I have recently welcomed a three-month-old Dogue de Bordeaux puppy into my home. She has a wonderful temperament and is responding well to training, but I have been told that the breed is prone to a condition called bloat. Is there anything I can do to prevent her from getting this condition and if not, are there any symptoms I should look out for?
Sue Butler
Anonymous says that if you feed raw you won’t have to worry about bloat, anal glands etc… I could say the same about Burns and perhaps some other dry foods.
Another (EMS) had bloat on raw food. Interesting that EMS blames dry food yet her dog bloated on raw food. Is it not extremely simplistic to think that all dry foods are the same.
I think the most useful way to look at bloat is to realise that it is the result of indigestion however caused. This means it can occur on any food if fed improperly i.e. fed to excess. An important consideration is to feed food which contains high quality ingredients which are highly digestible. High digestibility means that the feeding amount will be lower which is helpful.
I don’t think a raised feeding bowl will not make any difference at all (no harm though) but it is a good idea to split the daily feed into two and certainly not feed prior to exercise.
John Burns BVMS MRCVS, Burns Pet Nutrition
Don't feed dried food - the Barf diet is the way to go. My theory is that bloat is on the increase because of the dreadful dried foods promoted by Vets. Drop one nugget of it into a cup of water and see how it expands. Multiply this by one bowl full and dogs fed dried drink loads of water - hence the food blows up in the stomach. Dried food takes a lot longer to digest than real food - hence the chance of bloat. Feed as nature intended and you'll not have to worry about bloat, annal glands, BO, dirty teeth etc etc.
ReplyDeleteMy Deerhound pup is just recovering from bloat surgery..
ReplyDeleteFeed a raw diet if at all possible, feed from a raised stand (just up on a few bricks until she gets taller), feed several smaller meals rather than one big meal. Do not allow any vigorous exercise after a large meal (not even playing in the garden) for at least 2 hours preferably more. Allow at least 1 hour after exercise before feeding (more if it has been a very bouncy play session or a long walk etc).
The killer with bloat is that often the damage is done before you realise what it was. In a deep chested dog the stomach can move, obstruct itself and fill with gas without noticeably increasing the dogs size (less so in your breed, more so in mine) and once that happens it can then twist over on itself/the spleen very quickly.
If you see your dog acting uncomfortable, standing 'hunched', crying out for no apparent reason, looking at his/her tummy, fidgeting about and trying to lay down in strange places/under things/in odd positions... suspect bloat.
Forget the cost of emergency out of hours vets calls, go immediately because it is NOT something you want to wait until normal hours for. (And yes, sods law says your dog will bloat on a bank holiday weekend or at 4am on a sunday, NEVER during normal vets hours!)
(Please note, we feed a raw diet and take all the precautions possible and our dog still bloated - fortunately after £1700's worth of emergency surgery and two days in the vets, shes fine.. albeit baldy and minus a spleen!)
I have to agree with the above apart from the fact that I do not feed a raw diet. My breed is prone to bloat and we always use a slightly raised feeding bowl and never feed solely dry food - always a mixture. Never feed before exercise and YES, always act AT ONCE if you suspect your dog is uncomfortable. I watched my dog visibly expand before my eyes. Keep the dog very calm as stress increases the condition. Luckily my dog survived but that is the exception rather than the norm.
ReplyDeleteI don't feed a raw diet - my Greyhound was fed on dry food for about 3 years up until recently and we didn't have a problem. She is never fed within an hour of exercise and her dish is up off the floor. Greyhouds have a habit of not drinking all day and then gulping loads down at once, so we avoid exercise after that as well.
ReplyDeleteSince she's had her dry food soaked and/or fed quality wet food she has about one sip of water a day, so that's one less danger.
Educate yourself on the signs of bloat, and never leave your dog alone directly after a meal - apparently symptoms come on an hour or so later.
I have always had GSDs 18 in all, and only one had bloat, both times on a Sunday around 6 o/c
ReplyDeleteshe came through both, my son drove to the vets like Lewis Hamilton and once stable was operated on she mad a quick recovery next time we nearly lost her, after the op. she wouldn't eat wouldn't get up I took her home to die after 4 days. When she got home she had tea and biscuits and went out for a wee and slowley recovered.