[Dailydrool] drool & bloat

[Swartz]

We are so sorry that Belle & Max made their journey to the bridge, take
heart that they are now a young & healthy dogs once again.  May they
live forever in the magic of your memories.

The boys are sending ear and tummy healing drool, and no more arthritis
pain drool to Emma. You asked "I don't know why she won't just not run
around" Well that is just dogs living in the moment. 

Happy Gotcha Day to Nelly Belle. 
Happy birthday to Dora.  We are so sorry that it was a sad day.

Bev, You should have pounded your head against his head!  Then maybe
some of your knowledge would have transferred over to him...instead of
the wall.  LOL.  Some folks shouldn't be allowed to have dogs!  Once
again another perfect example of why we need Dog owning classes.

Becky, Loved the pictures!  Morse seems to be adjusting well to his new
stomping grounds.

I had the boys at the vet for their annuals. I asked him some questions
on bloat, because it is something that I have not had to deal with so
therefore I wanted to learn more and get his opinion on it. He said
bloat is kind of an enigma, in that there is a lot of opinions on why it
happens but not much solid research. The things that were known causes
is, 1. food quality (if the dry food swells up a lot when wet then it
causes more gas and you need to switch foods) 2. Eating or drinking to
fast which sucks in a lot of air into the stomach. 3. Excessive activity
after a meal (basset 500).  He said that the elevated food bowls is
still in question, some research suggest that food bowls on the ground
cause bloat, and others say that the elevated bowls cause it. He did say
that owners that have dog breeds that are prone to bloat should keep
Gas-X on hand and if the dog starts having a lot of gas, or starts
showing signs of discomfort give them a gas-x.  Also that there is good
research that shows that ground Yucca root, and/or ground activated
charcoal sprinkled on their food helps prevent gas and bloating in dogs.
Then there is always going in and tacking the stomach so that it will
not flip.  But he only suggest that if the dog has bloated before, or
has a high possibility of bloating, or if they have to go in for some
other abdominal surgery and have time to do it.  

The boys got a clean bill of health at their annuals other than the
contact dermatitis on their bellies and Ruger's snooter. Colt needs to
lose a few pounds. Ruger's front legs have a lot of bow to them, one of
the lower leg bones grew faster than the other and bowed out to
compensate...Common among dwarf breeds, but he needs to stay fit and
trim to avoid problems down the road. So far it doesn't seem to bother
him, since he is the more active of the two brothers.

Hope that everyone had a great weekend, drool to all in need
Michele Momma to the Bad A** Basset Brothers
Colt "I'm not fat, I'm big boned"
Ruger "I'm not a dwarf, I'm under-tall"