In bloat, the dog swallows air and saliva repeatedly, but is unable to burp or vomit, and the stomach swells larger and larger, causing great pain and blocking return of blood to the heart from the abdomen and rear limbs. During this process, the stomach may have rotated on its axis, twisting off the opening from the esophagus, and compromising the blood supply to the stomach wall. Due to this sequence of events, shock occurs quickly and immediate medical attention is required to avoid death. Owners must act quickly!
There are simple preventive measures to help keep your pet from becoming a casualty of bloat: 1. Divide the day's food into several portions. Feed 4-6 small portions over the course of the day if possible. 2. Soak dry food in water so that it is fully expanded before feeding it to your pet. 3. After strenuous exercise, don't allow your dog to eat a big meal or drink a lot of water right away. Also, do not let your dog exercise too soon after eating. It is best to wait 1-2 hours. 4. Avoid ingestion of large amounts of water immediately after eating dry kibble.
Pets can get bloat even when all these preventive measures have been taken. If your pet does get bloat, the goals of treatment are to empty the stomach and to reduce or prevent shock. At the same time that the dog is being prepared for stomach tubing, an intravenous catheter is placed in a vein on a front leg and IV fluids and anti-shock medications are given rapidly. Some dogs may have to be sedated or anaesthetized to pass the stomach tube.
The ability to pass a tube into the stomach does not mean that the stomach or spleen has not twisted. It is also difficult to tell if any area of the stomach has lost its blood supply, nor will any large pieces of food or debris be removable through the tube. In 20% of cases, the tube will not pass into the stomach at all. Even those cases which respond optimally to non-surgical approaches have a high rate of recurrence at some time in the future.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when concerning bloat. The success rate
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