My husband and I had a big scare with our four year old Doberman late last night and I would like some advice on a couple of things. We noticed he was licking his lips and taking in a lot of air. He also had a lumpy stomach and looked fatter. We rushed him to an emergency vet where they said he had gastric distention but his stomach had not flipped.

They stabilized him and kept him overnight. The next morning they called and said he was doing o.k. and that I could come get him. We were told to give him simethicone and pepcid for the next three days and to feed him small meals (about 1/4 cup), soaked in warm water for 15 minutes.

I am strongly considering switching him to a raw diet now. Has anyone had a dog bloat on a raw diet? Would it be bad to change his diet at this point? Would it at least be o.k. to use canned food for half of his meals along with kibble for now?

The vets suggested that we have surgery done to be sure that if he ever starts to bloat again (which is likely) that his stomach will not flip. I have been doing some research and it sounds like the best thing to do. Has anyone else been in a similar situation? This has been very scary and I would appreciate any advice.

Thank goodness you got him to the e-vet!

Here are a couple of very recent threads for starters:

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=32341&page=1#362447

http://leerburg.com/webboard/thread.php?topic_id=32339&page=1#362423


Others will post, too, and I can add more tomorrow as well.

My raw-fed GSD bloated. Feeding raw isn't a prevention for bloat. (Although I do feel like the fact that there weren't a lot of carbs making gas in his gut bought us some time. That, and his raw diet made him healthy going into the episode.)

I wouldn't hesitate to have the gastropexy surgery done on a dog with a bloat history.

Glad your dog is okay, and that you were able to recognize the symptoms and get him emergency help in time. Bloat is scary stuff.

I can't offer any advice, but glad to hear he is ok and hopefully his surgery will go well.

I had a Golden Retriever get bloat about 3-4 years ago (my Mom's dog). She dropped him off at my house because, 'she didn't know what was wrong...' (yeah, thanks Mom!). After a few hours of symptoms I realized what was happening, got him to the vet where they did emergency surgery (at this point he probably was symptomatic for at least 12 hrs), so yes he did have contortion. They stapled the lining of his stomach and so far we haven't had another episode of actual contortion, but I will tell you this - he still has symptoms from time to time depending on his activity.

I believe bloat can be avoided if you follow certain rules: after vigorous activity do not allow your dog to inhale buckets of water, do not allow them to gulp kibble and drink a lot of water, after vigorous exercise let then cool down before eating/drinking; and yes, I believe RAW feeding can be a deterrent to bloat.

I probably would not do a procedure unless he continues to experience more symptoms, but I would observe and control his consumption of food/water and be aware how exercise can create him to gulp air which in turn could cause symptoms.

When I moved my dogs to RAW a noticed a huge difference in their ability to regulate their panting. Enzo used to flop around the truck trying to get comfortable, sitting, laying, flopping around - he panted so hard and fast. After RAW, his panting is more steady, calm and controlled. I don't feel like he is going to keel over.