For those of you who have not heard of bloat, also called GDV (Gastric Distention Volvulus), it is a life threatening condition. Bloat or twisted gut occurs when a dog’s stomach flips over and seals off at one end or both ends. When this happens, it is an emergency and the dog needs to be rushed to a veterinarian immediately.

There has been a lot of speculation as to why some breeds bloat more than others. One main factor is the large chest of certain dogs. Hounds fall into this category. There is plenty of room for the stomach and other organs to move around in a large chest cavity. Other possible factors include: heredity, amounts of food/water ingested, and exercise at feeding time.

Through the years I’ve had 2 different breeds of hounds which bloated. One was a young bloodhound and the other was an older black and tan coonhound. My bloodhound was fed his evening meal. He was tied up but there was a loose puppy that was trying to play with my hound. I went outside to check on him and I couldn’t believe what I saw! My dog’s belly was already distended. It doesn’t take long for this to happen. I was away from home in another state, not knowing a veterinarian but somehow I did manage to find a vet who knew what to do. Max, my bloodhound, was barely on his feet when he walked into the vet’s office. And this all happened within 2 hours. He didn’t have much time left. He was immediately taken into surgery and his life was saved. Eventually, Max had preventive surgery for this condition because there’s a high incidence of this happening again.

Years later, my next experience with bloat was with an older black and tan coonhound that I had rescued from the local shelter. The shelter had Jake neutered. He had been a cryptorchid, which means both testicles had not descended. One was still retained in his body and this one was not removed during neutering. And it eventually caused problems. His situation was a combination of factors: age, unknown medical history, and his retained testicle. That testicle had to be surgically removed after it became enlarged and was compromising his blood supply. This specific problem, I believe, caused him to bloat. After the first time he bloated, he continued to have problems. After eating he would not settle down, whine, pace around and his belly would begin to distend. These are classic symptoms of bloating. Others are; salivating, attempting to defecate and unproductive vomiting.

Jake made it through anesthesia and the procedure of untwisting his stomach a few times. But eventually it was too much stress on his organs being deprived of their blood supply and the last time he never made it through the night.

One current corrective procedure for bloat is to use a plastic pipe (similar to PVC) and insert it down into the stomach to try to ease the stomach to turn over. This is done under anesthetic. If this is accomplished, then the stomach is flushed of its contents.

Care must be taken with a hound who has bloated before, especially around feeding time. Smaller meals more often are often recommended. And definitely no exercise before and after feeding, either. I usually allow 1 hour after exercising before I feed and at least a few hours after feeding. I feed twice a day and after my hounds are fed, they are put into their kennels and not allowed to run for hours. These precautions will not always prevent bloat but it may reduce the chances of it occurring. Some people say that elevating food and water bowls help prevent bloat. There are so many unknown factors connected with this serious condition that doing all the right things sometimes still isn’t enough. But I know I like to feel that I‘ve tried my best to prevent it.

We can only try, but we can continue to learn about new information on this puzzling condition. Bloat does not just take the old, weak dogs. It may happen to our best hound in the kennel, our best stud or bitch, our nite or show champion. So BEWARE of the signs and act quickly before it’s too late to save that valuable hound!