[nagdu] Bloat

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

Tracy,

I'm so sorry about your friend's dog!  Thank you for the reminder about
bloat.

It is good to know the signs of bloat, since it leaves no time to waste in
getting to a vet.  Poodles are prone to bloat, so I live in fear of it and
check Mitzi over regularly, just in case.  If she seems to have a tummy ache
or even to be feeling a bit off, I check her abdomen and femoral pulse
first, just to be sure!

So the signs I know to look for are a hardened, distended abdomen and lack
of femoral pulse on either side.  You can feel the femoral pulse by standing
behind your dog and putting your hands around the thighs so that your
fingertips can feel up into the groin where the pulse is.  No pulse means
blood supply is cut off and you're nearly out of time!  It never hurts to
know what your dog's normal pulse feels like, so you can tell if it's very
weak or thready, especially if there's unusual tension in the abdomen.

So far, so good with my girl, and I plan to keep it that way!  But if the
signs do show up ever, I will know it's time to head to the vet!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2011 6:54 AM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] Bloat

My neighbor's lab mix died last night from bloat.  My friend was
dog-sitting, and called me to see what I thought about the dog pacing and
crying.  I guessed bloat, and thought the dog should go to the vet
immediately, but the owner wanted to wait and see if it got better. 
Off-hours vet visits are very expensive, but sometimes you just can't
wait.  I'm sorry I was right, though.

I thought I'd share, so we can all have a better idea of what to look out
for.
Tracy




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