Gastric Torsion/Bloat surgery & recovery-help please(long)
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Gastric Torsion/Bloat surgery & recovery-help please(long)
Submitted by MelissaLamb on April 21, 2010 - 12:06amLola is almost seven. Two weeks ago Friday she wouldn't eat her dinner. Very out of character as she has to eat on a platter so she can't gulp her food, she loves to eat. Saturday she vomited once, and resumed partial eating over the wknd. She became restless and uncomfortable by Monday I was up most of the night with her - drooling, panting, shivering. Off to the vet Tuesday. Abdominal x-rays showed a couple small foreign objects, she was given pain meds and barium. X-ray again on Wednesday and the barium was moving through her system and she was having bowel movements fine. We also determined there was a sore spot on her back and started metacam. She seemed much better over last wknd, was off and on her food during this time period. By Wednesday we were back in the vet for the same symptoms. We have done blood tests, given antibotics, sedatives, anti nausea drugs, etc, anything to make her comfortable. She was also hooked up for IV fluids. Unable to do an ultrasound at my vet we planned to take her over the border to MI State Vet on Thursday for ultrasound and more diagnostics before doing exploratory surgery. Thurs am my vet was able to use her ultrasound and could see she was filling up with gas in her stomach. We went ahead with surgery, her stomach was flipped and she was beginning to bloat. We think over the last two weeks her stomach was flipping back and forth. My vet of course tacked it during the surgery. She stayed Thursday night and I brought her home last night. She refused to eat while at the vet. She is alert and responsive to us. On the car ride home she would stand on the armrest to look out the window, etc. She is extremely thirsty, I have been giving her ice cubes last night as well as a little gatorade this am. She continually gets up to go the water bowl in the kitchen I have put up or asks to go out so she can check the water bowl on the deck. We had a huge storm last night and she even resorted to trying to lick the puddles on the deck this am - I stopped her immediately. Last night I force feed her NutriCal - high calorie palatable supplement, and she ate a few bites of boiled chicken on her own. This am she still won't eat so I gave Nutrical again. She just wants water. Also, I have been checking her colour regularly and it fluctuates from white to pink. She also seems to have trouble getting comfortable lying down, but seems quite comfortable sitting up. This is my first experience with this...any information would be helpful. How long before she should be interested in food? Is the insatiable thirst normal? I am very worried about her...any info would be so very much appreciated...private replies to my email are more than welcome.
i have had danes that bloated.....
after surgery i fed 6 small meals a day.....remember the tummy is very tender and they feel sick....i also used pepcid ac to help with the sick tummy feeling.....i would try a very small meal of canned food....or better some boiled chicken cut up into small pcs....warm food is more appealing than cold.....may be drinking to fill the void of being hungry,,,use ice cubes... pedi lyte.....
go very slow even thou your vet tacked it is still not impossible to bloat.....so small meals...make them warm...even try some baby food....
but from now on feed if possible three meals instead of one....buy a bowl that has a ring in the middle to slow down fast eaters...and give a pepcid in the am and pm to help with stomach acid....
i have had danes that bloated.....
after surgery i fed 6 small meals a day.....remember the tummy is very tender and they feel sick....i also used pepcid ac to help with the sick tummy feeling.....i would try a very small meal of canned food....or better some boiled chicken cut up into small pcs....warm food is more appealing than cold.....may be drinking to fill the void of being hungry,,,use ice cubes... pedi lyte.....
go very slow even thou your vet tacked it is still not impossible to bloat.....so small meals...make them warm...even try some baby food....
but from now on feed if possible three meals instead of one....buy a bowl that has a ring in the middle to slow down fast eaters...and give a pepcid in the am and pm to help with stomach acid....
Forgot to add
When the vet opened her up there weren't any foreign objects in her stomach. No tumours, lymph nodes normal size and all organs were healthy.
Forgot to add
When the vet opened her up there weren't any foreign objects in her stomach. No tumours, lymph nodes normal size and all organs were healthy.
Good advice.
My 5yr old bitch bloated just days after delivering a litter so it was difficult to detect since her breasts were swollen with milk...GVD is very difficult to determine except after death so I'm very glad that your vet found the problem and fixed it.
As for recovery, I agree that many small meals are needed...don't want that "stomach stapling" to dehist but I do believe she is hungry. She may also have been given some steroids and that too could increase her appetite for water. I agree re the canned food or babyfood. chunks of chicken, altho nutritious, would take longer to "break down" in the stomach and therefore to pass thru, whereas processed food such as just mentioned should be easier and a bit quicker to digest. I would give her water, just limit the amount...and offering ice chips may provide her some comfort. The suggestion to give a Pepcid or Tagamet to aid digestion sounds good to me also but if you are unsure, phone your vet to ask. When Fireplug was recovering (also had her stomach stapled to the ribcage to prevent further twisting)she was 'starving' since she was nursing pups one day post-op, and I was hand-feeding her puppy kibble, about twelve small pieces, every two hours, round the clock for the first few days. I don't recall withholding water, especially knowing she needed that to produce her milk. She did lose weight after all that, but regained it within a few months...and she lived another 5-6 years! Good luck!
Good advice.
My 5yr old bitch bloated just days after delivering a litter so it was difficult to detect since her breasts were swollen with milk...GVD is very difficult to determine except after death so I'm very glad that your vet found the problem and fixed it.
As for recovery, I agree that many small meals are needed...don't want that "stomach stapling" to dehist but I do believe she is hungry. She may also have been given some steroids and that too could increase her appetite for water. I agree re the canned food or babyfood. chunks of chicken, altho nutritious, would take longer to "break down" in the stomach and therefore to pass thru, whereas processed food such as just mentioned should be easier and a bit quicker to digest. I would give her water, just limit the amount...and offering ice chips may provide her some comfort. The suggestion to give a Pepcid or Tagamet to aid digestion sounds good to me also but if you are unsure, phone your vet to ask. When Fireplug was recovering (also had her stomach stapled to the ribcage to prevent further twisting)she was 'starving' since she was nursing pups one day post-op, and I was hand-feeding her puppy kibble, about twelve small pieces, every two hours, round the clock for the first few days. I don't recall withholding water, especially knowing she needed that to produce her milk. She did lose weight after all that, but regained it within a few months...and she lived another 5-6 years! Good luck!