[thegman]

I just read the sticky note about Bloat - thanks to the Admin for posting this - I never knew about it before!

I do have a question though - when they say distension - how much do they mean? how much distension is normal?

My dog is just 7 months and he eats VERY quickly. I bought a baking tray to disperse his food out onto and this makes him eat a bit slower. Depending on what I feed him (kibble or rice) I do notice that the LEFT side of his belly is often a tiny bit distended after he eats, - that is to say, the left side sticks out a bit more than the right side - but... so far we have had no emergencies with this...

now the question is, is this normal? or is it some kind of sign that maybe he could have an issue with digestion in general?

after I eat, my belly is a bit distended too

If I hold my ear up to his belly I hear some gurgling. I try to rest him after he eats, but sometimes he has too much energy so we go for a short walk. We always keep fresh water around and he drinks when he wants to, generally a small bowl or two full a day... some days he does not drink much at all...

but I would be curious about what your dog's belly's are like after they eat too?

Aside from them trying to throwing up, how much BLOATING is necessary for it to be an emergency?

thanks!

 

[mandyb]

Please try not to worry too much, believe me you will know if your dog bloats and needs an emergency trip to the vet. He/she will be in agony and displaying signs of pain:- restless, pacing, arched back, head low, unable to get comfortable, stomach is distended and hard like a drum, may be gulping and dribbling before trying to wretch.

 

[paws]

As above but to be honest my dogs don't look bloated when they have had their dinner my little one did once when we changed foods when she was a pup so I gave her less kibble after that. I wouldn't take him for a walk after food even if he seems energetic he really does need to learn to engage in calm activities so maybe try giving him a nylabone to chew or feed him his meal in a maze toy/kong/wobbler so it takes longer and gives him something to think about at the same time. If his tum is gurgling as well as you noticing bloating then maybe his kibble isn't agreeing with him if he is having soft stools too then it could be intolerance or overfeeding, try a smaller portion and maybe change protein and carb sources if that is the case e.g. if he has chicken and rice flavour now swap to fish and potato, try the portion sizes first though there's no point in changing food unless you have to.

 

[thegman]

that is interesting, thanks paws. he does have soft stools rather often, but I do think its just related to what he is eating. He had a lot of changes in food, thanks to one of our silly vets, until I started cooking for him. He does much better on "real" food (not raw!) but every now and then if we run out or are super pressed for time, I will feed him a can of dog food. He does great on that too but once or twice we did not have food nor cans so we had to feed him some of the kibble that we had left over and that gave him the runs!