Do you have a large breed dog? Important read =].

[Equestrian]

If you don't want to read all the below then here's the summary.
There's a condition out there called Stomach Bloat that occurs in large breed dogs, no one knows the reason why it happens but it's very fatal and it happens within a few hours. Some research has shown that if you feed your dog twice a day and above ground (like their bowl is on a crate etc.) then their percent to bloat goes down a lot. It doesn't happen in small dogs cause they don't have a deep chest.

Okay so this may turn out to be a long post seriously feel free to skim, but I've kinda kept it bottle up so I may just go ahead and break loose.
Thanks in advance for putting up with it haha.

About a week ago I came home from school (I'm a junior) to find my dog Krystal, a white german shepherd outside lying down just staring at me. She's ten years old, but always greets me at the door. So I went out side and as I looked around I spotted 12 spots where she had vomitted. (I counted) Also it looked like there was a basketball lodged in her stomach. I quickly called the vet and rushed her in for emergency sugery. Apperantly it's one of the hardest surgeries to do.
What happened was that her stomach had turned over and the gas in it couldn't escape so it buids up putting pressure on other organs preventing blood from flowing and preventing the dog to breathe. My vet explained the stats and I looked it up to see if it was right...and it was 25-33% of all dogs that devlop this die even if they get treatment.
So I waited. And waited. And waited. For a three hour sugery that lasted until 9 PM at night. The bill was 1,500 dollars and that wasn't counting the Critical Care Clinic that she had to stay in over night. We (my mom was with me the whole time) put Kyrstal in the back of our SVU and drove her there for overnight. Which was 700 dollars.
Now she's lying next to me with 42 staples in her stomach and still can't really walk up stairs very well.

I just want to let other people with large breeds know that this condition is out there because I didn't know. It can start up and kill a dog in less than 20 hours.
So if you have a large dog you might want to consider
-feeding them 2 times daily instead of once
-if you see your dog's stomach start to expand act right away
-water at all times  

[Cheetahs Wolf]

Dogs Are Angels...

i have a large shepherd mix mutt named Mudge hes 9 yrs old, hes kinda bloated been for a couple weeks but hes always active, he jumps out fence & prowls at night he will only eat puppy chow for some reason & hes developed his 2nd fatty bump on his belly, but the vet said the first bump was just yeh know fat nothing to worry about. should i worry about his bloating.. okay well im not good with this kinda stuff if its bloating err not, his stomach is usually a little hard. should i take him to the vet?

...With FUR!!!
 

[A Mysterious Toe Fungus]

Cheetahs Wolf

Dogs Are Angels...

i have a large shepherd mix mutt named Mudge hes 9 yrs old, hes kinda bloated been for a couple weeks but hes always active, he jumps out fence & prowls at night he will only eat puppy chow for some reason & hes developed his 2nd fatty bump on his belly, but the vet said the first bump was just yeh know fat nothing to worry about. should i worry about his bloating.. okay well im not good with this kinda stuff if its bloating err not, his stomach is usually a little hard. should i take him to the vet?

...With FUR!!!

You can never be too careful  

[XNerdy-NinjaX]

my dog died from bloat it wuz RREALLY REALLY REALLY sad for the whole family.one day he wuz fine and normal the next day i come home from skool and i find out that he is at the vet dieing.. there wuz nuthing that we couldve done for him.. crying hopefully they will find a cure for this bloat
his name wuz heart Ranger heart and he died at age 2 wich made it even more sad becuz he didnt get to have a long life.
he wuz my first dog and ill always love him. i hope he knows that and sure he does.
R.I.P. Ranger
crying crying crying  

[Its Wolfeh]

|°~ The Wolf is not meant for city life ~°|

|°~ But in the wilderness ~°|

Ohhh I've heard of the stomach twisting, didn't know it was bloat though. I know it happens in horses too, when my mum lived on a ranch a horse bloated and died before the vet even had a chance to get there. I also remember seeing a dog have it when watching animal planet one time and the surgery was really simple.

And oh my gawd your gorgeous white shepard looks like our ol' wolfdog @w@

|°~ It is your Guardian
your Blanket
your Hunter
your Loyal Companion for life ~°|

|°~ Treat it right and it will return the favor ~°|

 

[Angry Kitsune]

Hmmmm....Could this bloating be caused by maybe bacteria and cockroaches that may get into the food if you feed your animals on the floor? Maybe that's why the chances of your pet getting it is lowered greatly if you feed him off the ground.

 

[kenduuu]

I heard about it when I read and watched Marley and Me. /lame  

[Azulona]

I feed my 7 month old Boxer on the ground.
I don't know if it starts at an early age for dogs, but if we feed him twice a day he uses the bathroom in his crate at night.
He eats extremely fast, and sometimes he'll have to cough up a few pieces since he just swallows them whole.
Could this trigger bloating for him?

I'm pretty sure if he starts bloating, I'll be able to tell when it starts, since boxers are so thin, with big chests. I hope he doesn't get it. D: