Question:
Can someone PLEASE help me here. Our chow dog was extremely bloated in his belly when we got up Monday morning. His age 14 yr old. We carried him to the vet. immediately. After taking x-rays of his stomach, we were told that he had a twisted stomach, and that even if his heart and respiration were good that it was highly unlikely he would survive surgery because of his age. This vet. was not my favorite of the three in the clinic but the one available at the time. Terrible manners and rough attitude toward Kiwi, our dog. I see nothing in the x-ray (which we went back and got), myself other than it looks bloated. He told us that euthanasia was our only choice to relieve what he was enduring. So I did the hardest thing I ever had to do, and rubbed my beloved friend, that went through thick and thin in life with me, as he drew his very last breath. CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT WOULD CAUSE A DOGS STOMACH TO TWIST????? PLEASE. This is something I need to know and this vet. did not explain. Thanks.

Answer:
When a dog either swallows too much air (in drinking too much too fast or eating too quickly), or produces too much gas (for various reasons, like exercising within 1hr before or after eating), they bloat. Bloat on its own can be fatal, but because of the dog's anatomy, if the stomach gets too bloated, it can flip inside the chest (called gastric torsion or gastric dilitation volvulus). Both bloat and gastric torsion are treatable if you get to the vet in time, but treating torsion involves a pretty extensive surgery (whereas with bloat, the gas can be removed with a tube).

If you have large breed dogs, you really have to know the signs and symptoms of bloat as well as the risk factors.

Here's a really good link about it:
http://www.globalspan.net/bloat.htm

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First of all, let me say I'm sorry for your loss. I know that it was a rough decision to have to make, and I'm sorry that the vet didn't make things any easier. I don't know alot about bloat, but if you search for "bloat" in the blue bar, there are lots of past threads about it. In the articles section of this site, there is an article about it, too, called "Bloat in dogs". Again, .

Prin, you beat me in posting. Good, b/c I really only know the signs to look for.

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Oh, and now, when they do hysterectomies on large breed females, they can staple the stomach to the inside of the abdominal wall to prevent torsion (it doesn't prevent bloat, but it prevents the turning).

You probably wouldn't have seen it on the xray because it would have just been pinched on either side of the stomach (i.e. the end of the esophagus and the beginning of the intestine). But you would see the gas in there.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Sorry Skryker.

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No apologies needed, Prin. I'm a student here, trying to learn as much as I can. I have to say that bloat and gastric torsion are nightmare issues, and it's a shame that dogs are lost to them.

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I'm so sorry for your loss.

Prin beat me to the link.

Bloat effects deep chested breeds,even the small ones.

My breed(GSD) is at the top of the list for Bloat.I have owned GSD's for 23 years now,and knock on wood none have had Bloat.I guess that's because I was informed about it from my breeder when I got my first one.

Unfortunately a friend of mine lost her 8 month old St.Bernard pup to Bloat during emergency surgery.And it is VERY rare for Bloat to happen at this age.

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Chances are you will never know what caused your dog to bloat. Several years ago, studies showed that elevated dishes help prevent bloat - then a couple of years ago another study said that this was not true. Same with the study that talks about exercising before and after meals. The new theory is that if you feed foods with citric acid and risk increases more if you moisten that food.

I am sorry to hear about your dog. Such a sudden loss is very difficult to deal with. Please know that you did the best thing that you could do for your friend - you gave him merciful release from his pain.

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PRIN,,,Thank you so very much for the info link, and THANK YOU ALL very much for such a quick response to my question. I had never heard of such a thing before, and certainly wish I had. He was a son to us and will be sorely, sorely missed. We put him to rest in our backyard, where he enjoyed being the most. It makes me feel better knowing this information. You guys are great.

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I am sorry for your loss , any dog with a deep chest and narrow waist are prone due to the sharp angulation of the upper abdomen. I know even if the spleen becomes enlarged it can twist causing the stomach to twist along with it, which is what my greyound has, his risk of torsion has descreased because the weight and 10 inches of extra length of his spleen caused his lower abdomen to sag, so his stomach and spleen his is lying horizontally rather sitting at a diagonally within the abdomen. Often when it occurs is older dogs then spleen is found to be enlarged and disease often with cancer, which likely one of the main reason the vet suggest letting him go to the bridge

These picture will show how the angulation of his stomach changed with the growth of the spleen weighting down ihis abdomen, it is in the first picture where the greatest risk of bloat would occur

before http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/mleg2001/?action=view&current=9769adb9d5a0c1033ac79afd1e0b9 03e.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch22

after with 6 to 8 lbs of extra spleen weighing down the abdomen floor now making the level with the chest, his risk if torsion is now almost non existenthttp://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y53/mleg2001/other%20images/?action=view&current=mayaandabacu0061.jpg&refPage= &imgAnch=imgAnch7


The vets still do not know for sure what causes this to happen, other than physical anatomy. and that genetics increases the odds for example if mom or dad had the odds of it happening to the pup is high. studies are being done constantly trying to find the cause , example there has been frequent bloat cases where fat was listed as being in the first four or maybe it was 5 ingredients of the kibble fed. the studies about about trying to find common links to other dogs that have, which is why the potential causes keeps changing

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I am sorry for your loss of your best 4 legged friend. I know nothing of blaoting just know the pain of letting a friend go. Sorry.

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I just got another dog, three years after losing a 3 yr old Standard Poodle to GDV. My new puppy, another Std. Poodle, will get a laparoscopic gastropexy when spaying time comes--the dog can still get bloat, but won't get the GI volvulus. It can invoves very small incisions and suturing rather than stapling the stomach to the chest wall.

I had Danes (1 in 4 die of volvulus, I've read) and never had a problem. I was aware of it in the giants, but it never occured to me that it was a problem in Poodles (1 in 20.)

I would urge all pet owners to google the terms previously mentioned and read up on your own breeds chances of bloat. I have read that bloat is not just a canine problem, cats can have it, too. (My brother, a family doc, says it can happen in people, too.)

It was easily the most traumatic experience I've had as an adult. I think it will be in the back of my mind and a source of deep sadness for the rest of my life. You have my deepest sympathy and best wishes!

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Sorry for your loss . I also had a dog bloat at 5 years of age lucky we caught it before he twisted, and they passed a stomach tube were able to let the air out. He later went to our own vet and had his stomach stiched to his abdominal wall. He lived another 4 and a half years with no problems or repeats, until we had him pts due to bone cancer. It is a serious health problem and it has to be caught right away or the dog will die. I guess with your dog it had gone too far or not all vets do the surgery for this, so it would have been better to do what you did and not let your best friend suffer any longer.

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