Bloat

well yoshi bloated again today her stomach felt weird last night a while after i fed her so i gave her gas meds before bed. i woke up today and it seemed better. i went out to do some errands and came back and felt her again and sure enough it was bloat. i ran her to the vets and they decompresssed her stomach. it didn't twist or anything but she still had to have the fluids to keep her from going into shock.

she has to stay at the vets office for a couple days so they can watch her. but she should be home by the end of this week.

i hate bloat so much it makes me paranoid about even feeding my dog. i started buying the best canned food i could find after she bloated the first time. i didn't want to give her the dry food because she eats it so fast it makes me nervous. i tried to buy some dry food and slowly move back over but the first night she is back on only dry food she bloated again. i'm so scared of feeding her now that it's taken her way longer to gain back the weight then it should have. *she lost a lot of weight after first bloat and then later after having surgery to attach her stomach* she's gaining but not nearly as fast as i would like for her to.

sorry for the rant it's just these things seem to happen at the worse possible time. my friend i'm taking in gets here tomorrow. x.x

but this is a warning for anyone. if you think your dog MIGHT be bloating get them to the vet. it's way better to have them say no false alarm then to have to wait to long, go through this and end up loosing your dog because of time

everyone please send yoshi get well hopes. she did great during surgery but now just needs to get better

That's sad... I hope your pet will get well soon...

Sorry about that Yoko Bloat must be terrifying.

Do you feed her on a stand? Like with a raised bowl so she isn't reaching so far down for food? I've seen them advertised online a lot. I heard that helps. We sometimes feed Sophie with her bowl on a milkcrate, but most of the time she likes to lie down to eat so we don't worry too much.

Another idea to try might be to buy a bowl designed to slow down how fast dogs eat?

Something like this


http://www.dogpause.com.au/

How scary! I'm glad to hear she's coming out of it okay.

I used to housesit for a woman with some great GSD, one of whom had bloated before. She had me add water and let it sit to every meal her dogs ate (a mix of dry and raw for her dogs, buy I'm sure you could do dry and canned mixed). She had me mix it to a "chowder-like" consistency. She said she hadn't had a problem since she had started doing that. Maybe another idea to consider.

Poor yoshi........*vibes* to get well soon!

Sorry to hear that.

Something you may consider - you can give phazyme (or simethicone gel - the active ingredient in any of the gas relief products) with every meal. I do, and it's made a big difference.

It gets pricey, and it might be overkill, but I'm in the better safe than sorry camp.

You may also consider probiotics. It's good for setting things straight in the gut.

And although it didn't play a part in Hannah's bloat/torsion, you might again adjust her feeding routine. If she's eating two times a day now, maybe if your schedule permits, you could feed her three times a day, smaller meals?

I'm one of those people that feels if it's going to happen, it's going to happen. I strongly believe it has more to to with the genetics of the dog, but there's certainly nothing wrong with taking whatever precautions you can.

Best of luck to Yoshi (and you, I know how stressful it is on the humans as well).

Hope Yoshi feels better soon. So sorry to hear what happened.

I'm so sorry Yoko. Sending healing vibes to Yoshi.

I'm sending all the good thoughts that I can muster !!! ((( Hugs )))

Poor YOshi Poor you! All kinds of get better quick VIbes being sent your way.

Oh, that's awful. I'm so sorry.

Unfortunately, dogs that bloat once, will almost always do it again. And the more it happens, the more it will continue to happen (or at least that's the pattern with all the research I've seen and the dogs I've experienced).

I personally like raised feeding bowls, but the jury is still out. And you even have some people that claim the reverse is true.....that raised bowls are the culprit or can be the culprit.

I'm not sure what your schedule is like, but I would try to break down the daily kibble intake into the most number of "meals" possible. If it means feeding your dog it's 1 cup of food broken down into 5 feedings a day, then do it.

And they do make bowls for overeager eaters. Anything that will make your dog work harder to get the food out and spend a longer time eating eat is ideal.

I wish y'all the best!

Oh, Hon . . . . yes, the Phazyme is an excellent idea as are the probiotics! You might even consider moving to raw feeding as well.

While her tummy's at a normal state, get in the practice of laying down with your ear against her side so you can hear what her normal internal sounds are, that way you'll be able to determine more quickly when her belly's acting up.

I'd bet you've probably already done it, but there are EXCELLENT articles on bloat at www.greatdanelady.com. Well worth the time to read!

((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))))

oh poor Yoshi, and how tough it must be on you too! Sending get healthy vibes to Yoshi.