Gas Bloat - Can it happen to my dog?
Dogs may develop a condition called Gastric Dilatation and Volvulus (GDV), commonly called bloat, that is a true medical emergency where minutes to hours do make a factor in the life or death of the patient.
What is it? The stomach normally contracts in a rhythm that mixes food and liquids and propels them towards the intestines for digestion. In a bloated stomach, gas and/or food causes the stomach to expand to many times that of it’s normal state for usually unexplained reasons. As you can imagine, it is a very painful condition! As the stomach is ballooning it can simultaneously twist around its axis and prevent the escape of gas, liquid, and food in either direction. This twisting also causes the blood supply to the stomach to be cut off which causes gradual death to the affected area tissues and a build up of toxic wastes in the blood starved tissues.
What can cause this life-threatening situation?
Deep chested dogs such as Great Danes, St. Bernards, Weimeraners, Greyhounds, and any dog with such great size and big chests can bloat, while it is a less common occurence in small breed dogs.
The larger the size of the dog the greater a chance it may bloat sometime in its’ life, particularly those over 90lbs.
Factors associated with a risk of bloat: Dogs that swallow air while eating, dogs under stress, heavy exercise, drinking large amounts of water or restricting water before or after meals, anxious pets, eating large meals once a day, and family history of bloat or sudden unexplained deaths. Male dogs and dogs over 7 years old are also at higher risk. Using elevated feeding stations have also been associated with some dogs that have bloated. None of these risk factors have been found to have a direct cause and effect since many dogs may have all the risk factors and still never bloat.
What has been associated with a lower risk of bloat? Dogs that are fed some canned food, those fed 2 or more times a day of smaller meals, dogs with calm natures, foods that have in their 1st listed 4 ingredients of meal meals that naturally contain calcium such as chicken meal, meat meal, fish meal, etc. Dogs that have had a special surgery to fixate their stomachs to the abdomen as a preventative measure have been found to have a decreased incidense of GDV. The rate of bloat in those dogs that have the surgery to “tack down” their stomachs is about 6% whereas dogs that have bloated and treated without surgery have a recurrense rate of about 75% of the time.
No study has shown that cereals or plant sources such as corn, soybean, or wheat are associated with a higher risk of bloat as was previously speculated.
You can tell if you dog may be bloating
They may look like their ends of their ribcage and/or front of their abdomens are distended. They may try to vomit but only bring up foamy white saliva. If this is seen bring your pet immediately to a 24 hour veterinary hospital if after hours or call your regular veterinarian for guidance ASAP!
Are there treatments to try to save my pet’s life?
The veterinarian will examine your pet to determine if they are bloating by physical exam and possibly x-rays of the stomach area.
The stomach must be decompressed AND your pet have intravenous fluids administered in rapid fashion in most cases of bloat. If you pet has been determined to be in the early stages with bloat but definatively has not rotated (torsed) then medical treatment to restore good circulation and relief of the built up gas may be attempted prior to eventual surgery. Medications for pain, shock, and acid-base status of your pet may be needed based on history and laboratory test results.
An ECG may also be necessary to detect possible life threatening arrhythmias during and after medical and surgical procedures.
Decompression of the bloated stomach may be attempted with sedatives and a large tube inserted into the mouth and down the esophagus. Additionally, a large needle may be directly inserted into the stomach through the skin if the stomach tube cannot be passed due to a twist in the esophagus.
Dogs that have bloated should have surgical exploration and repair as soon as possible. The dilema is that there is no way to assess the health and survivability of the stomach tissues and blood supply without an operation.
Are the outcomes of emergency surgery for bloat known?
Dogs that are very ill are at high risk for surgical and anesthetic complications but often the practise of waiting for too many hours for better stability is coincidental with more tissue death due to poor circulation that can only be fixed by de-rotating the stomoach, as delay can possibly cause irrevocable damage leading to death. The spleen can often become severely damaged due to the torsion and necessiate emergency removal of it as well. The more organs and tissue damaged due to lack of blood supply dramatically increases the non-survival rate.
All dog owners should know the early signs associated with bloat and have their pets taken immediately to their family veterinarian or to a 24 hour hospital when there vet is not open. Time is of the essence, as dogs that have had signs of bloat for longer than 6 hours before having prompt emergency veterinary care have a grave prognosis. Pets that have had their clinical signs recognized by alert owners, diagnosed rapidly, and taken to surgery at our hospital in the early stage of GDV often have very good outcomes. Conversely, pets that have been bloated overnight or for unknown periods and are already in advanced shock when they arrive have a more grave prognosis and humane euthanasia is too often a necessary choice to prevent further suffering if too great a degree of internal organ damage has been found during surgery.
Dogs that make it through surgery are still at risk for heart arrhthymias and “reperfusion injury” that can necessitate hospitalization in the I.C.U. until these complications have been overcome over several days to week(s).
Ask your veterinarian about the advantages and disadvantages of preventative stomach fixation procedures when your large to giant breed dog is spayed or neutered as a means of reducing their chances of deadly bloat in the future.
