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Weim
Housebroken
Joined: 19 Jul 2008
Posts: 60
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 Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | can you tell if a weimaraner is bloating by looking at its stomach? |
Not necessarily.
Mine bloated and her stomach looked as normal. What was far from normal was her obvious distress/worry, the froth pouring out her mouth and the initially unproductive attempts to throw up. I KNEW she was in trouble and had I had a phone in my hand I'd have been screaming down it to a vet to get here NOW, but I didn't, all I could do was give her Reiki, pray and be with her. By the time she was ready to walk inside crisis was past. I gave her a Homeopathic rem and continued Reiki. She was OK, but I'd say it took the best part of a week till she was 100% again.
My first weim torsioned. Again, it was easy to see she was in trouble - standing trying to poo and throw up, legs quivering, looking very worried. I had never heard of bloat or torsion, but even I could see that she had some kind of blockage. She was obviously dying. There was only one thing could help - prayer, so I begged. I ran for a friend who carried her in, then I phoned the emergency vet who was out on a call! Tried someone from rescue who was out too. Vet finally phoned back about 5 minutes after she had managed to be sick. I let him go back to bed and sat up with her a while, then slept too. We did end up at the vet next evening and he wanted to keep her in till I insisted on staying with her, then he decided as long as I got liquid down her every half hour she'd be OK. He gave her a Buscopan injection which was almost miraculous in it's effects, suddenly she livened up again as her pain was gone. We were back for a check next day and I had Buscopan for when she needed it. He told me then he'd expected a phone call from me at any time that night. Took about a week till she was 100%. Fortunately she lived another 5 years with no recurrences.
There are no guarantees about when it can or cannot happen. My first hadn't eaten all day and like an idiot I kept trying to persuade her to eat. She finally ate a Bonio so I gave her another and half an hour later she was dying.
This one started to eat her breakfast, threw it up, tried to re-eat it, threw it up, we basically were both trying to grab this stuff, me with a shovel. She got some but not a lot and right away the bloat started. To be honest it wasn't until a few weeks later when reading a "symptom list" online that I was certain it really had been bloat - the froth threw me, but my gut had said bloat right away, I kept checking her tummy but it was normal.
Your dog is the best guide - if they are worried, time for you to worry! If the word bloat ot torsion comes to mind and you feel you need a vet, act on it, better over-worried than a dead dog.
Food-wise I now believe it's less likely to happen if you feed real food as that's what their stomachs were designed to cope with. Most of the dogs I hear of who bloat or torsion are fed dry "dog food", but I do know a raw fed dog who bloated a few months ago. I don't know if he had had any dog biscuits as treats though.
What I do know is that what we think about we bring towards us so we have to, for their sakes not worry about it. Be aware yes and take sensible precautions, but then put it to the back of your mind and hopefully you'll never have to deal with it. |
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Welches
Adult Weim
Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 492
Location: Houston, Texas
Fur Kids: Yukon - Weimaraner, male
Spike - Yorkie, male
Lexi - Weimaraner, female |
| Posted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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| sqrrlsarge wrote: | | $5000?!? holy crap we wouldn't be able to afford that! now I'm worried that it'll happen and if it does, my dad will have to have him put to sleep! that is REDICULOUS!! don't they just have to have their stomach pumped if it happens!? |
No, it's major surgery. While they will most likely put a tube down their throat while they are asleep, they also will open them up and examine the stomach. If the stomach has twisted, they will also try to fix that. They will sometimes try to aspirate some of the gases from the stomach by inserting a needle into their side prior to surgery, some vets just go right to the surgery. However, if it's just bloat and not bloat with torsion, surgery might not be necessary.
My dog didn't have bloat, but Lexi once got into some dog food and ate too much. She swelled up so much it looked like she had a football turned sideways in her stomach. I of course rushed her to the vet thinking it was bloat. Typically when dogs eat too much they just throw up. Not Lexi. She had eaten so much, so fast, she did not have enough stomach acid to break down the food. Her stomach was also so distended it could not contract to make her vomit. Her stomach was also crushing her other organs, including her intestines. Well, after 6 hours at the vet, and $5400, they saved her life. I didn't have insurance either. But luckily my vet accepts Care Credit. It's an interest-free line of credit for vet bills. I don't know what we would have done without it. |
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mazzywest
Young Weim
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Posts: 163
Location: San Francisco, CA
Fur Kids: Pip, 9 week old pup; Gus, 1996-2008; Ashley, 1996-2002; Sigmund, 1995-1996 all weims |
| Posted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Welches wrote: | | sqrrlsarge wrote: | | $5000?!? holy crap we wouldn't be able to afford that! now I'm worried that it'll happen and if it does, my dad will have to have him put to sleep! that is REDICULOUS!! don't they just have to have their stomach pumped if it happens!? |
No, it's major surgery. |
Yep, it's a really invasive procedure. My dog had a 10 inch scar on his belly, was in the hospital for two days and was IV fed. After the surgery, we had to take him back 2 or 3 times to the vet (once to get the stitches out, once for an infection from the stitches). Also, after his surgery (and for the remaining five months of his life), we had to feed him 5 times a day. |
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mazzywest
Young Weim
Joined: 25 Jun 2008
Posts: 163
Location: San Francisco, CA
Fur Kids: Pip, 9 week old pup; Gus, 1996-2008; Ashley, 1996-2002; Sigmund, 1995-1996 all weims |
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