Hi,

Some time ago there was a post on here about Bloat. And somebody - think it was Tohme, mentioned something that you can give to your dogs whilst in transit to the Vets that can possibly help?  Reason that I ask this is as well as having a breed that is particularly prone to bloat   - my friend has just suffered this awful tradgedy and lost her Weim :(

Don't know if it's the same advice as Tohme gave but I have been told that a spoonful of Gaviscon should be administered to buy time en route to the vets (I have breeds prone to bloat too).

How awful for your friend :-(

Found this link from the great dane site........[url=].http://www.danes.org.uk/bloat.htm[/url]

Seems not all vets recommend giving anything, so maybe worth a check. I had a dog that had torsion, so trying to administer anything to a dog that has twisted would be wasting time that could be spent travelling post haste to the vet. I'll never forget it, thankfully the vet did a wonderful job and she never twisted again and lived to a good age.

Simethicone, it cannot do any harm.

It is routinely given to cattle to avoid a similar problem and in the US you can get commercial products for dogs such as Gas Aid.

You can find it in Infacol colic drops and Windeze tablets.  It is the simethicone that is the key ingredient, any other formulation without it is useless.  It takes a second to administer and is not contraindicated by vets.

having a dog that is a giant breed and has come through Bloat i wouldnt waste time in trying to give anything.

JUST GET THEM TO THE VET ASAP.

i agree, i worked in an emergency vets a few years ago, and we didnt advise anything, just get them down as soon as possible, every minute really does count!

it would take seconds to give them a windeeze tablet, if that might buy them time then im going to make sure I keep some handy.  My breed is one of the worst for bloat.

I have some handout somewhere from when I did my course at Bishop Burton, will try and dish them out. 

Vets know how to treat Bloat but are unsure what exactly causes it.  I have had a Dobe that has been rushed to vets twice with bloat.

But if you have two people around to get the dogs to the vets surely that time spent doing nothing whilst in transit could be the time to administer such tablets and therefore will not waste any time.

Unfortantly if you are on your own it's not qite the same :(

Thing is are we talking bloat or twist? Once they have twisted they will die unless immdediate action is taken by the vet....how will antiacid medication help? It can't relieve coz it can't get anywhere.

I'v had a twist, its fast and furious, the sooner you are at the vets and they are working the better chance the dog has.

How do you tell a twist from bloat....sometimes you can't ,only an Xray will tell for sure.

my retreiver x collie has twisted stomach in october, ever so scarey, but i rushed him straight to the vet and they got right onto it,  they tested by assing a tube, which only went so far, then they x-rayed and gave me the awful choice of having a go at an op, or having him pts there and then, he was only 6 and fit and healthy fun loving boy, so i wasnt ready to give up on him if he had a chance of a normal life. he is now back to the happy bouncy boy he always has been, after a long time to recoup he is also back having fun doing agility again too!

i was lucky to have caught it, he came and woke me up as it was 4am, if he hadnt of done i would of lost him, the vet mentioned how close he was, so i was very lucky, his signs were very easy and clear to spot, restless, panting, retching, moaning and grumbling, he wanted to lie down rather than do anything else.
when they untwisted, they told me the contents of his stomach still had his evening meal in there, he was walked at 5pm as normal, then fed at 8, so the situation wasnt the problem either, just bad luck.

i know what caused mine to bloat.

a vit b12 deficiency which causes a malabsorption problem. this caused the dry food to ferment in the stomach causing gas build up and an inflamed tummy. he didnt twist but the vet couldnt get the tube down because of the inflamation. x-rays were taken and the vet decided to open him up, no twist so he used a needle to puncture the stomach releasing the gas, then a tube was passed down to empty the stomach of un-digested food.

i now feed raw.

i still wouldnt mess about with giving the dog anything, what use would it be??? you need a vet asap!!!!

Out of interest, what kind of diet were those of you with experience of bloat feeding at the time of the incident?

my 5 yr old rottie girl had bloat last month, my first case ever of bloat, i knew straight away just by looking at her, rushed her to the emergency where xrays confirmed bloat, luckily she hadnt twisted yet but could barely walk bless her, i agreed to surgery and as the vet lifted her on the table to administer the GA she threw up all over him and saved herself from surgery - i cried with joy!!!

she was on a diet of raw and kibble at the time, only her second ever meal of raw, not the best start eh, she has been fine since and i feel very lucky to have her still!!! :)

I lost one of my girls to bloat last week. She was 3 weeks post whelp, fit ,healthy and a very good mum. She hadn't bolted her food, gulped water etc. just can't work out what happend. We were at the vets (late Friday evening) in less than 30 minutes of the first signs but too late as she had twisted and despite the vets doing everything they could it wasn't to be.

She had a diet of kibble and raw, but always has. There was nothing different about her diet other than the extra needed to feed her pups.I knew about bloat but hadn't seen it before.
So we are still in shock and devasted. The puppies are doing OK so far and the other dogs are quiet.

Karen R i'm so sorry to hear of your loss. you must be devastated.

this just shows how quick Bloat can be and every second counts, so trying to give gaviscon will just delay the treatment they need.

my boy was on kibble, never again will i feed this food wether or not the dog is a high risk.

i'm just glad i had the blood tests done to find out what was going on.

(((((hugs)))) to Karen R.

Hi Karen,

so sorry to hear about your girl, that is tragic what an awful thing to happen, i think that sometimes no matter what we do there will always be tragic circumstances for unknown reasons.
i really feel for you and send you all my best wishes and all the best with her babies i hope they all do well :) x

Karen, so very sorry to hear this. My thoughts are with you.
Anyone who has had a dog suffer with bloat will know how you feel, and know how fast this condition can turn wrong. Sometimes there is just nothing that can be done, despite our fast response and the vets work when you get there, They say bloat/torsion is the one true medical emergency that requires immediate emergency treatment, and thats a fact. You don't really know you are out of the woods for a couple of weeks after, due to the shock to the system...as told to me by my vet.

My girl was on Eukanuba adult, this was years ago before it was taken over by P and G and was the market leader. It came out of the blue, no stress, fast work, nothing. About midway between breakfast and evening meal.

Karen....I hope your puppies are well.

Unless gaviscon containe simethicone it is pointless administering it.

I have had two dogs with gastric torsion, one of which bloated a few years previously.  Extensive research brought me to the decision to carry simethicone which I have discussed with various vets.

FWIW neither of my two dogs presented with ANY typical signs GDV and even the vet did not think they had it.  I just happened to know my dogs extremely well.

If you do not want to administer simethicone then do not.  The few seconds it takes to give is not going to amount to a hill of beans.  We must all do what we think is best for our own dogs.

Thank you everybody for your replies and thank you tohme for re-posting what I was looking for as I have moved in between storing your recommendation, so had lost it.

Karen, I sympathise deeply with you, it is a truly dreadful thing to happen and I am only too aware by having a breed that is susceptible to bloat/torsion what can happen, hence the post.

As in the example of my friends Weim, she also did not present any symptoms but my friend knew that something was not right also aided and abetted by the other dogs who were very restless and fussing around the Weim which for them, was unusual.

The very reason that I asked the question was because I wanted to be able to do something that could possibly help in those precious seconds when time is against you. IMO it would not hinder us getting to the Vet and if it could make a difference - great - if not, it hasn't wasted any time as it would be done in transit

> We must all do what we think is best for our own dogs.<

I couldn't agree more. I have read up on every article that I can that has been published and posted on this dreadful infliction, including speaking to several Vets and there are so many contradictory indicators out there that I am totally confused as to minimising the chances of it.

I personally feed BARF without kibble as I have fed complete in the past and watching how it swells in the bowl after being subjected to liquid - i.e. when the dog has a drink then goes back to it - was enough to put me off. Not to say that complete causes bloat/torsion, just that I made a decision a while ago never to feed it again having imagined what it does in the stomach after ingestion of deep chested dogs.

Thank you everyone for all your kind words. Everyone has been so supportive - even one of the vets and assistant calling by to see how we are doing.
They were also so stunned and of course it is their worst nightmare. We have had a long debate about diet etc.

I wish I had the answer. I don't feed a a high amount of kibble, about a third of diet kibble two thirds Barf, if that makes sense.

If I find anything in my research I think may help I will post.

The puppies are doing well so far.

Karen

The weimaraner forum has/had a big debate regarding bloat, as it is common in weims, maybe worth a look, and chat with other weim people about this?

Regarding Simethicone - does anybody know what doses to give when in Infacol or Windeze? - i.e. Milligrams or whatever per body weight? Mine are approx 50-65 kilo's - boy being latter end of the scale - girl being lower end.

>Out of interest, what kind of diet were those of you with experience of bloat feeding at the time of the incident?<

At the time, Kibble -

Karen , I am so very sorry to hee this, you must be devastated at what shuld otherwise be a happy time.x

It matters not the dosage, but if you consider that windeze doses are predicated on an average human weight, you need to decrease the dose proportionately for  the weight of dog, however you are unlikely to OD on simethicone.  Infacol is obviously directed at infants therefore logically you should increase the dose

Out of interest, what kind of diet were those of you with experience of bloat feeding at the time of the incident?

harvey was having dry food ( kibble) with warm water, and he is golden ret x border collie and is more the retriever shape, he is a big boy with a deep chest compared to my other bc's

Thanks for the replies all. From what I've read here and elsewhere there does seem to be a much higher incidence of bloat in kibble fed dogs, as compared to those fed raw or wet food. I can't find much at all about bloat in dogs fed wet food actually (although possibly the majority of dogs feed tinned/wet foods are smaller, less bloat-prone breeds, because of the quantities of these foods that are needed if that makes sense). Found a few other incidences in raw fed dogs on various message boards and a few fed grainless kibble (contrary to the belief that it's fermenting grains in kibble that cause bloat!).

Has anyone here actually made up an emergency bloat kit with the plastic tubing etc? Think I'd be too terrified!