Hello All-

Just went through a scary scenario with my 3-4 year old female Rottweiler. She was fed around 6:30 pm and roughly 5 hours later began excessively licking the carpet in the closet where she sleeps. She does this enough that I was not alarmed right away but asked her to stop, which normally she does. Tonight she made a bee-line straight for the door and upon being let out, began frantically eating grass. I immediately thought of bloat, and indeed it seems her stomach was distended. But beyond the grass eating, she did not seem distressed, she was command responsive, not whining, and non-reactive when I palpated her abdomen.

Nevertheless I called the emergency vet, confirmed they were open, and in the short time that I took to do so, the dog's symptoms had faded. The hypersalivation was gone, she wasn't licking, she came inside of her own accord, flopped down on the floor and acted normally. She took some water. Tail wagged. Command response was normal. Heart rate was normal (not sure if it was ever elevated) I observed her very closely for an hour until she basically fell asleep and then came here to write this.

Please let me say that I am TERRIFIED of bloat. I separate exercise and food by a good hour in order to avoid it. I feed in smallish doses and buy food with no byproducts. This rottie has displayed all of the same symptoms (excessive licking, puffy abdomen, grass eating) before but not to the same degree or intensity. Tonight I was particularly worried.

I suppose my question is, 1) Is anyone aware of these symptoms as something other than bloat and 2) What steps do I take to avoid these symptoms? One culprit could by a cloth tug toy that is bascially a soft rope that the dogs (I have a GSD as well) slowly but surely gnaw through and degrade, and the Rott was chewing on that tonight.

These dogs are pets, not working dogs, and are not exposed to prey items with any regularity, although there is the occasional toad/frog in my backyard. They eat kirklands chicken formula and seem to thrive on it.

Any advice is appreciated.

Brock, the cases of bloat I have seen first hand were both quite exaggerated/obvious in symptoms. The dogs show very obvious distress and the stomach is not just a bit distended it feels almost hard to the touch and may or may not (usually is) sensitive. This depends on how far along it is, I imagine.

One dog, an older Dane, drank water frantically and would vomit it right back up again. All of the dogs would heave a lot and vomited foamy/frothy stomach fluid. Totally uninterested in food or treats or doing anything but laying down. Chewing on the stomach area, licking the stomach area are signs of discomfort. The dog usually cannot get comfortable and will toss, may pace. Vocalization depends on the dog, the lab practically screamed.

These dogs were at the boarding kennel I worked at when I was 15/16. One 10 y/o Great Dane, one 16 y/o Dobe, and a 6 y/o lab all got bloat while I worked there. The lab's owner had brought in the raised food bowls which contributed to his case, the other two were just stressed and fed/watered heavily too soon before and after exercise/too much excitement and were older. The Dane had bloated 4 years prior. I remember seeing the Dane, the first one that got it, it is a horrible sight to see and he could not be saved.

In the beginning stages the dog will just seem "off." Depending on the situation, like at a boarding kennel where stress and recent vaccinations and people that don't know the dog are concerned it is more difficult to see the early stages especially when employees are only around 6 hours out of the day and the dogs are alone for 10+ hours at night.

Knowing your dog will help spot any of the signs of bloat. I think the precautions you are taking are good with waiting before/after exercise to feed. Watch water intake also. If your dog is super thirsty give smaller amounts 10-15 minutes apart vs one big bowl. If your dogs are gulpers putting the food in a large flat horse feed pan can help as it spreads the food out more and the dog is forced to take longer to eat. You can also feed smaller amounts like 1/3 of each portion 5 minutes apart to help with gulping and they do make bowls designed to help slow dogs down while eating. Do not use elevated food/water bowls either. A dogs head being up allows them to gulp in air as they eat, the faster a dog eats the more air they take in.

Have you tried giving the dogs probiotics? The symptoms could be digestive upset from eating something she shouldn't have (like part of the toy you mentioned)

Other than that I don't have any other suggestions, I'm sure someone else will chime in!

My female ballooned up really big, tucked her tail, paced around really nervously, and had a bunch of other bloat-like symptoms. I called my regular vet in the middle of the night who saw me right away. Told me she didn't think it was a full torsion, but perhaps halfway. I was referred to the emergency vet who checked her out, x-rayed and ultrasound. They confirmed it wasn't bloat and her stomach had gone down a lot by this time. But it appeared there was some kind of blockage. They operated the following morning (since it 100% wasn't bloat it was no longer urgent) to try and locate the problem. They never did find anything, but they did staple her stomach while they were in there.

Updating:
After my last post, the dog had been asymptomatic for a good 45 minutes and had even gone to sleep so I did as well. Woke up an hour later to the same hypersalivation and AGAIN her abdomen was distended so we speeded to the vet. Xrays showed a very distended abdomen but with no torsion/ double bubble, so no imminent danger. vet recommended two shots, one for diarrhea one for nausea. The diarrhea one went fine but the nausea shot evidently burned on the way in so after two trys with the dog reacting badly, I opted out of administering that one.

Just to share for everoyone's info: I asked the vet what symptoms are indicative of lethal bloat vs. what symptoms are just an aggravated upset stomach, and she echoed Jennifer Marshall's noting the abdomen would be extremely taut to the touch "like a drum". Also, cited the gum color as extremely red/purple indicate blood flow interruption, or white indicating shock.

Going forward I will begin feeding in two smaller meals and maintain the precautions in the future. Thanks to those who have commented and additional comments are welcome.

Regards,
brock

Brock, I did quite a bit of reading before about bloat, and one good study showed several commonalities in dogs that suffered bloat (and torsion).
One was that the ligament holding the stomach to the body cavity had stretched in a high percentage of dogs that suffered torsion, presumably from feeding one big meal over time. So you are definately doing the right thing by feeding two small meals.

Another commonality was that a high percentage of dogs who ate a kibble where animal fat (ie chicken fat) was one of the first 5 ingredients were more likely to suffer bloat/torsion. So, check your kibble and if need be, switch to another brand. Here's the link to the ones that Leerburg recommmends.

http://leerburg.com/all-natural%20kibble.htm

And Jennfier mentioned above about pro-biotics. There have been studes done that indicate that a percentage of dogs that suffer from bloat do not have good gut bacteria. Give your dog plain yogurt or buy probiotic capsules and add to his meals.

Jennifer also mentions about elevated dishes. It used to be that people thought that this somehow prevented bloat, but the reverse has been found to be true. You don't mention that you are elevating the dog's food, but it's good general info to know.

These are some simple steps that may very well reduce the likelihood of recurrence...

My vet told me to feed twice a day, and no exercise for one hour before meals and two hours after. My dogs are allowed out to potty right before eating and are kept in after they eat for two hours.

One thing that I do have on hand is stuff for baby colic. I personally use Little Tummys Simethicone Drops, but you could probably use Mylicon or Gripe Water. It relieves gas and pressure if your dog is uncomfortable (and it works really fast), and in case you do ever get serious bloat, it could help the distension go down until you can get to the vet.

I am a BIG supporter or getting a gastroplexy done on any dog that is considered to be 'at risk'. For many of the bloats we see at the emergency clinic where I work is odd behavior and unproductive vomiting (MAJOR RED FLAG). You won't always see the unproductive vomiting so our general recommendation is to be better safe than sorry.

You REALLY don't want to wait until your dog's stomach is tight like a drum. This is very critical in that when a torsion has occured, blood supply to the tissues can be constricted causing tissue death. Sometimes even if the bloat is caught in time, some tissues cannot be salvaged...this can often times happen with the spleen. Also, when the stomach is filling with gas and fluid, it begins to expand which thus compresses the thoracic cavity, pushing on the diaphragm, decreasing lung capacity and pressure on and restriction of the heart. This pressure added to the heart can result in arrhythmias which is why clinics monitor EKGs for the duration of post-op hospitalization until the rhythms return to or stay normal.

Some suspect GDV's present without the volvulus...no stomach torsion has occurred but their is gas and/or fluid buildup in the stomach. This is also a medical emergency as the stomach could still tors or be an indication of something else, ie. int blockage.

I'll add here that it's good to remember that too much water, before, during, and after exercise, can also bring on bloat. Food isn't the only culprit.

Brock: Did the vet say if the x-rays showed gas? I've seen x-rays where a dog's stomach was full of gas, possibly due to what they were eating or they way they were eating, and all that gas can cause a fair amount of discomfort and stomach distension.

WoW--GREAT INFO everyone. Thank you all very, very much. As to some concerns, I have sporadically in the past, but now will consistently add a plain, organic yogurt. The ingredients in kirkland's chicken formula is as follows: chicken, chicken meal, whole grain brown rice, cracked pearled barley, CHICKEN FAT, egg product, beet pulp, potatoes etc etc. So chicken fat is right at #5. Perhaps I should explore another food. The rottie does eat from a dish that's about 4" off the floor, the gsd straight out of his floor mounted bowl, and although neither one tears through their food, I will explore a wider dish.

Indeed, the xrays were such that she was said to have "a lot of food and air in there". I will say that after one excretion and two burps here distension was visibly reduced.

Again, thank you all for weighing in.

Regards,
Brock