preventative stomach flipping surgery - Page 4

I don't think I'd do it preventively unless my dog was already having surgery in that area.  I would suggest all dog owners learn the symptoms of bloat, and pay attention to thier dogs.  My boy bloated a couple years ago and would have died had I not noticed right away.  He had to have surgery to flip his stomach back, and was tacked at that time.

This a great video on youtube of an Akita bloating.  Shows all the symptoms.  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1WrT2719yo

Please note, the dog JUST arrived at this home, and the people are clueless as to the signs (before anybody goes off about how cruel it is to let the dog suffer).

Xeph I feel the same way about putting any of them through a GA when
they don't need surgery for anything else. {Which is why my boy still has
all his bits at nearly 10 yrs - he was going to have them off a couple of
times in the course of other surgeries, and then got cancelled cos he
didn't need operating on !}
So the only dog I know really well who is tacked, it was done when he
bloated.  Thank heavens I did know enough to recognise it and we got
him to the vet in time.  If that can be avoided, maybe there IS merit in it
as a prophelactic measure;  but I would not put Taz through that either
at his age, and don't know if I'll have any more after this one.
A difficult thing to mdecide;  added to which ppl who want to do it won't
get it covered by their Insurance ?

My working dog was purchased and issued to me by the US government -  He had not had the gastropexy surgery when he and I were paired as a team..... I worked him for 4 years.  He eventually retired due to persistent inflammatory bowel disease.  In the final stages of his long drawn out diagnosis, he was to go in for laparoscopic exploration of his GI tract.  At that time, I opted to have the gastropexy surgery done (also laparoscopic).  He is a notably deeper chested dog and I felt that it was a good investment, especially considering all of his GI needs.  

The surgery was minimally invasive as it was done with tiny incisions, he required two weeks of minimal activity (crate rest) after the surgery to ensure the tacks did not rip.  They did not want me to throw a ball, work him or have him exert himself beyond normal walking/ light trotting and moving about in the yard for an additional two weeks. . 

I have not had any of my other dogs gastropexy'd thus far. I have never had a dog bloat and am not aware of any history of bloat in my line but, It is definately something I will consider in the future when I have a dog in for any other abdominal surgery need.  I feel it is a worthy preventative measure.