Gastric Torsion

Probably most of us have heard about Gastric Torsion or Dog bloat. It seems that there is no definate answer to the cause of this. There are many articles about this topic on what to look for and what maybe the reason and how to best prevent it.

As you all know, my main concern  is how we feed our dogs and as Gastric Torsion is about the gases building up in the dogs stomach and that the stomach can twist, l believe that that diet is very important , along with the exercise and when to feed.

All food gives off a gas during digestion. So l don’t combine foods that will react differently. l never feed fruits within 2 hours of my meat diet, l don’t feed dry but l recommend you never combine that with raw meats, the same as l don’t feed cooked meat and would not combine that with raw meat or a dry food. There are many combinations that could be harmful , just check out what you can.

The following piece of an article form the UK l found helpful, at the bottom of the page it has a link to the entire article.

Dog bloat or gastric torsion (GDV)

Bloat

What is Gastric Dilation Torsion (GDV)?

Gastric torsion, or Gastric Dilation Volvulus (GDV) Syndrome, means twisting of the stomach, which usually occurs because the stomach has become filled with gas. It mainly occurs in deep-chested breeds.

What causes gastric torsion?

The cause of the condition is seen as a bit of a mystery. It is thought that if there is enough room in the abdomen for gas-filled organs to move then occasionally they will. This is why the condition is most common in deep chested dogs.  So why do the organs become gas-filled in the first place?

There are two likely triggers.

The first is anxiety. Animals (including humans) usually swallow more air when they are anxious. This is known as aerophagia (literally “eating air”) and it is usually seen in stressed, kennelled dogs. The constant intake of air causes the stomach to balloon in size, which changes the abdomen’s normal organ layout.

The second suspect is diet. If dogs are moved onto very fermentable foodstuffs that produce gas at abnormal rates, the stomach can struggle and not deal with the gas efficiently by burping or passing it into the intestines.

Either way the dog is now bloated, which is an emergency in itself even if not one requiring surgery. If this inflated stomach twists however, the situation rapidly changes from serious to catastrophic.

– See more at: http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/health/pet-health-information/dog-bloat/#sthash.OpaHFKAd.dpuf.