We woke up at 4:30 this morning to a restless and pacing Lenney. I will be forever thankful that I had watched that link to the Youtube video about dog bloat a few months back, because if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't have realized the seriousness of the situation and my dog might be dead now. We called an emergency in to the vet, and they were waiting when we arrived 20 minutes later.

Long story short: Lenney came through surgery well -- vet said we came in quickly enough that there was no damage to the stomach tissue (her stomach had "flipped"), and they sutured the stomach to anchor it. We pick her up tomorrow morning.

The vet did not give us a hard time about raw feeding, but did say that we should feed her a kind of slurry for a few weeks (I didn't ask for details about that yet), to make it easier on her stomach to "move things through," especially with part of her stomach "tacked" in place now. Does anyone have any experience with this? Vet was not keen on us feeding whole bones at all anymore(even chicken necks)... Lenney is not a gulper. She does chew well -- even if we just give her a chicken wing tip, she will crunch on it several times before swallowing.

Please, I would love to hear feedback on feeding raw for a post-bloat (post stomach-flip) dog -- both for the next few weeks and longterm. Thank you!

Raw meat and bone will pass through the stomach faster than any kibble.

If your dog chews her bones well I don't see a problem with them. The vet will probably have a problem with any dog eating any raw bones, not just yours who just had surgery.

I think dividing her meals into smaller portions and feeding more often might help with the the tender stomach.

Went through exactly the same thing with Luca. You have my sympathy for what a scary situation it is.

Our vet--who is a big fan of raw feeding--recommended that Luca's raw diet be ground after his surgery and for the rest of his life. Perhaps it's an over abundance of caution, but she thought it was best to minimize any risk. Luca had the same surgery yours did where they tacked the stomach to the abdominal wall to prevent it from ever flipping again.

So--we bought a good grinder, and we've been grinding ever since. All five of mine eat ground now. Everything they would normally eat--raw meaty bones and all--goes through the grinder and comes out looking like hamburger meat.

I realize they don't get the benefit of chewing bones. Bit I'm okay with that.

But there are some benefits to grinding that I really like. With my grinder, I can offer the smaller dogs things like whole turkey that I don't think they could handle otherwise. It also makes it easy for me to portion and weigh food and know that meals are properly balanced bone-to-meat.

I'm sure that grinding isn't the only answer, but that's what we did.

Wishing your boy a speedy recovery.

I can't comment on the post bloat part (so glad you caught that in time!) but personally I wouldn't feed raw post major surgery - the dog's immune system will be compromised and I wouldn't want to risk any issues with pathogens that could be on raw meat.

Instead I'd opt for a home cooked, high quality canned or The Honest Kitchen for a couple weeks while they were healing.

I'd like to hear more about the slurry and the RMB advice. I'm curious about where the calcium comes from without the digestible bones. Was the vet suggesting home-cooked, or maybe raw with calcium supplementation?

Your questions: I've read Lew Olson and Mary Strauss both suggesting that the RMBs be ground up for post-abdominal-surgery (or that dried and ground eggshell be used instead of the digestible bone during the post-surgery period of about two weeks). Many dogs are not chewers, and I suspect that they are gearing this advice to non-chewers especially.

As Debbie says, a chewer like your dog would probably have no problem. But you may prefer to go with the short-term grinding (or no bones, but using eggshell during the no-bone period).

What meds is the dog on? I ask because there are special dietary things to do about both antibiotics and antacids.

Also, you will probably want to be sure that there are plentiful antioxidants (foods rich in antioxidant vitamins and phytonutrients) as well as long-chain Omega 3s (fish oil plus natural Vitamin E) in the post-surgery diet (as always, but even more so).

If you will post back about the dog's meds, I/we can help you to adjust the diet if needed.

Also happy to give suggestions for antioxidant-rich diet additions if you like, and how to use ground eggshell if you decide on that for the short term.

I personally would opt for home-cooked for a week or two post-surgery.

Glad Lenney is doing well. Good luck and speedy recovery!

One of our dogs had mesenteric torsion 2 years ago. Had surgery and ended up with extensive intestinal damage from loss of blood supply and bacterial growth. She was send home with antibiotics, something that covers stomach and intestine to soothe and protect it and antacid. Raw should not be fed when the dog is on antacid.

For the first week I made chicken soup (whole organic free range chicken + starchy white rice + water, overcooked, bones picked out) and fed her tiny portions 6-8 times a day. Plain low fat organic yogurt 2 x day.

Gradually introduced salmon oil + vit E over the second week, mixed with yogurt.

When poop was normal for 3 days after finishing the meds we re-introduced the raw, starting with finely minced (with cleaver) FRESH organic free range chicken. Tiny portions multiple times a day.

Over the next month or so we re-introduced the whole range of raw that she was used to before the incident.

For a while I have been using the cleaver to break up larger bones but now she is eating whole chicken parts.

Our main concerns were 1)not allowing harmful bacteria overgrowth, which caused the original incident - always fresh ingredients, nothing spoiled, making sure it all comes out the other end in timely manner; and 2)keeping the feeding regular and light because she does not handle hunger well.

2 years later Connie is doing well on raw and does not show any long term effects from the episode.

Note: you could use about a tsp of beet juice to color the food on alternate feedings for easier poop monitoring.

Thank you for all the feedback. I will post again tomorrow once I find out what meds she will be on... all I know for now is there will be antibiotics and pain meds. I plan on doing a grocery trip before we go to pick Lenney up -- I think I will be most comfortable with home cooked meals for now, but obviously I'm worried about including anything that could ferment in her stomach... which makes me a little leery of using rice, but I don't know if that's justified. I thought maybe ground meat (cooked, of course) with some pure canned pumpkin? Connie, I would be happy to hear your suggestions for antioxidant-rich diet additions and also how to use ground eggshell for calcium in the short term.

I will definitely feed multiple small meals through the day. And I like the beet juice idea to see how long it takes food to pass through her system. I make my own yogurt, and was thinking of incorporating a bit to help counterbalance the effect of the antibiotics. What about milk thistle? Should I wait, or start her on it right away?

We live in a pretty rural area, so I don't always have easy access to all the things that are readily available in the big city. But I'm sure I can do better than kibble soaked in water (which the vet suggested!)

You have fish oil and natural E?

You might pick up eggs, ground beef and/or turkey and/or heart, liver or kidneys (much smaller than the muscle meat), the pumpkin you mentioned, maybe quinoa (a no-gluten grain with eight amino acids), raw ACV, fresh or frozen blueberries, organic parsley, kale and/or turnip greens ... these are things I'm thinking even a rural market will have most of, and they will supply good antioxidant vitamins and phytonutrients.

Your own yogurt is great! You will want those ingredients.

I'm finishing a work project; I can go into more detail in the morning, but you mentioned stopping for groceries on the way to the vet, so I thought you might want a suggestion list.

Don't forget the eggs, because they will part of the food as well as the calcium.

Here is a sample outline for a 40-pound dog so you have an idea of quantities before you shop.

Sample cooked diet, daily, 40-pound dog:

8 to 12 ounces (225 to 350 grams) muscle meat
1 to 1.5 ounces (30 to 45 grams) liver or kidneys
1 to 2 eggs
1 to 4 ounces (30 to 100 grams) yogurt
2 to 8 ounces (60 to 225 grams) total vegetables with no-gluten grain like rice or quinoa
1/2 tsp ground eggshell

Thank you, Connie. I will have no problem with my grocery list tomorrow, and quite a few of the items you suggested I actually already have on hand. I forgot to mention that we have our own laying hens, so we always have lots of eggs.

I will update tomorrow with a meds list.

 Quote: Marina Latulippe

Thank you, Connie. I will have no problem with my grocery list tomorrow, and quite a few of the items you suggested I actually already have on hand. I forgot to mention that we have our own laying hens, so we always have lots of eggs.

I will update tomorrow with a meds list.

Ah! Then once you get going you may want to use more eggs versus MM (maybe throwing away one yolk out of three). That's great! Cooking them makes them much less limited.

The antibiotic and even antacid adjustments have been allowed for (except for the timing of the probiotic yogurt -- that would be halfway between the antibiotic doses even if it's not a mealtime); the cooking solves the antacid issue. (You don't want to feed raw to a dog on antacids.)

The timing of the yogurt kind of helps divide the food into mini-meals right there. The antibiotic may be the "give with food" type, but you won't give it with the probiotic; you'll give it with other food.

I fully agree with Ana and whoever else said to give very small frequent meals (like snacks).