# Gastric Torsion - BLOAT



## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Velcro - Man I was very sorry to hear that you lost your beloved girl to bloat. I had a young Dane that had Gastric Torsion twice, we were fortunate and caught the condition in time and he under went surgery to make a full recovery on both occasions. I understand that Gastric Torsion is not uncommon in Vizslas......so in memory of your girl Velvet and my Dane Angus who tragically died at the age of 4 of an enlarged heart I would like to make all members aware of the symptoms of Gastric Torsion (BLOAT).

These details are taken from the Great Dane Adoption website - they publish these details on the back of every quarterly magazine they publish in an effort to educated owners and help save lives.

Please read and be AWARE:


*Bloat (Gastric Torsion)*

Bloat is a most serious condition and mainly affects large deep chested breeds.

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Description
The stomach becomes dilated due to an abnormal accumulation of gas or air. The enlargement often results in gut twisting. This twisting (volvulus) then sets up a series of reactions within the body resulting in a critical condition that is frequently fatal. The series of events can take place very rapidly (possibly within minutes). Bloat usually occurs in dogs over the age of 12 months. It can affect puppies but this is rare[/color]

Causes
Many theories exist as to the cause of bloat including:

Food Related 
Certain types of food - i.e. Soya based cereal foods. 
Eating too quickly or too much food at one meal. 
Delays in the passage of food through the gut. 
Presence of certain bacteria in the stomach, causing an abnormal level of fermentation to take place. 
Physical 
Physical Stress - e.g. during showing; change of environment such as kenneling; fear (thunderstorms etc); death of owner or dog companion; males living with bitches in season; illness. 
Signs of Bloat (roughly in order of appearance) 
First Signs:
Restlessness 
Unproductive vomiting/retching of a saliva-type frothy substance that can resemble whisked egg white and/or bubbles (undigested food is not normally seen) 
TIME TO CALL YOUR VET ! (and explain you think your dog has bloat) 
Abdominal swelling (swelling is not always obvious) 
Tightness over the abdomen 
Stance - dog stands with front legs apart and head down 
Later signs:
Difficulty in Breathing 
Shock - followed by collapse [/color] 
First Aid - Action you can take
You can give your dog 8 fluid ounces of antacid. Brand names to look out for are Actonorm. Altacite Plus, Asilone, Infacol, Simeco and Polycol.

Ask the chemist for the 'activated' type of antacid. Always keep an antacid in the house and regularly check its expiry date.

Once administered, do not wait to see if the antacid improves the condition of the dog. Take your dog to the vet immediately - time is of the essence.

Not all Veterinary Surgeons agree with the administering of an antacid. You should check this point with your Vet. If you have given your dog an antacid, do remember to tell your Vet the time, brand and quantity of antacid given.

Prevention
Feed your dog twice a day (or more) to prevent overloading the stomach. 
Prevent your dog gulping down its food. 
Avoid exercise for at least 1 hour before and 2 hours after meals. 
Do not feed immediately before or after any situation that might cause your dog stress e.g. Dog Shows. If you withhold food on a show day, on returning home, do not feed your dog a large meal. Feed only half of the normal quantity. 
Avoid excessive drinking at one time. 
Avoid leaving your dog for long periods without being checked. Bloat can strike at any time of the day! 
Get to know your dog's normal habits well. You will then be able to recognize when something is wrong in good time. 
Make sure that your Vet knows that your breed of dog is susceptible to bloat and talk to them about it. Make sure that the Practice has 24 hour cover and is close enough to your home in case an emergency arises.


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## Gingernutter (Dec 4, 2011)

Thanks for the info. I will print this and put it on the fridge incase of emergency. 

Let's hope this saves some dogs lives.


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Also, there is a past thread started by Amber last year about bloat. It was her one and only post. You can scroll through it to gather more information about this important topic. 

http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php/topic,371.msg14753.html#msg14753 

p.s. Thank you, hotmischief, for the informative post!


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Thanks mswhipple for the link to the other thread which is very interesting. I hope members will take the time to make themselves aware of the symptoms - so sad that people don't recognise the symptoms and then loose their best friends. When Our dog Angus had it - I came in from riding my horse and asked my husband where Angus was.. "In the garden being sick". I asked how long has he been being sick, 15 minutes he said. I asked him why he wasn't out there checking him out - "I thought he would like to be sick in private" came the reply from this supposedly intelligent man. I rushed to find Angus with all the typical symptoms of bloat. I shouted (as you can well imagine) to the husband to get Angus in the Jeep, while I phoned our vet to warn him we were coming in with a dog with bloat. It is a good idea to call a head as this gave them time to get additional staff in for surgery and set up a drip - he was in surgery within 30minutes.

Having read the posts re the link I just want to add a few words about the procedure called "*gastropexy". * A procedure vets carry out where by they suture the wall of the stomach to the chest wall to stop it rotating. This often saves the dogs life BUT it doesn't prevent a dog from getting bloat. Angus our Gt Dane who had two surgeries for bloat had a gastropexy and his spleen removed on the first occasion.
Six month later he had the another occurrence of bloat, and despite the gastropexy his stomach had flipped. So please don't think this solves the problem. However, if you are having a bitch spayed or any dog that is undergoing abdominal surgery - it is worth discussing with your vet having it done at the same time.

Whilst on this subject, I would also like to encourage you all to be sure that you have sufficient veterinary insurance, because Gastric Torsion surgery is VERY expensive. Each of Angus's surgeries cost £5000 ( 8yrs ago) fortunately we had really great insurance with Petplan and we never saw a bill. Obviously a surgery on a Dane is very expensive, and a vizsla won't much less - so please be prepared.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

Last year sent a pm to CALUM asking him to pin or make this topic jump out (re: Amber's post)... Perhaps at the top row beside login/logout - bold letters. 

Maybe this time Calum will do something.

In any case, I have been clicking the ads on the right to support the form... But as a sign of my displeasure I will not do so for a week. 

_Along with this I also demand more smileys...animated ones, perhaps ;_)


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## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

My Weimaraner, who has sadly now passed had gastric torsion 5 years ago. He started wrenching with yellow foam coming from his mouth ...he then bloated I have never seen such a thing happen he was massive fully blown and his stomach had twisted, I was at the vets within 30 minutes, thats about as long as you have to save your dog. The poor lad had just given up laid on the floor and his gums had turned blue and his eyes had glazed over.
the vet worked through the night and saved him..he cut him open from the chest to the belly button, untwisted his tummy and stitched his stomach to his chest wall..something a lot of dog owners have done as a matter of caution...my vet says that in America vets can stitch the dogs stomach to the chest wall via the throat, for dog owners wishing to stop torsion...my dog made a full recovery and lived a full healthy life until lymphoma took him at 11 years....he was a GREAT brave lad and we still miss him so much 14months agter he has gone......but we now have a Vizsla pup to drive us crazy..


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

I am so sorry for your loss... but at the same time, glad that you have the new puppy to brighten up your life!!


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Darcy, welcome to the forum and please post some pictures of your new puppy soon.

I am so sorry for the sad loss of your Weimaraner, but so glad he made a full recover from the bloat and lived to a good old age. Thank you for high lighting the *symptoms of bloat* and how devastating it is to both the dog and the owner.


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## Darcy1311 (May 27, 2012)

Thanks for the welcome...Darcy is now 14 months old and crazy every single minute of the day....its great really..
as for posting photos....I am I T dumb and I find it difficult posting letters never mind photos...but I will give it a bash...
brill web site by the way..very informative, I will enjoy navigating..(trying ) round it..keep up the good work...


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