Satinbaze you may have saved my dog’s life

[Possum]

Hi all - I’ve not been here for probably upwards of a year, but was quite active around the time I adopted my gorgeous Newfie boy.

Not long after I got him I started reading about bloat, posted something on here about it and Satinbaze gave me lots of info.

It obviously stuck in my mind because in the early hours of this morning when my boy got bloat (and not a particularly typical presentation, he was showing no signs of distress really other than retching every 30-45 mins) I recognized it, rushed him to the vet who managed to tube him, remove the pressure from his stomach then do emergency surgery to correct the 180 degree twist and put a pexy in place. He’s survived the surgery and so far things are looking as good as they can do.

So just a public thank you really - information people give out on this forum can make a real difference. I shudder to think what state he would have been in if I’d left him for another few hours until morning, I suspect I’d be looking at a completely different likely outcome.

 

[JillA]

Well done for remembering - and well done for giving credit, it is done far too infrequently in my experience. Hope your dog makes a full recovery

 

[CorvusCorax]

Good news!

 

[Nicnac]

What a relief. I had a BMD with bloat and, thanks to a friend's experience, recognised the symptoms. It is horrible, especially the initial waiting post surgery. Wishing your boy a complete and speedy recovery!

 

[Possum]

Thanks everyone. Nicnac, what was the post-op recovery like? Did you have to keep them quiet for weeks?

 

[Shady]

Thank god he's ok Possum. It's one of the things i am most careful about as i have 2 deep chested dogs and Weims in particular are very prone to it. The percentage that die from it is horribly high. I use a slow feeder and NEVER let them exercise for at least an hour after eating or gulp loads of water. I admit i do worry about it a lot but i just love this breed of dogs. Do hope your dog continues to improve and is fit and well again soon. xxx

 

[Clodagh]

That is great news. The internet really can help.

 

[satinbaze]

SO sorry your boy had a GDV (torsion) but so pleased I gave advice that helped you in this situation. Hope he continues to do well post op. If you need any further advice please just ask. GDV is so scary you probably need rescue remedy by the bucket full. Fingers crossed he makes a full and speedy recovery.

 

[Possum]

I get to pick him up at 6 vets are really pleased with how he’s doing so far.

I’m worried about the ‘what now’, particularly as there was no obvious trigger - he wasn’t stressed, ate nothing weird, had a normal walk at a normal time, a 3 hour gap between walk and dinner, is a picky eater so doesn’t bolt his food and the onset of his problems was about 6 hours after his meal. As I’ve no idea what caused it I don’t know how to stop it happening again.

 

[blackcob]

Well done for remembering the info and also for being able to put in into practice in an emergency.

If anyone ever has the opportunity to do a canine first aid course I cannot recommend them enough. I still flap when it's my own dog.

 

[satinbaze]

So glad he is well enough to come home tonight. What have you been feeding him? I would think about changing to a wet food or raw diet as kibble can have a tendency to swell in the stomach and has been shown to increase the risk of GDV. Divide meals into smaller frequent meals. Initially in the post op recovery phase I did 4 small meals per day. Always feed from the floor NOT an elevated bowl. Please keep us updated with progress. BTW I always keep windeeze gel capsules to hand so if a dog looks bloaty I give 2 capsules to encourage burping and farting. It gives you a little more time to get to the vets.

 

[Possum]

I’m going to switch him onto raw I think, the quantity of wet food I’d have to feed was ridiculous. He was previously on a good kibble that didn’t swell in water, but I’m not happy feeding it any more. He’s on rice and chicken initially a tablespoon at a time for the next couple of weeks on vet advice, do you think I can transition him from that straight into raw?

I’ll get some windeze as well, thanks. He’s never had a raised bowl after our last conversation. I might add an extra water bowl to decrease the chance that’s he’s ever left without because some nights he drinks loads.

 

[Nicnac]

Thanks everyone. Nicnac, what was the post-op recovery like? Did you have to keep them quiet for weeks?

It was over 20 years ago but still remember how awful it was. (I have flatcoats now!) No, just a few days wearing a lampshade until stitches out and walking on lead for a few weeks iirc. He was naturally quiet afterwards as felt very sorry for himself.

Glad your boy is home and on the mend!

 

[Snuffles]

Glad you have a good outcome. I lost a Gordon setter to bloat, I had never heard of it then and although I did take him to the vets when he started groaning and panting they couldn't save him. Don't know what caused it as he had never been exercised soon after eating which they told me was a trigger. Hope it never happens to another dog of mine, it was devastating.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Thank god he’s ok. I’d start raw ASAP, just swap cooked chicken for raw. I was told breast meat for poorly dogs.

 

[[59851]]

So glad he is well enough to come home tonight. What have you been feeding him? I would think about changing to a wet food or raw diet as kibble can have a tendency to swell in the stomach and has been shown to increase the risk of GDV. Divide meals into smaller frequent meals. Initially in the post op recovery phase I did 4 small meals per day. Always feed from the floor NOT an elevated bowl. Please keep us updated with progress. BTW I always keep windeeze gel capsules to hand so if a dog looks bloaty I give 2 capsules to encourage burping and farting. It gives you a little more time to get to the vets.

I did an interesting thing at work...still not sure why but some eye opening results...BTW this was a curiosity thing not a scientific study!!

Myself and a colleague were putting away some dry dog food and we had a couple of split bags, not sure why but we decided to put some of each in water and see how much they swell...so Eden and 80/20 diet hardly swells at all and just seeps some oils...Royal Canin the Golden retriever variety swells to 3 times it's original size and releases orange scummy looking stuff....going to soak more when more split bags become available!