Goldendoodle and Bloat

[Mandy & Sprocket]

Hey All,

I just wanted to remind or tell you about bloat.

Sprocket suffered from bloat a couple of weeks ago...twice in 2 days. Luckily he had surgery the first time and his stomach was tacked so the second time although the bloating was much worse, his stomach hadn't flipped. There was no obvious triggers that caused his bloat (i.e. he hadn't eaten, drank or exercised for hours). He had; however, always had digestive issues (or so we think). Also, Sprocket is only 2 years old...very young for bloat. 

Get to know the symptoms of bloat (pacing, panting, whining, *lapping at air*, gagging).

Sprocket threw up a few times and had pink gums. The two vets we spoke to on the phone told us these were good signs and proved he was fine; however, we insisted (suggestion of a friend who lost a dog to bloat) on getting him to the emergency vet and getting an xray just in case (it was 1am). Turns out (to the vets amazement) that his stomach had turned. The second episode of bloat occurred about three hours after he returned home from the vet the next day. He had not exercised, only ate a very small amount of soft food and only drank a very small amount (about 2 hours before). 

Anyway, he's doing well now... but if you notice the symptoms do not hesitate to call or visit a vet and insist on an xray!!!!

Love, Mandy and Sprocket

[Pam & Trixie]

Im sorry to hear about Sprockets Bloats.  Im glad he is doing good.  I hope that he does not have any more problems. 

Bloat is very scary. 

That 'Gas x' product sounds like something worth using.  I few months back I read about dogs that tend to bloat often...Just very mildly after thier initial ER bloat.

 

I think Stress has alot to do with Bloat...I feel it was at least part of the cause for my Springer to bloat 2 of her 4 times that she Bloated.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Purdue study and subsequent recommendations not to use raised bowls were a complete pendulum swing, as prior to that, raised bowls were believed to decrease the risk of bloat.

[Mandy & Sprocket]

A very knowledgeable friend of mine told me NOT to raise their bowls (she insisted I ignore the vet if they told me to do so...but they didn't). I trust her, as she's the one that insisted that I get Sprocket to the hospital for an x ray even when they said he was okay. She has tons of experiences with large dogs.

Here is what was found in the study (the vet I contacted via email was the guy who lead this study).

The Glickman et al study, done on large and giant breed dogs, found that use of a raised feeder actually increases the risk of bloat by 110%. Dr. Glickman’s data showed that “approximately 20% and 50% of cases of GDV among the large and giant breed dogs, respectively, were attributed to having a raised food bowl.” (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2000;217:1492-1499).

[F, Calla & Luca]

There seems to be mixed opinions on raised bowls from what I've read.

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

By the way, Sprocket is so cute!  It freaks me out because the way you describe Sprocket's size is like Maggie's.  She is 60 pounds, and has a tall frame too, so she looks fairly thin.    Are you supposed to use raised dishes when they eat or not?  Does that matter?

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Thanks Mandy for the response. Another worry for a caring doodle mom. Hopefully it never happens again.

Before I started giving Daisy homemade chicken jerky she rarely had gas, fortunately (or unfortunately for those in the room) she seems to "pass" it quite easily.

Best Wishes.

[Mandy & Sprocket]

Hi Bonnie, 

Sprocket is only 60lbs but his is very thin (very fussy eater). He does have a very tall frame.

From what end are they gassy? I was giving Sprocket Probiotic yogurt with his food (he'd get bored with his food after a couple of weeks and that was the only way I could get him to eat) but I'll definitely try ProZyme! Sprocket never has issues from his rare end :) He's never had diarrhea (thank goodness) nor does he ever pass gas down there. I wish he did break wind, might solve all this drama! 

[Bonnie and Kona]

Mandy, No need to "shut up"! We are all interested in you, your sweet Sprocket and anything related to doodle health. I have a big doodle. He's 85-90 pounds. Is Sprocket bigger than that? Both of our doodles have been super gassy lately and I think it could be attributed to them eating a lot of grass. I'm not sure why they are doing this, there has been no change in their diet. One thing I have used for gas for my dogs is ProZyme. It helped so much. I don't know if that would be an option for Sprocket now... not saying it would help bloat.

[Mandy & Sprocket]

Here is some of the email from the "bloat" vet :)

"You are one of an increasing number of owners who describe a recurrence of bloat in a dog previously treated surgically for gastric torsion. Iin these dogs, interventions have not been effective in preventing additional episodes of bloat including diet changes, behavioral therapy, a wide variety of drugs that affect gastric motility or pH, and even additional surgery.  Therefore at this time I am unable to recommend a specific treatment or preventive action.  As far as why your dog developed bloat at such a young age despite the obvious lack of risk factors, I strongly suspect that the pedigree would reveal a history of torsion in first degree relatives.  Unfortunately there are currently no genetic tests that can identify susceptible individuals."

I am on a Facebook site with hundreds of people that have purchased from the same breeder and no one has had any issues. Sprocket is; however, very large for a Goldendoodle (vet said one of the largest she's seen...she'd consider him in the "giant" category) which could make him more susceptible.

I'll shut up now :)

[Mandy & Sprocket]

Hi all,

Thanks for your kind words!

I have to say for the past 2 weeks I have been researching on the computer constantly! Unfortunately, I'm no further ahead with the reasoning as to why it occurred nor prevention from it happening again. I emailed a vet in the States who had completed a mayor study on bloat but he didn't seem to have any answers either (he also stated that as he wasn't Sprocket's vet he couldn't legally tell me what to do). 

During my research and asking ANYONE who'd listen, found out that you can buy pure Simethicone (main ingredient is Gas x). Apparently you cannot overdose on it and it is great to have on hand to slow down the bloat process. Because Sprocket is still having issues (he's been belching, and has thrown up a couple times, even on his gastro-intestinal food), I was told (not by a vet) to give him 1cc of Simethicone before meals (you give a lot more than that if you suspect bloat). 

Lisa, we are unsure what happened the second time. The vets don't know either. They claim to have removed all gas during the surgery... but my boyfriend and I are thinking maybe there was gas left in his intestines that backed up?? Just a guess, they didn't say that was the reason, but they did say there was gas in his intestines as well as in his stomach.

I'm going crazy, the poor dog can't even pant anymore because I freak out thinking something is wrong! haha

I truly don't think any vets know...unfortunately, bloat seems to be a mystery.