Stomach Air bubble? Or high risk of bloating? - Page 1

Stomach Air bubble? Or high risk of bloating?
 
I had fed my dogs as normal on Saturday, they had Kirkland Lamb and Rice and steamed rice mixed in (leftovers from dinner).
Tank had 2 cups of food and 3/4 cup of steamed rice with some chicken broth (not enough to saturate everything maybe ½ a cup at most)
Tank in his usual manner inhaled his food but within minutes he threw up and managed to eat most of it before I got a hold of him…at that point his stomach started swelling past his ribs…my first thought OMG his stomach flipped, I yelled for my husband to get dressed and get seats down in a car we are going to emergency vets, as I was waiting for him to get leash I was feeling Tanks belly to see if it was hard, trying to estimate how long do we have till it becomes critical  (there is  a vet about 15 min away but actual emergency hospital was 35-45 min away in the city) as I put pressure on both sides of his stomach he let out a long and loud belch, his stomach was soft and was going down quickly, we brought him inside and watched him for any signs of distress, vomiting, anything…and there was nothing..he was happy go lucky, trying to steal cat food,  wanting to play, within 10 min his belly went from looking like he swallowed a basketball to completely normal size…since it was Saturday evening and he was doing fine (I had him next to me for close to 5 hours) I went to bed, Sunday morning Tank was doing great did his #2, had water, ran and played with Bailey…I decided to give him small portion of the food which he ate w/o any issues (I had to place upside down cup in the center to slow down his intake and soaked his food in liquid enough to make it all saturated)…..Sunday evening meal was fine, Monday morning meal was fine…he is his normal self….I just got off the phone with vet and they suggested i continue to observe him….if he displays any distress to bring him in…
Now with him swelling up so much which freaked us all out (it was not like..hmm..he looks a little bloated, this was full on OMG he is swelling up)…I am wondering if it could have been just air that could not get past the semi dry food and rice and caused him to swell, because if it was a flipped stomach he would not be okay, eating, going to the bathroom, playing…I had never heard of dogs swelling up aside from stomach bloat….has anyone had that? I am still taking him to the vet on Wednesday but with him having all his regular functions neither I nor vet believes there is anything wrong with him now…but we are going to get a check in…
 
Any idea if he has to be an official “bloat watch” dog and I have to watch him every meal…or is that something that can and does happen to other dogs?
 

I would suggest that you do keep a close watch on him in future.
Try not to get too uptight about it;  but be vigilant.  A dog which
does 'blow up' with a gas attack like this might or might not be at
advanced risk of Bloat.  However, he dispelled it this time possibly
because you were massaging his sides.  You may not always be
there so quickly, and he may or may not get rid of the gas on his
own.

The other thing to watch for is not so much obvious signs of distress
as that they can go very quiet.  Both times I have managed to get a
dog with GDV to the vet in time for a successful surgical outcome,
the first thing I noticed was they were wandering slowly around, looking
very uninterested in anything at all ... and then I saw their stomachs
were swelling up.  My own dog, a month ago, had not even got to the
stage of retching, at all.

I keep Gas-X on hand at all times.  If I notice any of the signs, uncomfortable look on the face, the dog appearing to be in discomfort, walking around trying to get comfortable, an uneasy look in the eye and facial expression, dry heaves I will give Gas-X.  Dogs can "tank" on hot days as well when they drink excessive water and their stomach will swell.  The Gas-X has worked for me on several occasions.

Hundmutter....thank you so much!...i been reading everything i can find online..i was not aware that "bloat" basically covers a lot bigger range of issue than what I was aware of...and everything seems to be saying this will happen again...with that in mind I will be working on getting a few things, like respiratory tube for emergency air release via mouth, open syringe in case of a full on flip...and a bottle of vodka....for me for after the fact....

Slam....thanks..will add that to my list!
 

We carry syringes for bloat and bleeding internal chest wounds.  You need to be very careful if you are planning on stabbing the dog with a syringe.  I do not know your level of training but you run the risk of striking internal organs as well.  I have taken several K-9 combat and tactical care classes and it is not an easy thing to do.  I will say that doing something is better than doing nothing.  Bloat is a medical emergency; and other than being hit by a car or shot it is one of the things that will kill your dog pretty quickly.  We also carry vodka (alcohol) in our patrol cars, and we have permission to do it as part of our K-9 first aid kits.  Alcohol is a good thing to have in a K-9 first aid kit.  It can be very useful for certain types of poisoning. 

Why not just go ahead and get the surgical procedure done where they tack the stomach to the chest wall.. ??? Unless I've been mislead, I understand it's a fairly simple procedure .

I had my dog tacked a few months ago when I had her spayed. If the procedure is done correctly, the stomach will not flip on its axis, but the dog can still bloat. It's a simple procedure for the vet, but it did cause a lot of discomfort for my dog. She didn't eat much and was depressed for 3 days;  this is a dog that normally only knows one speed - very,very fast - and dives into her food dish and empties it in less than a minute -two of the reasons I opted to have her tacked. That and the rumor that a 2nd degree relative suffered form torsion.

I second Slamdunc's recommendation of Gas X. I am never without it and some friends give their dogs a Gas X with every meal as a preventative. A bloat kit is also a very good idea for any GSD owner to keep. If you make one, learn how to use it before you need to.

 I don't routinely allow any dog to be exercised for at least an hour before or an hour after feeding. You can also soak the food before feeding and stay away from soy beans as a protein source. The jury is still out on how much any of this helps, most think the tendence to bloat is genetic and if the dog is programmed to bloat, nothing one does is going to prevent that from happening. It might be a good idea to NOT  consider dogs that have histories of bloat and torsion as suitable breeding candidates.

Something exactly like this happened with my male a year ago.

In the interest of experience it was also a case of his having a normal meal of kibble mixed with 'people food'.  It was also (as Slam mentioned) a hot day and he was hitting the water and gulping.   It came on quick, his sides swelled up and I immediately gave him a Pepcid and called the Emergency Vet.   As he was not vomited or displaying any discomfort (other than obvious concern over my concern) I observed him closely and he belched a couple of times and his sides shrank back.   In about 5 hours after the event, he went #2 and the whole time was his normal self.

Since then I never mix his kibble with any sort of raw or people food.  He gets his kibble wetted down and if he gets a treat it is well before or after dinner time.  I also do not allow him to just slam into the water bowl, if he's really worked hard, I let him have small brief drinks, walk around a bit, more water, walk around a bit, more water.  No more uncontrolled gulping and I keep Pepcid on hand at all times.

Thus far we have not had a repeat, thank God!

Also, just MHO but no abdominal surgery is ever "simple".  Any time you are talking general anesthesia and opening the abdominal cavity you are putting the dog at risk.  

I'm not sure I'd have a dog that never bloated tacked unless he or she were having other surgery that required general anesthesia or unless a first degree relative had the problem. If I had a dog that had already bloated, then I would give a lot of consideration to having it done anyway. It's not unusual to see dogs that do survive the torsion surgery go on to bloat/torse again. One dog at our clinic had surgery and bloated again only a few hours later in spite of having an empty stomach.