Bloat question. - Page 3

Langhaar you mean either dog looked bloated but twisted anyway? That is flat scary if its what you meant!

I do feel it has something to do with food still. But it is odd why some will bloat and others don't...

ClewsK9,  of course, the first thing to do it to call the vet and say you are on the way with a bloated GSD. You could give the dog 1 or 2 Gas X tablets. That may cause him to belch relieving the pressure IF his stomach hasn't twisted. .  Try elevating the dog by its front legs and  patting it on the back as you would a baby. If that doesn't work, odds are he has already torsed and there isn't much you can do until you get to the vet.  If he does belch he's still in the middle of a medical emergency, so continue to the vet's. He could still twist.

IF you have a distance to travel, say more than 15 minutes, I would probably ask my vet for his/her thoughts on showing you how to relieve pressure with a 1/2" stomach tube. It takes some know how, but it could save a dog in the long run. Another way to decompress a bloated dog is to puncture the abdomen with a large bore needle also known as a trokar.  I've seen that done and the air rushes from the stomach like it would a punctured basketball. The dog experiences immediate relief buying you some time, although that relief is only temporary. Your vet should show you how to do that too. Not sure how many vets like to  teach owners how to try to decompress a dog, but it's worth asking about I think. I'd be much more inclined to try the needle than to intubate a struggling dog unless I had some worthy help to hold the dog down.  If you have help that is skittish about things that, you're proabably not going to get the job done. It would be very hard to do alone. I'm pretty sure you can purchase a ready- made bloat kit or you can made your own. It goes without saying that you should not allow a bloated dog to have anymore water and keep the dog as quite as possible til you get to the vet. I hope you never have to try any of this and please do more resarch before you decide if you want to have a bloat kit on hand. Things change every day and I've not worked as a vet for many years. Although I do try to keep current on health issues, there could well be another emergency treatment that is now preferred over Gas X, the tube and the needle. If I learn of anything else, I'll post it to this thread and maybe someone else has some better ideas.

I've never heard of a dog having torsion wiithout being bloated. Thanks for that information.

Thank you Blitzen, my vet is about 35 minutes away, we do have an emergency clinic about 20 minutes away.  I am not squimish when s--- hits the fan, I go into "fix" mode then freak later over what I had to do.  I will definately talk to my vet about this "emergency kit" .  I pray it never happens but I would be beside myself if it did and I did not do all I could to save them.

My boy worries me the most as he is all boy and pushes himself to the limit.  We have to do quiet time alot just to get him to settle down, heck his tongue is sometimes so far out panting I could tie it in a knot

You're welcome, clewk9's. It so much easier to understand the dynamics of the bloat/torsion scenario when you can witness the surgery used to remedy it.   I should correct an error I made, I was a vet tech, not a vet.

I worry over Blitz too, he is like a Tasmanian Devil and we are pretty sure he sleeps with one eye open. My husband insists he has some sort of "nervous condition" so I'm alway assuring him that he's just a normal low key showline GSD .  He's having a time out right now, I just pried a peach seed out of his mouth, he raided the trash while I was here on the computer. He's soon 6 and hasn't changed much since we got him at 8 weeks.

One of my dogs that had torsion, had a bloat a year previously, we just deflated her.

When both had torsions they were atypical, no retching, bloating, just not "right" in fact I had to practically force the vets to open them both up in the middle of the night, one survived, one did not I doubt if any other owner who was not aware of bloat/GDV would have even bothered to take them until it was far too late.

Simethicone is something that may assist in a bloat on the way to the vet.  It wil not help in torsion.