bloat - Page 1

http://www.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/04/23/bloat.dog.illness.mnn/index.html?hpt=C2

Vikram,


Thanks for the info...but now I am confused.  I thought you were supposed to elevate feeding and drinking dishes????
I lost a female 3 years ago to bloat.  She came through the surgery fine and I thought we were home free.  During the night, while she was still at the emergency vet center, she began having cardiac issues and finally went into cardiac arrest despite their best attempts at intervention.
She was 7.
Last month we had another experience with her daughter.  Who is now 5 and a half.  Of course it was after hours and we ended up at the vet emergency center again.
This time they did a Lactic Acid level since this is a toxin that builds up in the blood stream and can affect heart function.  They counseled that if it was 6.0 or greater we should consider euthanasia.
I do not remember them doing a L.A. level for Kelli.
I pray that none of you  go through this horrible experience.  But if it happens please remember to ask about the lactic acid level....also called lactate.

By the way......K-oss's level was 5.7.
She survived.

I am not a vet or vet tech but my first police dog back in 1990 suffered from bloat on a Saturday afternoon ................ loaded him up and headed to an emergency clinic 40 miles away .................. the vet there recognized it right away and began the procedure ................. It was only 2 weeks earlier he had been to Mich State for updates and this was a procedure quite thoroughly discussed. After surgery I picked him up the next day ........... I never thought he would have made it ............... I was told back then that the 2 big things feared after surgery is that the vital organ(s) do not shut down and the next fear is secondary peritonitis ................. I got lucky 8 wks to the day he was back on the road in the police car ................ I think that what is important is feeding the dog TWICE daily and are of course in smaller amounts and not letting the dog consume great amounts of water especially after training ............ only enough to hydrate the dog and of course keeping the dog quiet after eating .............  Regards !    Greg