Occasionally, there can be a slower onset. Always phone your surgery or your emergency service first as it will save valuable time if you go to the right place where the staff are prepared for your arrival. It is vital to get veterinary attention as soon as possible if you suspect bloat or torsion. Swollen abdomen, often feels hard and if tapped feels like a balloon.Attempts to vomit (retching) with little being brought up.The most common symptoms are some or all of: The dog can appear quite normal one minute but once symptoms start they very quickly get worse. The onset of a gastric torsion is usually very rapid. Exercising after eating or after a big drink also increases the risk. The risks increase if the stomach is very full, either with food or with water, so a dog which is fed once daily and eats very quickly, or gets access to the food store and gorges itself, would be at higher risk. It also happens more (but not exclusively) in dogs over 7 years of age, and it is more common in males than in females. The condition happens mainly in larger breeds, particularly those with a deep-chested shape like Great Danes, German Shepherds, Setters, Wolfhounds and Boxers, but these are not the only breeds affected. The reasons for this condition occurring are not fully understood, but there are some well known and definite risk factors. It is very painful, and if not corrected, the dog will die. The stomach wall and the spleen can become necrotic or dead due to loss of blood flow, and this releases toxins into the bloodstream. The breathing will become difficult and if the large blood vessels within the abdomen get squeezed so much that they cannot allow blood flow, then other organs will begin to shut down. The effect of the swollen stomach is that it presses on all of the other vital organs close to it. Read: GDV or Bloat Annie, a Gordon Setter, suffered with bloat but survived thanks to her owner spotting the signs No food can leave the stomach, so it ferments, and no gas can be belched up. If torsion occurs first, bloating will definitely result. If bloat occurs first, the enlarged stomach is at greater risk of torsion. They may both occur together, or one may lead to the other. Torsion (volvulus) is when the whole stomach twists inside the abdomen so that it is closed off at both its entrance and its exit, just like a sausage which is twisted closed at both ends. Bloat is when the dog’s stomach fills up with gas, fluid, froth or a mixture of all of these, to a far greater size than normal. There are two parts to this condition, the bloat and the torsion.
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