hybrid, Adopted, Therapy Dog
* LuLu, Yellow-Naped Amazon, Free-Flying
* Montie, Lilac-Crowned Amazon, Free-Flying
* Poppy, Maine Coon Cat, Adopted
* Leo, Sweet Cat, Adopted

"Whatever may come, think that it is a part of the Divine Will, the Cosmic Law. That way, you won't lose your peace."

alwayshadpets

My Sadie had bloat. Her symptoms were trying to throw-up and nothing but a little clear mucus to show for it. She did not want to eat. Gums were pale.

You can`t get to the vet quick enough. It is your best chance for survival by catching it early.

Julie W

Actually you don't go in around the ribs, you go in the sides of the abdomen. You don't need to draw anything back, you just stick the needles themselves in without the syringe attached. The air pressure simply hisses out through the needles and relieves some of the pressure.


It's actually not really easy to get a tube in the trachea, it naturally will go down the esophagus *most* of the time. If you do happen to intubate in the trachea they will "huff" air back through the tube. If you get it in the stomach of a bloated dog, you had better stand back and hold you nose as what comes out is not pretty. It's still not something I would recommend anyone doing though unless you have been trained for it, or unless you have absolutely no other choice and the emergecy clinic is far far away.

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DreamDoby

This was Asher's symptoms as well when he started to bloat. He never had the textbook case to show for it. Although he still went to the food bowl to eat, just not as healthy of an appetite or as fast as usual. If my dogs don't eat like normal, that is a sure way to get them to the vet for a check up. That is usually the first sign that there is something wrong with them since they always have a healthy appetite.

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