Avoid the Mother of All Emergencies: Bloating
In the bloated stomach, gas and/or food stretches the stomach many times its normal size, causing tremendous abdominal pain. The distended stomach tends to rotate, thus twisting off not only its own blood supply but the only exit routes for the gas inside. A dog with a bloated, twisted stomach (more scientifically called gastric dilatation and volvulus) will die in pain in a matter of hours unless drastic steps are taken.
What Are the Risk Factors for Developing Bloat?
Summary of Factors Increasing the Risk of Bloat
Factors that May Decrease the Risk of Bloat
How to Tell if Your Dog Has Bloated
Classically, the dog is distressed and makes multiple attempts to vomit, and the upper abdomen is hard and distended from the gas within, though in a well-muscled or overweight dog, the distention may not be obvious. The hallmark presentation of bloat is a sudden onset of abdominal distention, distress, anxiety, and pain (panting, guarding the belly, anguished facial expression), and multiple attempts at vomiting that are frequently unproductive. Not every dog will have a classic appearance, and some dogs will not have obvious abdominal distention because of their body configuration. If you are not sure, it is best to err on the side of caution and rush your dog to the veterinarian immediately.
Prevention: Gastropexy Surgery
Preventive gastropexy is an elective surgery usually done at the time of spaying or neuter in a breed considered at risk. The gastropexy, as mentioned, tacks the stomach to the body wall, which drastically reduces the stomach's ability to twist. The stomach may distend with gas in an attempt to bloat, but since twisting is not possible, this becomes a painful and uncomfortable situation but nothing more serious than that. That said, gastropexy is not an absolute guarantee against twisting but we are talking about a recurrence rate of 76% without gastropexy versus 6% recurrence with gastropexy.
This information was summarized from Veterinary Partner's article here.
What Are the Risk Factors for Developing Bloat?
- Dogs weighing more than 99 pounds have an approximate 20 percent risk of bloat. The risk of bloating increases with age.
- Classically, this condition affects dog breeds that are said to be deep-chested, meaning the length of their chest from backbone to sternum is relatively long while the chest width from right to left is narrow.
- Examples: Great Dane, Greyhound, and the setter breeds. Still, any dog can bloat, even dachshunds and chihuahuas.
- Classically, the bloated dog has recently eaten a large meal and exercised heavily shortly thereafter.
Summary of Factors Increasing the Risk of Bloat
- Increasing age
- Having closely related family members with a history of bloat
- Eating rapidly
- Feeding from an elevated bowl
- Feeding a dry food with fat or oil listed in the first four ingredients.
Factors that May Decrease the Risk of Bloat
- Adding table scraps, canned food, or non-kibble supplements to the dog's kibble diet reduced the risk of bloat in some studies. More research is needed to fully understand the implications of this.
- Happy or easy-going temperament
- Feeding a dry food containing a calcium-rich meat meal (such as meat/lamb meal, fish meal, chicken by-product meal, meat meal, or bone meal) listed in the first four ingredients of the ingredient list.
- Eating two or more meals per day
How to Tell if Your Dog Has Bloated
Classically, the dog is distressed and makes multiple attempts to vomit, and the upper abdomen is hard and distended from the gas within, though in a well-muscled or overweight dog, the distention may not be obvious. The hallmark presentation of bloat is a sudden onset of abdominal distention, distress, anxiety, and pain (panting, guarding the belly, anguished facial expression), and multiple attempts at vomiting that are frequently unproductive. Not every dog will have a classic appearance, and some dogs will not have obvious abdominal distention because of their body configuration. If you are not sure, it is best to err on the side of caution and rush your dog to the veterinarian immediately.
Prevention: Gastropexy Surgery
Preventive gastropexy is an elective surgery usually done at the time of spaying or neuter in a breed considered at risk. The gastropexy, as mentioned, tacks the stomach to the body wall, which drastically reduces the stomach's ability to twist. The stomach may distend with gas in an attempt to bloat, but since twisting is not possible, this becomes a painful and uncomfortable situation but nothing more serious than that. That said, gastropexy is not an absolute guarantee against twisting but we are talking about a recurrence rate of 76% without gastropexy versus 6% recurrence with gastropexy.
This information was summarized from Veterinary Partner's article here.