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  Gastric dilatation

Gastric dilatation/volvulus (bloat/torsion)

Introduction

There are various factors that can lead to severe dysfunction of the stomach. This disorder is so important that we feel we have to spend a whole page on the subject. The disease is always acute en life threatening. It is an absolute emergency that requires instant veterinary attention/surgery. It concerns the torsion of the stomach.

This disease knows many names, such as gastric dilatation/volvulus, bloat or torsion. It comes down to the fact that the dog’s stomach, at the front connected to the oesophagus and at the end connected to the intestines (duodenum), twists around thus closing off both openings. This way the stomach is completely blocked, while all digestion (gasification) continues.

The disease occurs with several breeds, but mainly with large dogs and mainly dogs with a more loose skin. Probably the poor elastic capacity of the connective tissue indicating the loose skin is also apparent with the connective tissue within the stomach to keep the intestines together. This gives the stomach too much freedom to move. Breeds known to suffer from bloat regularly are the Great Dane, St. Bernard, Dobermann, Bouvier, Basset, Mastiff and Mastino. We have reasons to believe this disease can occur in all breeds. In our clinic (the vet. Carriere) we even treated a cat once!

Because the stomach is enlarged (you can check this looking at the height of the last ribs on the left) the dog gets nauseous and starts drooling and smacking. The dog will start retching with no vomiting of stomach contents but frequently with thick white froth (like whipped egg white) is produced. That is probably caused by some saliva still in the oesophagus. We call this unproductive retching and it is a very alarming symptom. The enlarged stomach will eventually cause the dog to go into a shock and death is imminent, unless immediate treatment is administered.

Treatment

The procedure for treating gastric dilatation is to first decompress the stomach usually by passing a stomach tube. If this is not possible, surgery is necessary and the stomach will be untwisted and put back in its normal position. To avoid repetition the stomach (if in a good enough condition) needs to be tied to the abdomen. Even after successful surgery some dogs still die of disturbances of the hearth rhythm within 24-48 hours after the operation. All in all a poor prognosis, but immediate treatment will surely enhance the change of survival.

Prevention

Above surely confirms the cliché that prevention is better than cure. Because it concerns a stomach disease, the importance of food is a big issue here. A quick emptying of the stomach helps to prevent bloat and torsion. We will give you some advice without explaining the theories behind them: