[Dailydrool] Bloat

[Pamela McQuade]

I just want to chime in on this. I'm so glad that Sandi posted the videotape of a bloating dog, but be aware that a dog does not have to be pacing to have bloat. Our Abner didn't move around when he bloated. As I remember it, he was lying in his favorite bed. Drew, who was in the room with him, told me he was acting funny, but I never would have figured it was bloat from his description. By the time I finished what I was doing and got into the room, Abs' stomach was quite distended. I knew just what it was and shot him over to the ER, but it was too late. 
 
Though I know we made the right decision in ending his pain, I will always regret that we lost Abner in such an awful way. I don't know that anything we could have done would have saved him, but I would hope that some, more healthy hounds might be saved by the knowledge the humans get here. So don't think your dog has to be pacing--watch for other signs of discomfort. If you are in doubt, rush to the ER immediately.
 
And thanks to those who have previously shared about bloat. It was because of the information that I got on the Drool that we were able to identify what his problem might be. 
 
I wish the docs could figure out how to stop bloat. From what one of my vets told me, nothing Abs was doing that day was a classic bloat causer (eating and exercising vigorously). But he still bloated. I'm sure there's a lot more to be found out about this disease. Here's to slinging "figure out how to stop it" drool at the researchers who can discover how to stop this thing in its tracks.
 
Until then, make certain your dog relaxes around mealtimes. As far as I can tell, it's not the only cause of bloat, but if it does trigger it, bassets should still avoid it. 
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets, who still misses her Abner
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.dailydrool.org/pipermail/dailydrool-dailydrool.org/attachments/20111125/15075fcf/attachment.htm>