Bloat...

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  • edited November -1
    Not all dogs that bloat will torse. Some dogs will have vovulus, but very little gas accumulation. If vovulus does occur, the spleen is dragged along. This is important to bear in mind if one is going to go poking around with needles...Often, dogs can be decompressed with a stomach tube. A thick roll of bandage tape works well as a mouth speculum so the dog can't chew the tube.

    One of the primary clinical signs of GDV is non-productive vomiting. The gas distention may not be noticed until later. In a very large, deep-chested breed (eg. Irish Wolfhound), or in the cases of volvulus with minimal gas accumulation, outward distention may not be discernible. GDV is one of the true medical emergencies so get thee to a veterinarian.

    Here is a post I made on another forum. Note that diets with high fat/oil content were actually associated with increased risk of GDV.

    Reasons are still puzzling...no definitive answers yet. Contributing factors that have been suggested include: eating habits, exercise, stress, heredity (particularly chest conformation), stretched /slack stomach ligaments, disposition, age.

    There is also question of calcium supplementation stimulating the production of the hormone gastrin which impacts stomach sphincter muscles and decreases gastric emptying rate. Other studies do not support a significant difference in regulatory hormone levels and gastroesophageal sphincter pressure in normal dogs and those with GDV. So, no clear answer here either.

    Analysis of the stomach gas that occurs in dilatation reveals that it is close to the composition of normal room air. Dogs swallow air routinely and typically burp to release it without a problem. The dogs that bloat don't release the swallowed gas for reasons yet to be determined.

    Here is a Purdue Univ. study from 2004.
    http://www.mrcrottweiler.org/updates/bloat1.pdf

    Note that increasing energy intake from carbohydrates in the diet was not found to be associated with GDV risk. The authors were UNABLE to definitively answer the question of whether feeding dry food increases the risk of GDV. They did conclude that higher risk dogs (size/breed) should be fed a lower volume of food in multiple meals.

    In a subsequent study by the same group, neither an increasing number of animal-protein ingredients nor an increasing number of soy and cereal ingredients among the first four ingredients significantly influenced GDV risk. However, the dry food containing an oil or fat content among the first four ingredient were associated with a significant (p=0.01), 2.4-fold increased risk of GDV.

    I don't have the full article at hand but the abstract is here
    http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/42/1/28

    THE FACT IS THAT GDV DEVELOPS IN DOGS SUBJECTED TO A VARIETY OF FEEDING REGIMENS, DIETS, AND HAS EVEN BEEN DOCUMENTED IN HOSPITALIZED DOGS THAT HAVE BEEN FASTED FOR OVER 24 HOURS.

    other reading
    http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=672
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