[nagdu] Bloat

GARY STEEVES rainshadowmusic at shaw.ca
Tue Mar 8 19:14:17 UTC 2011


Hi Tami:

The thing they told me at my school was to not run the dog until about an hour after he has eaten and give him about half an hour after intense exercise before eating. I follow this rule but as I said the playing happens with or without my participation.

When you say Mitsi plays hard, what do you mean? One thing Bogart is very mouthy and I sometimes have to calm him down by getting him to lie down and relax for a minute when he forgets my hand is not a squeeze toy. He loves wrestling around when he is on his back with legs and teeth all a going while I sort of wrestle with him.

We try to get to off leash settings a couple of times a week but until our main off leash park stops being a mud puddle we are a bit limited. Bogart likes to play hard too so we need a well stocked off leash park for him to find the dog who likes to play like him. Otherwise, he is bad for getting in dogs faces and barking at them, wanting them to chase him. When they do not agree he actually howls. People tell me this is his  youth showing up but it can be a bit embarrassing if there is only one other dog at the school yard and it doesn't want to play. sigh ... my girlfriend, who has many dogs in her life, assures me that bogart is a high maintenance dog. Most of her dogs spent much more time lying around and not demanding to be played with the way Bogart does. He brings his toys and whines if no one moves to play. :)

Aw, poodles, they're special.

Gary



----- Original Message -----
From: Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 10:42 am
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Bloat
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>

> Yeah, Mitzi's a pretty slow eater and drinker, too.  
> Whew!  Unless I'm in a
> hurry for her to eat and have to wait.  /lol/  Come to 
> think of it, she
> wants to roll around and play after she eats, too.  And 
> when she does play,
> she plays hard!  I like to get her warmed up with some long 
> running, but
> that's not always possible because of the way our park here is 
> situated.  If
> it's not crowded, I'll sneak around the back end to throw or 
> kick the ball
> for her while she runs in front of me and lets me know where the 
> path is.
> /smile/  But now that spring is in the air, she just goes 
> nuts with the
> running and bouncing and leaping and spinning...  So I do 
> keep an eye on
> her, and check her several times when she's all collapsed on the 
> floor in
> the evening after we get home.  So far so good!
> 
> Tami Smith-Kinney
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] 
> On Behalf
> Of GARY STEEVES
> Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 10:01 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Bloat
> 
> 
> Hi Tami:
> 
> I think this is one of those things we, as poodle owners have to 
> be aware
> of, but are lucky in some ways that our dogs eat rather slowly. 
> Well mine
> does. He tends to eat some, have a drink of water and eat 
> some  more. I
> worry about him a bit since after he eats he always wants to 
> come over and
> play which involves rolling on the floor eventually. There's 
> nothing I could
> do, in my mind, to stop this behaviour and he seems so happy who 
> would want
> to. So learning the signs certainly would be more helpful. I 
> Also think that
> bloat is just like any other medical issue any of us might face. 
> There are
> the risk factors but some dogs just might have other issues that 
> make them
> more likely to have problems than the fellow dog from the same 
> breed or even
> litter. However, the more we know about things the more we can 
> be aware and
> keep our dogs safe.
> 
> Gary
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 8:50 am
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Bloat
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog 
> Users'"<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> 
> > Brenda,
> > 
> > I'm going to ask my vet about that next time we go, though 
> that 
> > won't be for
> > a couple of months or so.
> > 
> > In bloat, the problem is that the intestines get twisted 
> > somehow, so blood
> > supply is cut off and the intestine necrotizes and poisons the 
> > dog.  I don't
> > know if there is a way to get things back in order before it 
> is 
> > too late
> > without surgery.
> > 
> > Some preventative measures I've read and try to follow are to 
> > always make
> > sure the dog eats and drinks in a natural posture with the 
> head 
> > down to eat
> > food at ground level.  I don't know if it's true that not 
> > doing so can
> > result in bloat, but I'm careful with Mitzi that way because 
> of 
> > her long
> > poodly neck and narrow body.  Just in case!
> > 
> > 
> > Tami Smith-Kinney
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-
> bounces at nfbnet.org] 
> > On Behalf
> > Of Brenda
> > Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 5:09 AM
> > To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Bloat
> > 
> > Is there anything that can be done to prevent bloat from 
> > requiring surgery?
> > Brenda
> > 
> > On 3/7/2011 3:15 PM, Tamara Smith-Kinney wrote:
> > > Yeeks!  $5K????  Yes, that is horrible!  I'd 
> > better check with my vet to
> > see
> > > what that is here.  For a guide dog, that still works 
> out 
> > as the better
> > > bargain, but good grief!
> > >
> > > I feel so bad for your friend and her loss.
> > >
> > > Tami Smith-Kinney
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-
> > bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> > > Of Tracy Carcione
> > > Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 11:06 AM
> > > To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> > > Subject: Re: [nagdu] Bloat
> > >
> > > Hi Tami.
> > > Thanks for the further info. I'll take Ben's pulse 
> > tonight.  (People might
> > > think it was weird, if I did it in my office.)
> > > May bloat never happen to any of our dogs.
> > > My friend said that surgery might have saved the dog, but it 
> > was $5000 and
> > > the owner just couldn't afford it.  Isn't that 
> horrible, 
> > to have to choose
> > > between a huge bill and the life of your dog?! It's nice to 
> > know, but,
> > > should I ever be there, I could call on my school for help, 
> so 
> > long as my
> > > dog was still working.
> > >
> > > Tracy
> > >
> > >> 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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