How We Almost Lost Maddie to Bloat this Weekend

[Harper]

We have two dogs, a 17 week-old Labradoodle puppy named Harper and a 13 and a half year-old Dalmatian named Maddie.  This weekend we almost lost Maddie to bloat and it was a terrifying experience.  The good news is that she is back from the animal hospital and is recovering well.

 

Everything was normal on Friday night and Maddie was scarfing up her food.  She stopped eating after awhile and started acting weird.  She was extremely restless and wouldn't calm down even when we took her to her bed.  She kept trying to throw up but was never successful, something I had never seen before.  Apparently this is the number one sign of bloat.  She kept trying to throw up every 5 minutes but nothing would happen.  She didn't have the typical bloated stomach yet, but I'm sure it would have gotten there.  Dalmatians almost never get bloat due to their body type, but the vet thinks it must have happened after she had a full stomach, fell over, and the food and water just sloshed the stomach until it flipped over.  

 

At the time we had no idea what was happening and we were waiting it out to see if it would get better.  If we had known it was bloat we would have rushed her to the vet immediately because it can apparently kill a dog within an hour (imagine how much this scared me when I found this out).  Our vet is only 2 miles away and is open 24 hours, so we were able to rush over there once we started to suspect it was serious.  She got an X-ray immediately that showed her flipped stomach and they operated right away.  Thank goodness we caught it in time and she was able to get the surgery to flip her stomach back the right way before anything serious happened to her organs.  The surgeon tacked her stomach to her insides with 5 stitches so we could be almost certain it would never happen again.  

 

I hope no one else has ever had to deal with bloat, but please keep an eye on your dogs (especially the larger ones) because it can happen to the ones you don't expect.  

[Rose]

That is frightening! I'm so glad to hear Maddie is okay.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I'm glad Maddie is going to be OK. Thanks for reminding us of this scary problem. We have information for others at the Danger Group

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

Bloat is very scary.  I am so glad that you took Maddie to the vet as quick as you did.  I am happy to hear that she is doing better.

We went through something very similar last week with our 10 year old beagle, Baxter.  Last Monday he started vomiting and was completely uninterested in food...very unlike him.  We took him to the vet and x-rays showed a bubble in his stomach.  Vet gave him some meds & IV for dehydration with orders to come on Tuesday if he was still vomiting.  Tuesday he was still vomiting so back to the vet we went.  He had surgery Tuesday afternoon to remove the blockage.  He is doing well now and stitches come out tomorrow.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

Thank goodness Maddie is okay, what a terrifying ordeal!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad Maddie's okay. Scary, indeed!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

thank goodness Maddie is okay.  I am sorry you had to go through this, but am so happy she is okay.  Thanks for the reminder.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

I am so sorry to hear that you and Maddie had to go through this :-( Bloat is incredibly scary.  One of my best friends lost her 8 year old golden retriever to bloat about 5 months ago.  It sounds like you were really aware of something going on and I am sure that is what saved her.  God Bless!!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

You must have been scared to death!  Thank goodness she's okay.  Maddie is so beautiful!  Our last dog (before Doodles) was also a Dalmatian, and she was a wonderful girl.  Thanks for this reminder.

[Sally, Ditzy Mitzi & Sgt. Pepper]

So glad Maddie is o.k.  That is truly frightening.  Every time I see someone buy a raised food bowl system I think of bloat.I have read that they can contribute to it.  I hope I am wrong, too many people use them if they are not

safe.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am so glad Maddie is ok. This experience sounds absolutely terrifying. Love the picture!