Bloat - Page 1

I just got back from the emergency vet.  Falon bloated tonight.   They say I caught it early - xray showed stomach was only slightly extended, so hopefully I got her there in time and no surgery will be necessary.  They gave her some shots and are keeping her over night for observation. 

I thought I would recognize bloat if I saw it, but she did not have the extended stomach.  She was acting strange, pacing and wanted to keep going outside to ravenously eat grass.  She dry heaved, alot and kept licking and then started licking the carpet continuosly.  You had to pry her away from it to get her to stop.  She then started biting at the carpet.  The entire time she was wagging her tail.  The strangest thing is she inhaled fur that was in my basement when I brought her in from outside.   She was gulping it down like it was steak.

The vet said she could still worsen tonight  and require surgery, but it looks like we caught it in time.  I don't think I am going to get any sleep tonight,

Cheryl

Hoping for the best - luckily you recognized something was wrong and got her help in time.

molly

I wish your dog the best. I have relatives who consider it a personal affront if I do not allow them to feed my dog when I visit (because to them it is as if I am accusing them of wanting to harm my dog). They want to overfeed him - and he is very much like a pig when he eats so they "slop" him like a hog. I was petrified, and do whatever possible to avoid this situation for fear of bloat.

The best to both of you!

Thank you Molly and Kinolog:

I  hear you about the food thing.  My mom moved in with me and gets mad at me because I keep telling her to stop giving the dogs food. I swear Libby is 10 lbs heavier since she began living with us.

Weird is I didn't even feed them tonight as I got home very late.  They usually eat 2x per day, but I got in late and Falon was acting weird.  It took me about 30 minutes to figure out what was wrong.  The licking thing is crazy.  I will never miss that sign again.  I kept checking her stomach and thought if it wasn't extended it couldn't be bloat. 

Cheryl

When my old girl bloated I didn't notice the stomach being real distended.   She was a very deep chested dog and it was basically the same thing, pacing and acting weird.  Took her to the emergency clinic, where she then seemed to calm down a bit and almost stop bloating.  They even looked at her real quick before they really got to see her.   I walked in telling them that I thought she was bloating.   You know something I have seen before!  When she was in the exam room waiting to be seen was when she dry heaved, tried to vomit and couldn't.   I then proceeded to be like, "HELLO!"   Actually think that emergency vet ticked me off, about her "poor" condition.  Hello, she's a 16 year old dog who's bloating!  Of course she's in poor condition!    Thank god we transferred her to someplace else!   They got her stablized and then we took her to another clinic, where she did end up needing surgery the following morning.  Made it through the surgery to live another year, so it was the right decision for her.  I figured that she didn't live that long to die of bloat!

Kathy

How is she this morning Cheryl?

Kathy

Hi Kathy:

I have not received a phone call back from the vet.  I called this morning and they told me that the vet would call me after rounds.  The woman on the phone could not tell me much.  I would hope they would have called me if she needed surgery - although I authorized them to do so if necessary.  They told me I would receive a call by 10:00 am.

Your experience sounds like mine, however I had never see a dog bloat.  I had heard many peoples description but always with the distended stomach, so that part thru me for a bit.  The neurotic licking was what really got me.  Very strange to witness, was like she had a compulsion to lick everything.  When I was filling out forms she stuck her head in a bag that had collars in it and started licking.  I had to drag her away from them. 

I also felt strange dragging my vet out at 11:00 at night, especially when she seemed to stop the strange behaviour when I first got there.  I was almost relieved when she started dry heaving again.  I am glad I did take her  as I hopefully got her there in time to avoid surgery.  Fingers crossed.

Cheryl

Bloat can present with subtle signs. It's usually only the pretty-much-ignored-backyard dog that would come into our clinic with the hugely distended abdomen.  When my old Doberman bloated, the first time it was much like you described, licking his lips, just generally distressed and an occasional retch. No distention of the abdomen at all.   The second time he did it, he was very slightly gassed-up, but still no real distention.
 


It is a good idea to keep Gas-X around for emergency use while enroute to the vet if needed. Thank goodness you caught the signs.

Astra would do the same thing, after the first scare, we placed her on low residue dog food, and had to make sure she went potty. Before I was able to catch her in time so she did not injest anything but the third time a family member left socks down, she ate them, but all ended well socks where taken out and had the gastroplex done. After that she did not have anymore problems with upset stomach. I hope this helps.
Always,
C.

Just got back from the vet.  No surgery necessary.  She seems to have passed the critical point.  I dropped her food off and they are going to feed her through out the day to make sure she handles the food and if all is still ok, then I can bring her home.

Thank you everyone,

Cheryl