Is it hereditary or are some dogs just just pre disposed towards it.

Hi TTS, I lost one of my Irish Setters to bloat in November 2002. The other is still here, they were half brothers, the one that died had bloated a total of 3 times,seriously, and many many times in a milder way. The remaining dog has never ever bloated.

They were fed, watered and exercised in an identical way. Therefor it is my belief that some dogs are simply more prone to this than others. I always took every known precaution, but it happened anyway, 3 times. So I also believe that if it's going to happen it will happen, and it cannot be avoided.

Dawn R.

PS put bloat into the search facility, and my story and others will come up.

I agree with Nursey - I do however think that certain breeds are more prone to it too.

I have lost a dog with it & having always worked with dogs - I too did everything "by the book" & it still happened. :(

I think it's just one of those things.

This is one this that I always worry about with mine :( I do go 'by the book' and have done the research but it's always a worry.

Likewise, this is one of my worries too.  Some think that food plays a part but there were dogs that bloated during surgery.   There has been some studies linking it to potassium deficiency in the body with dogs fed commercial diets but there is nothing conclusive.

Most people tend to think that a predisposed genetic factor is largely responsible.

There are lots of theories but as far as I know the cause for bloat has not yet been determined.

The reason I am asking this question is that two litter brothers one the dad to my 3 show dogs and his brother have both had it one died the other has had a major operation this week.  Their aunt also suffers from it so obviously am a little concerned it might be passed down although none have ever showed any signs of it in fact getting two of them to eat is a miracle ;)

Not exactly heriditary as such but certainly in Weims there have been lines that appear to have been more predisposed to it than others.

Again, one of those conditions that is multi factorial with no easy answers

Lost two of mine to gastric torsion and never want to go through it again.......

Linda Arndt (greatdanelady.com) has written a number of interesting articles on the subject. She says:

"It is my opinion; the disease of bloat and torsion manifests itself under stressful conditions. Sometimes the stress is external and obvious. Other times it may be triggered by one event, but is my feeling the disease is multi-factored in response to a chronic deterioration of the total system affected by environmental, physiological, dietary and psychological factors. These factors, singly or in combination, causes excessive wear on the animal's system, changes the pH balance from acid to alkaline, encourages pathogenic bacteria growth (bloat), and alters the body's electrical and chemical balance (torsion)."

See this page: http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles.htm

This is a subject that is close to my heart and I am always looking for new researched information on it. The breed that I currently have are very prone to GT and some days I worry myself silly looking for signs of it, stupid thing is, apart from intuition that something is wrong with one of my dogs, I don't really know what I'm looking for.

When I asked my breeder about using raised feeding bowls, in their opinion, they believed that raised bowls could exacerbate the condition so advised not to. But.......I have read so many contradictory articles on this subject.

Again, diet. Some people swear by feeding raw as they say it digests naturally, whereas, commercial dry fed food has a tendency to swell in the gut. Also, no large amounts of water directly before or after any food. Certainly  not asking for a debate on Barf V Commercial here, but still an issue to be considered in my mind.

Obviously, no excercise approx 1 hr before feeding and 2hrs after. I follow this rigidly, as I know myself, excercising after food gives me violent indigestion.

Are some lines predisposed to it. Again speaking to people in my breed, some say yes but the general concensus of opinion is no, you are just unlucky.

And lastly, as someone else mentioned, stress. It is purely coincidental, but I know of 2 dogs that suffered GT and both were what you would call stress prone by their nature. One showed very few signs of discomfort until it was too late and the other one was outwardly in agony and was saved.......this time.

Is Milk of Magnesia a good thing to give if you are sure that they are displaying the early signs of it? I have been told this on many occasions by many different people.

FWIW I would not give MoM however what I WOULD have handy is a product that contains simethicone.

In the US they produce a product called GAS AID which contains this.

Simethicone is used in cattle too when they have a blow up.

You can find this in a heartburn remedy called Windeze tablets or Infacol, the baby colic remedy.

It is NOT instead of taking the dog to the vet, but can be given as you are on your way.

I had a very peculiar dog that blew up a lot, and this product ameliorated the problem.

HTH

I always presumed that should I ever find myself in the unfortunate position of having to make an emergency vet visit regarding this condition I would dose with MoM whilst on the way there.

Thank you for that, I shall now keep some in stock :)

Strange you should mention stress as the dogs owner had been on holiday and he had been staying with her daughter.

I was told to give Milk of Magnesia by my vet, at the first signs of bloat.

Hi, I would go along with the idea of Simethicone. Being an Endoscopy nurse, we use it to disperse gastric bubbles, and it works instantly. So I could very well see how that could help in bloat.

Dawn R.

This subject is also a worry to myself, i've done/doing lots & lots of research on this problem, i've recently adopted a 4 yr old dobe, he had bloat whilst in the rescue centre (and now his stomach is stapled) but still i've had to make 2 emergency visits to the vets!  I've tried everything, "james well be loved" Hills (for sencitive stomachs) but he's still blown up a few times, my vets tell me to lift the food bowl to head height, but i've read info telling me not to, it's such a worrying thing as I don't know how to stop it!  his intestenes keep filling with gas :-( the 3rd set of blood tests will be back at the vets soon so Please God they'll be able to actually help me!

Regards

Luke & Bailey

Hi Luke, try not to let the worry of this spoil the pleasure that Bailey gives you. I really do believe that there is nothing you can do to avoid bloat if it's going to happen. However I too feed my remaining Irish Setter (also called Bailey) from a raised feeding bowl stand. You are right though, there is some debate about whether it makes things better or worse. You must do what you feel is right and stick with your decision.

Does Bailey wolf his food down? You could try putting a couple of tennis balls into his bowl with the food, eating around the balls, slows them down so that they are less likely to swallow air.

Please don't worry youself too much, enjoy him. :)

Dawn R.

Yeah he certainly wolfs his food down, he's the same with water, i'll try the tennis ball thing though :-)
Thanks very much for the replies :-)

Regards Luke & Bailey