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Bloat – Understanding the Signs and Symptoms

April 2, 2016 16 Comments

When it comes to giant breed health and nutrition, there's a lot that goes into raising a happy, healthy dog. We're going from A to Z talking about giant breed specific needs!

Bloat – Understanding the Signs and Symptoms

Growing up, we had two Samoyeds: Rascal and Clancey. I think that’s where my love of Great Pyrenees started. I loved their look and personality, but wanted a bigger dog with less energy. Rascal and Clancey were absolutely amazing dogs and we loved them dearly.

When I was 15, we took a vacation to Mexico while other family members cared for our dogs. A hurricane had just come through the area we were vacationing, so phone lines were down and we weren’t able to contact them. We had a great time, flew home, and then gave them a call to let them know we landed safely.

I remember this moment so clearly.

My mom called to say we’ve landed and I see the blood immediately drain from her face. She starts crying, completely in shock, and hands the phone to my dad. Tears started to well up in my dad’s eyes.

My dad doesn’t cry. My siblings and I knew it was bad, but we weren’t sure what happened.

While dad was still on the phone, mom looked at my brother, sister, and myself and said,

“Clancey passed away.”

Clancey was only 7 and he was a perfectly healthy dog. How could this have possibly happened?

Our family was heartbroken as we struggled to leave the airport and keep it together. We were all trying not to sob in such a public place, but we were a mess. Even though we could tell he was struggling, my dad kept us going and got us to the car.

As we crossed the street, my rolling suitcase tipped over and everything that I had balanced on it fell everywhere. My sister or I (I can’t remember who) tripped and we both lost it. Sitting in the middle of the street at the airport sobbing away with our stuff everywhere. The sweetest old man helped us get our stuff together.

When we made it home and to the vet to see Clancey one last time, we found out that he had passed away from bloat. Our family that was watching him couldn’t have done anything – it happened so incredibly fast.

Now that I’m sobbing after writing that, let’s move on to some facts about bloat.

Bloat

Bloat is a serious and often deadly condition that occurs when a dog’s stomach becomes filled with gas, fluid, or food. The stomach expands which puts pressure on other organs. This can prevent blood flow to the heart and stomach lining, tear the wall of the stomach, and create a harder time breathing.

In some cases, the stomach will twist. Vets refer to this as gastric dilation volvulus. When the stomach twists, blood is trapped in the stomach and blocked from returning to the heart and the rest of the body. When this happens, your dog can go into shock.

Symptoms

The symptoms of bloat can vary and they happen extremely quickly. Some signs to look for include:

  • Excessive drooling
  • Pacing and acting restless and anxious
  • Trying to vomit with nothing coming up
  • A swollen stomach

As the condition worsens, the dog may have pale gums, a rapid heartbeat, or be short of breath. He might even feel weak and eventually collapse. If your dog is showing any of the preliminary symptoms, it’s important to get your dog to the vet immediately. Bloat is not something you should take lightly. The length varies, but dogs can bloat and pass away in a matter of minutes.

Causes

Here’s the rough part – vets aren’t entirely sure what causes bloat. However, there are some risk factors.

  • Having a large meal once per day
  • Eating too quickly
  • Activity to soon after eating
  • Eating or drinking too much
  • Stress

While any dog can have bloat, it’s much more common in large, deep-chested dogs. This includes, but is not limited to, Great Danes, Great Pyrenees, Irish Setters, Rottweilers, St. Bernards, and Weimaraners. There are several other breeds that are more susceptible to bloat than others so it’s important to research your own dog.

Treatment

Treatment for bloat will depend on how severe the condition is. In order to release the built up pressure in the stomach, the vet will put a tube down the dog’s throat. If the stomach has already twisted and is preventing the tube from entering the stomach, the vet will use a large, hollow needle through his belly to release the pressure.

X-rays will be conducted to determine if the stomach has twisted, which will require emergency surgery to fix. IV fluids, antibiotics, steroids, and an examination of the rest of the body may also be necessary.

Prevention

There are several ways to help prevent bloat from happening to your dog.

  • No activity within an hour before or two hours after eating.
  • Feed several small meals throughout the day rather than large ones.
  • Ensure your dog isn’t gulping water and drinking a normal amount.

Raised Feeding

You may have noticed that I haven’t mentioned raised feeding bowls in this article. Well, that’s partly because I’m trying to keep these posts shorter, but partly because there doesn’t seem to be a right answer at this time.

If you research raised feeding and bloat, you’ll find several articles containing convincing theories as to why one is better than the other. Since this is such a complex and controversial topic, I’m planning a more lengthy post in the future to help summarize the research that is currently available.

What else do you feel people should know about bloat?

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When it comes to giant breed health and nutrition, there's a lot that goes into raising a happy, healthy dog. We're going from A to Z talking about giant breed specific needs!

Filed Under: A to Z Challenge, What's New Tagged With: a to z challenge, blogging, giant breed health

Announcing the A to Z Challenge

April 1, 2016 5 Comments

When it comes to giant breed health and nutrition, there's a lot that goes into raising a happy, healthy dog. We're going from A to Z talking about giant breed specific needs!

I am SO EXCITED to announce that It’s Dog or Nothing will be participating in the A-Z Challenge this year. If you haven’t heard of the challenge, let me explain it a bit.

Every April, bloggers from all different niches take on the challenge to blog every day but Sundays for an entire month. If blogging 6 days per week wasn’t intimidating enough, they up the bar by having you blog thematically from A to Z.

Started in 2011, the challenge is formatted very similarly to Sue Grafton’s best selling series of detective novels. It started with “A is for Alibi” and she has made it all the way through the letter X at this point. Obviously, the blogging challenge is much simpler than what Sue Grafton is doing. I certainly won’t be writing entire books about each letter!

When I signed up for the challenge back in February, I was confident that I was going to have ample time to prepare. I was going to have sponsors lined up for giveaways and have most of the posts written. Then of course, life got in the way.

I didn’t have quite the headstart that I wanted, but to make things even more difficult – I just had surgery.

The surgery is nothing serious, but required me to stay in the hospital overnight. I didn’t plan that downtime into my preparation schedule! Don’t you worry – I’m still going to knock out this challenge 😉

For the month of April, you can expect posts relating to Great Pyrenees (and giant breeds in general) health and nutrition. Each day, we’ll touch on a different topic and discuss ways to ensure your giant furbaby lives a long, healthy life.

Even better – we will be hosting approximately three giveaways per week! We’re partnering with some amazing brands so you can experience some of the products we love so much. Make sure you stop by frequently so you don’t miss any information or giveaways. To make life easy, just bookmark this page. I will update it daily with the latest post!

I’m really excited to take this journey with you and I hope you are looking forward to this as much as I am!

A – Announcing the A to Z Challenge (this post)

B – Bloat

C – Coconut Oil Benefits for Dogs

D – Dysplasia | Canine Hip Dysplasia

E – Entropion in Giant Breeds

F – Fur That Shines (Bright Like a Diamond)

G – Grooming Great Pyrenees Pantaloons

H – Hypothyroidism in Giant Breed Dogs

I – Itchies and Providing Relief

J – Joint Health for Giant Breed Dogs

K – Keep it True with Living Nutrition

L – Lumps and Bumps

M – Mange in Dogs

N – Nutrition Variation with a Rotation Diet

O – Osteosarcoma in Dogs

P – Power Your Pyrenees with Complete Health #GrainFreeForMe

Q – Quick Avoidance

R – Rake the Undercoat

S – Shedding – 8 Ways to Manage the Madness

T – Tartar-Free Teeth

U – Unique Double Dew Claws

V – Voice Your [Dog’s] Style with PrideBites

W – Wobbler Syndrome in Dogs

X – Xtra Mud Not Necessary

Y – Yeast Infections in Dogs

Z – Zilch, Zero, None: A Mat-Free Pyrenees

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When it comes to giant breed health and nutrition, there's a lot that goes into raising a happy, healthy dog. We're going from A to Z talking about giant breed specific needs!

Filed Under: A to Z Challenge, What's New Tagged With: a to z challenge, blogging, giant breed, great pyrenees

The BlogPaws Experience

May 29, 2015 18 Comments

Oh my. I am EXHAUSTED.

If you’re an introvert, you will completely understand. The constant people and interactions can be a bit overwhelming. However, don’t get me wrong, I’m having an awesome time.

My first BlogPaws.

Atka snoozing away during a session. He sure learned a lot... ;)
Atka snoozing away during a session. He sure learned a lot… 😉

I kind of feel like I’m fangirling around celebrities. Getting to meet the bloggers I’ve followed for the past year and that I admire so much has been amazing. I’m incredibly lucky to have this opportunity.

Not to mention the vast amount of brands that are attending the event. I’m getting to put faces to the people that I have had the privilege to work with and those I hope to work with in the future. You really can’t ask for a better opportunity!

I’ve already learned so much and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the weekend holds. Make sure you’re following us on social media to keep up with the current happenings! I’ll be posting pictures all weekend.

Spoiler alert: Atka met a ferret.

In case you need a reminder, you can find us here:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itsdogornothing

Instagram: @itsdogornothing.kelsie

Twitter: @itsdogornothing

Filed Under: Fluffy Life, What's New Tagged With: blogging, blogpaws, dogs, great pyrenees, pets

Sometimes Life Gets in the Way

June 16, 2014 8 Comments

Phew! What a long week we have had! Since we are currently stationed in Montana, it’s not very easy to make it back to the east coast to visit family. Nick and I are currently in the middle of planning a celebration of our marriage (we had a quick wedding before we had to move for the Air Force), so we needed to make a trip back to get some of the details figured out. Between confirming appointments, getting last minute details ironed out, coordinating with the dog sitter, and getting packed, I have not been able to spend time on the computer.

I think I’m going through blog withdrawal. [Read more…] about Sometimes Life Gets in the Way

Filed Under: Fluffy Life Tagged With: berner, bernese mountain dog, blogger, blogging, dog, puppy

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