Dog Bloat Symptoms: Learn all You Can...

It might save your dog's life!

• What are the warning signs of dog bloat symptoms?

• What is it?

• Home treatment or off to the vet?

Gulping down that tasty dog food...

...then exercising right afterwards...

...is a no-no!

If you've already read other online articles about this nasty malady... you probably knew we were going to talk about this stuff.  And nope...

We didn't forget about...

• Causes and prevention of dog bloat symptoms.  Even though you may have already read about these... you got'ta read what we have to say!  It'll knock your socks off (and your dog's)!  And...
  

Please follow Nimble's advice...

What's this Bloating Stuff?

In a nutshell (based on a ton of researching I've done)...

Bloating is a build-up of gas and food in your doggy's tummy.  It might consist of some liquids also.  My small dogs have never experienced these dog bloat symptoms (I guess)...

Afterwards (not always)... the affected dog might experience twisting of his/her stomach (called GDV... Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus).  This is when the situation becomes critical!  The rotation can cut off blood supply to the affected areas... this is just one of many life-threatening consequences.

Does the twisting occur before or after bloating?  Seems there's some controversy here...

Warning Signs of Dog Bloat Symptoms

You should know your dog inside out...

This way... you'll notice if something is different.

Some of the signals are...

• Retching and heaving (without your dog throwing up undigested food or water).

• Drooling.

• Bulging stomach.

• Tight tummy and sore to the touch.

• Looking at her/his stomach (no... your dog's not check'in her waistline!).

• Restlessness.

• Increased breathing.

• High heart rate.

• Pale gums.

Face it... your dog just won't be acting her normal self.

Home Treatment or off to the Vet?

Sometimes a dog's stomach will bloat with gas without any further consequences.  This will be followed by... Phewee!  Then back to normal life as a canine.  Or...

Unfortunately, twisting might begin.

“How do I know if the bloat is going to cause twisting?”  It's your call.  If it was me... I'm out of here... off to the vet.  And... I'm not one to take Nimble to the vet every time she sneezes!

Does your dog have an upset stomach?  How about some other ailment?  You can learn about some natural remedies for dogs by clicking here.

Causes of Dog Bloat Symptoms

We feel most causes can be eliminated.  Unfortunately... some of our dogs may become a victim of this ailment.  Why not do what we can to keep this from happening?

Here's some well known causes...

• Exercising right after eating (not a leisurely walk).

• Stress.  Change in environment, competing with other dogs for food, etc.).

• Some breeds are more prone.  Large, deep/narrow-chested dogs are supposedly more prone.  However... I've heard that some medium and small-sized dogs also suffer from dog bloat symptoms.

• Increase in age may be a contributor.

Scott and Nimble's causes...

Boy... we're sure glad you didn't skip over the other info above to get  here!

“Hey.. I've already read about this stuff!”  But... we'll bet you didn't read this...

Your dog lives in our unhealthy environment.  As a consequence... unlike wild dogs... he/she suffers from tons of different maladies!  Bloat is only one of them.

• Eating too much too fast.  Dogs are programmed to gulp before a predator steals their meal.  However... they must work at it in the wild.  It might take a wild dog an hour to eat 3 lbs of dog food. 
  
  It's a lot of work ripping, tearing and crunching those raw meaty bones before swallowing.  In our environment... they wolf down (get it?) their ready-to-eat chow in a couple of minutes!
  
  
  

• Drinking too much too fast right before, during or directly after eating.  This dilutes digestive enzymes.  The raw meat dog food diet a wild canine eats is 70-80% water (already distilled).  How much water is in Kibble?
  
  I've never seen a coyote gulping water like our dogs do!  What about packing a water bottle around?... we won't go there!  Click here for more info about a dog drinking lots of water.

Nimble showing you what she doesn't need much of...

I could give you tons of examples...... chemicals, gmo's, etc.

Yes... some breeds seem to be genetically susceptible to this.  But... because of our forced, faulty breeding practices over the centuries... their bodies were made to look the way we wanted them to look.  We didn't care about the consequences (another pitfall of living in our environment).

Preventing Dog Bloat Symptoms

We'll never be able to completely wipe out all threats of this ailment.  However... you can reduce your dog's chances drastically!

Preventative measures you might know about

Here's some...

• Plenty of pure water should be available at all times.  Hopefully... this will keep your pooch from getting really thirsty at dinner time.

• Feed smaller portions of nutritious dog food more often.  Change your dog feeding schedule... eliminate one huge meal a day.

• Exercise no sooner than a couple (or so) hours after chow time... especially after eating “heavy dog foods.”  About an hour is all that's needed after eating fruits or vegetables.  “But... are fruit and vegetables for dogs?” Sure!

• Is your dog stressed out?  Hold off until she settles down (it takes me forever to settle down!).  If she's eating around other dogs... this might encourage gulping before her vittles are “stolen.”

• Slow feeding doggy food bowl.  I've seen these specially designed dog feeding bowls... might actually be a good idea.  Anything to slow down your eating machine!

Prevention our way...

• Feed a barf diet... raw meat and bones.  Your dog will really have to work at it... just like a wild dog.  It takes time to rip the meat off the bones and crunch the bones down into smaller pieces.  Also include...

• … pureed fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds (the pre-digested stomach contents of a wild dog's prey animal).  All this raw dog food is full of pure, distilled water... your dog won't need to gulp her water bowl dry!

Our pureed fruits and veggies (raw) are full of purified water...

You're not familiar with raw feeding dogs this way (amount, correct proportions, etc.)?  Please visit the following pages and cruise through our site when you have more time...

• Vegetables for dogs.  Click here to make sure you select the proper veggies and feed them correctly...

• Barf dog food.  All foods your doggy should eat... whole animals including fish and fowl, fruit, nuts and seeds.

• Raw meat dog food diet.  The nitty-gritty of feeding your pooch raw meat and bones.

Nimble's left-over bones are 6 months proof of eating a raw meat dog food diet...

Surgery to prevent dog bloat symptoms.

Gastropexy is surgically attaching the stomach to the body wall to keep it from twisting.  Food for thought... does your dog need to be spayed or neutered?  You might think about having this done at the same time if surgery is your choice.  If it were me... I'd have to think really hard on this one...

Let's Try to Prevent Doggy Bloat!

Our furry friends suffer from many different maladies because they live in our unhealthy environment... doggy bloat is only one of many.  Although not totally preventable... let's put a dent in it.  How?  By our awareness of our our dogs' wild ancestors' healthy lifestyle...

We'll never be able to duplicate this.  But... we can sure give it a shot!  You owe her that much.

Remember... chowing down + gulping water = dog bloat symptoms.

Here's some Similar Articles You Might Enjoy...

Our website is a work in progress!  We'd love it (and so would your dog) if you returned regularly to check out all our new articles.  We can't wait to expand on the topics above! 

Also, we'll include our highly recommended products for you and your dog to choose from... only those we have used or would use ourselves.  Also...

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Scott & Nimble.

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