Bloat - Page 1

Well SkyKat, have you heard it all, or is it now to much. There are fundamental knowledge on health and behavior that GSD owners must know, and we continue to learn everyday. Bloat, hips cancer are the top dog killers, two you have no control of, (cancer,Hips), Bloat we think we have some control over it???? Large , big chested dogs can experience bloat and die over night. If you lucky it will ahppen in your presence, and if you are even luck-er you can catch it in time. Two fundemental things happen the exit path from the stomach to the small intestine gets pitch off, or the input to the stomach, or somethimes BOTH. Gas will build up , and that can kill him quickly. Even if you catch it in time, get him to the Vet, they will open him up however there could be secondary damage to the internal organs. He will pass on. I lived with it for two years, I was able to catch it and stop the gas accumulation, 3 times ( are you ready a sapozitory in the rectum, Peto Bismal injected into the mouth). The third time it was a drive to the Vet, the gas was gone, and the Vet didnot beleive he had torsion. four hours later we operated and small the exitwas being pitched off, there was no internal damage, and we finsihed the job by stiching the stomack to the chest wall, ( a belt and flap and a slits) was made and stiched. My dog lived 7 years after that until cancer of the spline killed him. LISTEN, DO NOT OPERATE, only when necessary and /or required, the operations are more dangerous than the cause. You should know everything you can learn about your dog, especially a GSD. Its small meals, no jumping ,no exercise after drinking, keep him /her lean. Everyday you should be in the habit of looking at the stool , it tells you about their health status. No late night meals and then to bed, he may be dead in the morning. I could give you more of my opinions, and 30 years experience, but not enough room or time here. Good luck, watch your dog, feed sensible, no operations, watch the food you give him is not gassey, turky is gas, be careful, good luck.

Hello Tony, I truly appreciate every bit of the advise, comments and experiences that everyone relayed to me. I especially appreciate your straight forward approach. You say it like it is. I am sorry for the horrible encounter you had with this illness, and am glad you were able to save your dog, although unfortunately he still died before his time. I guess what you are saying is that we cannot anticipate or prevent many things just by vigilance alone, but should always know as much as possible about those we can do something about. I will do my best as will all of us who love our dogs. After listening to you and everyone, I do not intend to select surgery as an option. There were many great suggestions for prevention, and I will keep a close eye on Cole. I am currently feeding BilJac, both frozen and dry, which is the same I fed Chaos...the dog that died. I think it is a good product unless anyone know something to the contrary. Not too sure about switching to raw food....heard both negative and positive on that subject. I have been around GSDs all of my life, and thought I was prepared for many symptoms and situations, but this illness really caught me off guard with its intensity, speed, mortality and the guilt that follows, for maybe I should have been able to do something to keep him safe.... Claudia

My dog just died of Bloat, two days after he was operated on. I found him at around 2:00am, foaming and drinking excessively. I thought he had a case of the stomach flu. He was the same in the morning so I took him in and confirmed it was Bloat and they operated on him. We then took him to a Vet Hospital and he just didn't make it, his heart stopped. He literally had the bloat for 6 hours or so before I got him to the Vets. During the operation the Vet called me and said the stomach tissue looked starved but came back after untwisting it. He chose not to remove the suspect tissue. We were on a roller coaster ride the whole two days. I'm so filled with guilt and sadness, I'm besides myself. He was my best friend, stayed at my side constantly. Especially when I came home from the hospital in late 05 after almost dying in a motorcycle accident. I'm also angry I knew nothing about Bloat, I thought it only pertained to dogs that were super aggressive eaters. I'm angry my former Vet for 8 years never once mentioned the condition and she was supposedly an expert with the GSD. I'm also angry at my breeder for not telling me my dog's littermate survived an episode of bloat 3 years ago. She only told me when I told her my dog died. They are great people and loved the breed, but if I had known about the condition, I would have known what to look for or better yet, take steps to minimize the chance of getting my dog getting it. My heart has been ripped out of my chest over this. I've cried more in the last couple days than I have my whole life. I have experienced my share of family tragedy with two brothers dying young and my Dad just passing. For some reason this event has overwhelmed me. I know in time normalcy will prevail, but I will never let go, nor will I forget the fact he loved me and my family though it all.

There is a lady on another board I post on who works as a vet tech. She very, very strongly recommends you have the gastropexy surgery done to prevent the stomach from twisting in the first place. It is the twisting that makes bloat fatal, because the blood supply is cut off to the stomach, and the tissue dies. John, very sorry to hear about your dog. They leave a big hole in our hearts when the go.

skykat you said you feed frozen and dry,my research has lead me to beleive that you NEVER feed both in 1 meal.Usually you could feed your frozen in 1 meal and then your dry at the second feeding.I know of a few dogs that have died and they seemed to be getting both raw and kibble(1 of them was getting it in the same meal).I too have fed raw and wondering if that is the way to go OR you could even LIGHTLY cook the meat part just to kill any parasites etc.I have also found out that sometimes there is air pockets in the kibble which can add to the very serious problem of bloat.

I had an experience with bloat with one of my dogs in january. Hindsight is 20/20. I was lucky! my dog was lucky! I had housed my male in a tuff crate next to one of my females who was in heat. Yes, stressful for him, but I work. As usual, I came home at around 2 pm to walk all of my dogs. I let all the dogs out one at a time, and put them back. When my male came out, he was very thirsty. I let him drink, as he is always a thirsty guy (been checked no cause, just likes to drink water). He wasn't running around, he had picked up one of the other dogs rubber balls, and was walking around the house with it. Usually, I would let him out one more time to urinate, then put him away and head back off to work. For some reason, I decided to sit down at my computer and check my email. I am ever thankful that I did! I heard one of my dogs moooooo like a cow. That is not a normal sound for any of my dogs. My male looked like he was going to throw up, I rushed him outside, where I watched him try to heave, and he couldn't. I then thought, OMG! he swallowed the ball! I opened his mouth, and saw his airway was clear. I also saw foam at the back, and thought, BLOAT! Looking at him, I literally saw his sides expand! I immediately tossed him in the cab of my truck and sped away to the nearest vet. Praying the whole way that he would vomit all over my truck! I dragged him into the vet where I yelled, MY DOG IS BLOATING. Immediately he was taken from me and all other medical at the vet stopped while every available person, was on my dog's case. I was told, they agreed it was bloat, and that I should prepare myself, they didn't think he would make it. From the time he drank water, to the time I heard the moooo, it was literally less than 5 minutes. The ride to my vet was about 5 minutes. I prepared myself for what they told me would happen, my beloved dog would die. The vets and techs tried valiently and they succeeded in saving my dog! This was not my normal vet, this was the closest vet. They didn't know me, and they didn't know my dog. They were incredible! every couple of minutes someone from the exam and surgery area came out to tell me what was going on. Always cautious with me, yet giving me a little piece of hope. It was a long recovery period. I didn't let that dog do anything other than hang out in a crate and go outside on a leash to eliminate, for weeks. Toward the end of march, I actually let him chase a ball again, play outside and go for a long walk. He was on several small homemade cooked meals for WEEKS. For a dog who usually ate raw food, ground burger and potato was not his choice of meals. He is completely recovered now, absolutely no set backs through out his recovery time. He still gets smaller meals, and we watch his water intake much more closely. Never again will I house him next to a bitch in heat. Whether that had anything to do with it, I don't know. I am extremely thankful, that I know the signs of bloat, that I sat down to do something and heard the distress, and that a vet was close by.

Two of my brothers gsd's suffered bloat within a few months of each other. Both occurrences happened within a day of picking up their dogs from boarding kennels after being away on vacation. Both dogs did not eat much while away and ate dry kibble when they returned home. Each bloated after dinner, and luckily were rushed to the vet immediately. They both survived and had their stomachs tacked. I am very careful to measure out each meal for my dogs when they are boarded and to keep close eye on them when they come home. First few meals, small in portion and limited ball chasing until their excitement of returning home goes away. John: I am so sorry to hear you lost your dog to this. It is never easy losing a gsd, but to lose one so suddenly is heartbreaking. Cheryl

My condolences John S. Your post brought me to tears. And DeesWolf your post was very interesting to read - I'm glad your dog made it. I think from it we can maybe add stress as a factor to bloat? I have 3 GSDs who I worry about constantly. My oldest will be 8 and is VERY deep chested (30" at the shoulder). My newest is 8 months and will have his stomach tacked on Friday while being neutered (he is monorchide and will be having a more invasive surgery anyway). I almost wasn't going to have it done, but I don't want to be wishing I'd done it 7 years from now.

Dino was a 5 year old purebred, black, Labrador Retriever.  Field Lab specifically. 

I had no idea what bloat was until it happened on March 12, 2008 - two days before the birth of our daughter, Katherine.  Fortunately, when it happened, I was able to get him to the local Animal Urgent Care and have it fixed.  They said, if I had waited another 15-30 minutes, he would have eventually died, or that the damage would have been severe, and it could have reduced the survival rate, post-op.   At first, I thought maybe he just had gas or something.  When he ballooned up and couldn't throw up, and showed signs of distress, I freaked out and called my vet to see what was going on.  My vet was closed (typical, when an emergency happens, it is always at the worst time), and their number said to call Animal Urgent Care.  The guy I spoke with said it's bloat, explained what that was, and was very clear that if I don't get the dog in, he will die - period. The x-rays and test confirmed it was bloat.  The surgery went well, and he was on to the road of recovery.  Surprisingly enough, after two weeks, he was back to normal, even though I was instructed to make sure he takes it easy for the first month, which I did.  No throwing the ball, or swimming etc.   Three months later, he had some issues similar to bloat but without the bloat.  He was throwing up and had diarrhea constantly, and he had to be opened up again, because it looked as if he had some blockage in his intestines.  After they opened him up, they realized that strangely enough, there was no blockage.  This problem continued to persist, where he would be really uncomfortable and wake up at all hours of the night with stomach problems and gas.   After a couple of more months, my vet said he checked with some "internists" who specialize in internal medicine, specifically with bloat cases, and said we have to undo the gastropexi.  I was scared to death because I knew the probability of the dog bloating would go as high as 85%, and in some cases 100%.  He said we have to do this because he suspected that the gastropexi was done in a spot that was causing problems in his intestines.  I also had changed his diet and eliminated dry dog food, and had him eating ProPlan Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula, which is made up of Salmon and rice.  He did well with that, and seemed to fix the problem.  He seemed to be ok for a couple of months after undoing the gastropexi.  The vet said if he bloats again, we'll redo the gastropexi in a different area of the stomach wall/chest.   Unfortunately, he threw up a couple of times when I was out of town.  My wife and I figured that he would get anxious and stressed out when he saw me leaving on business trips.  So, I just packed my stuff and put it in the car the night before or really early in the morning so he would think I'm going to work, and not on a business trip.  So by now we knew, #1) the dog has stomach and internal issues, regardless of the gastropexi being done, and then later undone, #2) that he would get stressed out when he saw me leave with my suitcase etc. and would later throw up or get diarrhea, and #3) to keep dry dog food out of his diet, and feed him smaller portions in multiple servings over a day.   CONTINUED...

By this time it was 9 months since his first surgery and the gastropexi, and two months since undoing the gastropexi to relieve him of the stomach and diarrhea issues.  He went from being about 80-85lbs down to 75lbs and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t' get him to gain weight.

I fed him 4 cans over 4 feeding times to make it less likely for him to bloat.  5:30-6am, 11am-12pm, 4p-5pm, and then again around 8-9pm.  Despite 4 feedings a day, I could not get him to gain weight and he was stuck on 75-76lbs.  His spine showed, so did his hips.  And his skin was very lean.  He clearly looked like he wasn't getting enough food.

After all of this and about $15k in medical expenses, my worst nightmare came true on December 14, 2008.  Saturday, early evening, about 4pm we got home, I feed Dino his third can of the day.  About an hour and 15 minutes later, he gets up off the bed I have for him in my office and goes out to poop with my wife.  When he comes back in, he starts acting weird.  My wife takes him out again, and he's doing all the things he did when he bloated.  My heart fell into my throat when I saw this happening.  Then he tried to throw up and nothing was coming up and he started to whine and yelp.  I got him in the car and immediately took him to Animal Urgent Care.  Of course, it's Saturday after 5pm so my vet was closed.  I called him on his cell, and he said to take Dino to the Urgent Care.   When I got there, the doctor that worked on him the first time was there.  Dr. B. we'll call him.  He came in and said they tried passing a feeding tube to let out the air and food, but his stomach has distended counter clockwise and needs surgery to fix it.  He said the gastric torsion is "atypical" and not like the last time he bloated.  Dr.B. said that because Dino's anatomy is "atypical", there is no guarantee that even surgery can fix it this time.  His stomach had compartmentalized, and the only option was to put him to sleep, or to see if the part of the stomach that had the twist would pass the food or digest it.  I was going to have him do the surgery ($8k), but asked him if this will guarantee that Dino will be good again, and he said no.  "I can't guarantee that."  I asked him if it was his dog what would he do?  He said outside of surgery, which will be risky, "I'd opt humane euthanasia".   I was just devestated.  With the deepest sadness in our heart, we lost Dino, our 5 year old Labrador Retriever on Saturday, December 14, 2008 at 2:05am.  Dino turned 5 on October 6th, 2008.  
Dino had another bout of GDV [Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus] (aka bloat http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm), and couldn't be saved.  5 surgeries this year, and each time we fixed one problem, another one would persist. 
 
We are just torn from the inside out, and know only time, one hour at a time, will ease the searing pain.  I tried so hard, and spent over $15k this year, and each time we were hopeful that he'd been fixed.  For the most part we thought he was, until this happened.

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