How to Reduce the Risk of Bloat in Dogs

Video Transcript

"There is a condition called bloat or torsion; gastric torsion which is common in some breeds of dogs. More common in some than others but certainly almost any breed dog is susceptible to it and what happens is the stomach fills up with gas and it bloats up. The stomach lining becomes very tight and the dog is in a lot of discomfort and torsion is when the stomach turns on its axis and twists. When that happens, there is a serious time limit before your dog eventually dies. You need to get to doctor or veterinarian as soon as possible. Bloat is most common in large breed barrel shaped dogs. There is a couple of things you can do to avoid bloat. One thing is to make sure after your dog has had a lot of exercise they don't eat or drink huge amounts of water. If it is very very hot out and your dog has been exercised, you want to monitor very closely the amount of water that the dog takes in and you certainly should not feed your dog before or after within about an hour of series of exercises. Another thing that can reduce the risk of bloat is eating whole foods, so real foods often recommended to feed raw meat or a cooked diet as opposed to a Kibble diet and although a number of years ago it was thought that by feeding in raised food bowls and water bowls that it would reduce the likelihood of bloat. There is a study that is put out by Cornell that demonstrate that in fact that can increase the risk of bloat. The Cornell study is very informative and I would suggest anyone with a breed of dog that may tend to bloat, read the study, inform themselves about what bloat is, find out what the symptoms are and read as much as you possibly can. This is a killer that hits people and their dogs and many many people never knew what it was until it was too late. "