My 3 year old goldendoodle just suffered from bloat!!!

[Nicole Gordon]

'Hi Just some info for everyone who has a goldendoodle, my large 3 year old male suffered from bloat monday night and almost died. Luckily he received surgery in time and was saved. He is still in recovery and will takes weeks for him to get back to normal. I would like everyone to be aware of this horrible condition which kills dogs within hours. He was acting very strangely, he was dry heaving, walking around in circles than he went and hid under my deck. He finally came out and collapsed and started crying. We rushed him to the er and they had to quickly operate. Thank god he is ok, I am putting this out there cause I hope no one or no dog has to go through this and owners can be aware of the signs and catch it in time. He is the most wonderful dog and I can not imagine my life without him!! '.

[Nicole Gordon]

We are not sure what caused it, Emmit went to Doggy Day Camp in the morning than they transferred him to get groomed. I picked him up around 6. He did not eat anything, just drank some water when he came home. He went outside and about 30 minutes later he starting acting different. I had never heard of this disease and did not know what to look for. My Er doctor said they don't know exactly why they get but they have ideas:
drinking or eating to fast than going and playing hard (Emmit drank but did not eat)
elevated dog bowls (but Emmits was on the ground)
big, wide chested dogs (which he is, great danes, st. bernards, labs, poodles etc. but even small dogs can get it)
nervous, anxious dogs (which he is)
I just wanted people to know about it because this experience has been terrible, he has been greatly suffering and is still is alot of pain. Good luck to everyone and watch for signs, if anything unusual is going on bring your dog immediately it can kill within an hour!!! Thanks for all your support, Emmit is a strong dog he will be fine and pull through

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

BE AWARE ALL DOGS ARE PRONE TO BLOAT

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Bloat typically manifests through gastric distention, expansion of gas, fluid, and or food in the stomach and is usually the result of large hastily eaten meals, possibly followed with large amounts of water, and finally considerable amounts of exercise, usually within the first few hours after eating. The torsion or volvulus that occurs in bloat, are terms that describe the stomach rotating, essentially flipping over, causing an abnormal twisting of the intestines resulting in intestinal obstruction that limits the dogs ability to relieve the gas or excess fluid by vomiting or belching, and constriction of the intestines and esophagus, strangulating blood flow causing necrosis or gangrene, basically death of the blood starved tissue.
Once the blood supply is cut off, other ill-physiological events occur. Cardiac arrhythmia takes place once the blood returning to the heart decreases. Toxins build up throughout the body while it goes into shock. The stomach can rupture causing peritonitis.

Treating Bloat
While the exact cause of bloat is hard to fully understand, it is generally understood to occur following large amounts of food followed by extreme exercise. It is this exercise that causes stomach to expand with gas causing the distension that leads to more. If caught in time, a veterinarian will have the ability to insert a large tube down the dog’s esophagus to relieve the gas from the stomach. Alternatively, if it is caused by liquid and or food, this will give the distension a chance to also escape allowing a better chance of survival.

If relief hasn’t been provided, surgery is the next and immediate course of action and serves to untwist the stomach. This is a complicated and expensive procedure. Anesthesia is provided to the dog during preparation while shave and prep the abdominal area. The doctor will usually cut an incision from the sternum down to the groin to pull out the stomach and intestines. After untwisting the organs he also checks for signs of necrosis as the dog won’t be able to survive with dead tissue throughout the organs. If there are signs of necrotic tissue, the doctor will attempt to remove what he can. If signs are good the doctor will usually tack and anchor the stomach permanently to the abdomen to prevent any bloat recurrences.
Signs and Symptoms of Bloat
Most dogs with symptoms of bloat will have abdominal distention that you can both see and feel to the touch. Abnormal salivating and dry heaving will emerge as well as restlessness, lethargy and a rapid heart rate. A very obvious sign of discomfort will show in your dog – some will even look to you for help with confusion and fear in their eyes. These symptoms manifest of a short period of time and it is imperative to take your pet to the veterinarian at once – as no dog survives Bloat without treatment.

Prevention of Bloat
Prevention through the use of prophylactic measures for those that have a predisposition to bloat is the best coarse of action. There have been professionals agree that predispositions to bloat can be inherited. For those dogs and people, extra measure and caution should be taken including prophylactic gastroplexy. Furthermore, smaller feeding schedules i.e. 2 – 3 meals per day should be set. A couple of hours of rest should always follow any meal. Some dogs seem to get a big deal of energy after a meal and should be impeded.

Conclusion
All dogs are prone to bloat no matter the breed. Simple safeguards should be used – even if it is just a simple routine of eating, then lying down. Keep meal portions small and keep an eye out for signs of discomfort. If you do this, you help keep your pet around for a happier, healthier lifetime.

I have always given my dogs two or three meals a day, not because they were pups and you should feed them more times a day, but it does help them to empty out their stomachs, and you wouldn't like eating one meal a day and wolfing it down cause your hungry, it would give you an upset stomach, same with dogs! I will not let them run around for at least one hour after meals, they go on a short walk to relieve themselves and then its rest time. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I also put about a teaspoon of plain yogurt in my dogs food morning and night time, this helps the cultures in their stomachs and seems to keep them from getting upset stomachs, is fantastic for growing pups and helps with bones, their coats, and most picky eaters will eat their dry food with this over it.

[Sharon, Boo & Cricket]

Poor Emmit! :( I'm so glad that he pulled thru and is doing okay. What a scary thing to go thru. Thank you for telling us about this. Hugs and kisses to Emmit! :)

[Betsy D.]

Nicole, I am so sorry to hear about the last couple of days for you all. I have read these comments and I just wanted to add a dog not listed on Hannah's response. Standard Poodles are very prone to bloat, also, so there you have the double whammy with the "golden" and the "oodle". I grew up with both dogs and we never worried about our golden retrievers and bloat, however our standard poodles were a different story. My grandparents lost one of their standards to bloat and we had two who had the surgery for it. Please be aware that the surgery doesn't always correct the problem. They can still get bloat, however the stomach just doesn't twist. One of our standard poodles, Tory, had the surgery, but constantly would bloat after eating. We had to briskly rub her abdomon to facilitate burping. Once she did this, she was fine until the next meal.

My husband will never live down the story that got out in his office about why he was late every morning for a week. My mother was out of town and we stayed at her house to take care of her golden retriever and two standard poodles. I was a teacher and had to be at work by a certain time. My DH didn't have a clock to follow so he would feed, then walk the girls before he left. Toward the end of the week, one of his partners commented on his unusual tardiness. He explained about having to make Tory burp before he could leave and mornings were sometime difficult to get her to do this. Of course this was passed around the office and to this day he is periodically teased about having to burp a dog before coming to work!!!

Hopefully you won't have to take these steps! I am glad he is doing well. Keep loving your baby! Betsy

[LINDA & TEDDY]

Sending healing wishes for your adorable Emmit. What a blessing that you caught it early and took him to the vet. As you know, time is of the essence with bloat.

[Kyoko]

My 13 year old Chow Chow had this. It was about a year and a half ago.
I woke up in a middle of the night with him whinning. I thought he may have to go to the bathroom for some reason, so I took him outside. He peed a little, we go back in a house, and I go back to bed. We did this may be three times, and he still looks at discomfort. When I started to pet him, I noticed that his stomach was bloated and rock hard!! I did not know what it was, but rushed him to the emergency vet. When I was told that he had "Flipped his stomach", I was totally puzzled. "Flipped his stomach?! How did that happened?!" Vet said that it needed to be taken care of immidiately, otherwise, the twisted stomach will cut off blood flow, air supply to the organs, and he will die in matter of few hours, he will not last until the morning. Well, he went under the surgery, and a year and half later, he is still doing fine and kicking at 13 years old. But this ended up costing me $2,500.

[HANNAH 8/2/07 & HONEY 7/2/08]

Sorry to hear about your doodle Nicole, most people do not know about Bloat unless you experience it, or have had it explained during obedience classes. Most trainers around here will talk about Bloat, and also with my pet sitting experiences and accreditations we have to keep an eye out for this when watching others loved ones.


Bloat typically manifests through gastric distention, expansion of gas, fluid, and or food in the stomach and is usually the result of large hastily eaten meals, possibly followed with large amounts of water, and finally considerable amounts of exercise, usually within the first few hours after eating. The torsion or volvulus that occurs in bloat, are terms that describe the stomach rotating, essentially flipping over, causing an abnormal twisting of the intestines resulting in intestinal obstruction that limits the dogs ability to relieve the gas or excess fluid by vomiting or belching, and constriction of the intestines and esophagus, strangulating blood flow causing necrosis or gangrene, basically death of the blood starved tissue.

Once the blood supply is cut off, other ill-physiological events occur. Cardiac arrhythmia takes place once the blood returning to the heart decreases. Toxins build up throughout the body while it goes into shock. The stomach can rupture causing peritonitis.

Treating Bloat
While the exact cause of bloat is hard to fully understand, it is generally understood to occur following large amounts of food followed by extreme exercise. It is this exercise that causes stomach to expand with gas causing the distension that leads to more. If caught in time, a veterinarian will have the ability to insert a large tube down the dog’s esophagus to relieve the gas from the stomach. Alternatively, if it is caused by liquid and or food, this will give the distension a chance to also escape allowing a better chance of survival.

If relief hasn’t been provided, surgery is the next and immediate course of action and serves to untwist the stomach. This is a complicated and expensive procedure. Anesthesia is provided to the dog during preparation while shave and prep the abdominal area. The doctor will usually cut an incision from the sternum down to the groin to pull out the stomach and intestines. After untwisting the organs he also checks for signs of necrosis as the dog won’t be able to survive with dead tissue throughout the organs. If there are signs of necrotic tissue, the doctor will attempt to remove what he can. If signs are good the doctor will usually tack and anchor the stomach permanently to the abdomen to prevent any bloat recurrences.

Signs and Symptoms of Bloat
Most dogs with symptoms of bloat will have abdominal distention that you can both see and feel to the touch. Abnormal salivating and dry heaving will emerge as well as restlessness, lethargy and a rapid heart rate. A very obvious sign of discomfort will show in your dog – some will even look to you for help with confusion and fear in their eyes. These symptoms manifest of a short period of time and it is imperative to take your pet to the veterinarian at once – as no dog survives Bloat without treatment.

Prevention of Bloat
Prevention through the use of prophylactic measures for those that have a predisposition to bloat is the best coarse of action. There have been professionals agree that predispositions to bloat can be inherited. For those dogs and people, extra measure and caution should be taken including prophylactic gastroplexy. Furthermore, smaller feeding schedules i.e. 2 – 3 meals per day should be set. A couple of hours of rest should always follow any meal. Some dogs seem to get a big deal of energy after a meal and should be impeded.

Conclusion
All dogs are prone to bloat no matter the breed. Simple safeguards should be used – even if it is just a simple routine of eating, then lying down. Keep meal portions small and keep an eye out for signs of discomfort. If you do this, you help keep your pet around for a happier, healthier lifetime.

I have always given my dogs two or three meals a day, not because they were pups and you should feed them more times a day, but it does help them to empty out their stomachs, and you wouldn't like eating one meal a day and wolfing it down cause your hungry, it would give you an upset stomach, same with dogs! I will not let them run around for at least one hour after meals, they go on a short walk to relieve themselves and then its rest time. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I also put about a teaspoon of plain yogurt in my dogs food morning and night time, this helps the cultures in their stomachs and seems to keep them from getting upset stomachs, is fantastic for growing pups and helps with bones, their coats, and most picky eaters will eat their dry food with this over it.












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[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

What causes this?

[Deena Womack]

Did the vet say what caused it? Thank goodness you acted as quickly as you did, and thanks for the warning. I am sorry that you had to go through this and I hope that Emmit recovers quickly.