Akita with bloat
Copy and pasted:
This video was posted on the DPCA members list with permission to pass it on.
The video shows an Akita in the beginning stages of bloat. This dog was delivered to new owners and they were not aware of what was happening to the dog but video taped it. They did get the dog to the vet and the outcome was good...the dog is ok. The voice over was added later for educational purposes.
Anyone who has never experienced bloat should watch this video so you can identify the symptoms. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Getting a dog to a vet as soon as possible increases the chances of survival.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/U1WrT2719yo
This video was posted on the DPCA members list with permission to pass it on.
The video shows an Akita in the beginning stages of bloat. This dog was delivered to new owners and they were not aware of what was happening to the dog but video taped it. They did get the dog to the vet and the outcome was good...the dog is ok. The voice over was added later for educational purposes.
Anyone who has never experienced bloat should watch this video so you can identify the symptoms. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Getting a dog to a vet as soon as possible increases the chances of survival.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/U1WrT2719yo
Comments
Every time I meet a person who does not know about bloat, I am SO shocked because it is such a serious thing.
One thing that I've learned though, is call the e-vet ahead of time. Sometimes the e-vet may already be in surgery for another dog and you'll get diverted to another e-vet. Sometimes the e-vet doors are locked even though they are "open" and there are people inside.
Not only that, but they told me that he'd "probably" bloat again in his lifetime even with the stomach tacking.
It seems like this is something we should know a whole lot more about than just playing the guessing game. I did find a bit of information (a Malamute breeder's opinion) on bloat to be similar to yours @brada1878
"My personal opinion is there is nothing you can really do to avoid bloat. Feeding helps, de-stressing helps, good genetics helps - but if it's going to happen - it just happens. There were no common denominators in our 2 situations. Riggs was home hanging out watching TV like he always does. Gracie was at a dog show with several of our other dogs. I tend to believe the theory I've heard from a long time breeder of Malamutes - that it's caused by an inherited bacteria in some dog stomachs. That makes more sense than a lot of other "causes". Bloat does seem to run in certain lines - and certain kennels which to me seems like a hereditary factor must be involved. I've also heard that dogs with large broad chests are more prone because the excess space gives the stomach somewhere to go. I'm not sure if that's true or not. To me it just seems silly a dog rolling over would twist for no apparent reason - without some hereditary factor involved."
I heard different speculations about the hereditary aspect, such as shorter and shorter rib cages (herring gut) that some breeds have. The speculation I hold is that it has to the mesentary and other stuff holding organs in place. Some may not be right at the onset (hereditary), but also something may change as the dog ages. Dogs in even healthy, non-stereotypical bloating breeds will get bloat when they're old but not young. Why is that?
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"Just because a condition is sometimes genetic does not mean that condition
is always genetic. And the same condition can have many different genetic
causes (and in some cases completely environmental causes.). In Aussies
there are both recessive and dominant forms of cataracts---plus there are
genetic changes that can happen through the process of aging that cause
cataracts---like cancer---if you live long enough you will get cataracts.
If cataracts are present in a OLD dog with no significant family history
then that is not a concern---why couldn 't bloat work in the same way?
There is a condition in humans called Marfan syndrome---these people are
SUPER limber, tall, slender and are at risk to develop ruptures of the aorta
of their heart---that is the main blood vessel of the heart that takes all
of the blood to the lower part of the body---it is shaped like a candy cane
and being pounded many times a minute every day--- it can dissect open and
rupture. When they found the gene for Marfan syndrome they named it elastin
(like elastic---geneticists TRY to make things make sense.) And like
elastic---elastin was a part of the things in the body that needed to be
stretchy. People with Marfan have stretchy that is too stretchy which is
especially a problem in the aorta in their heart. Now if someone has
Marfan---they are FAR more likely to dissect their aorta---but people can
dissect their aorta even if they do not have Marfan syndrome---sometimes the
causes are genet ic and sometimes they are environmental--- (John Ritter died
of an Aortic Dissection but did not have Marfan syndrome but did have a
dominant gene---there is an excellent explanation of these concepts on his
Foundation for Aortic Health
website---http://johnritterfoundation.org/your-aortic-health/ )
So----if you have ever had an OLD pair of elastic waist pants---you know
that sometimes that elastic gets stretchier and stretchier with age. One
concept I have about Bloat is that perhaps it has to do with the ligaments
that are responsible for holding the stomach in place---it makes sense to me
that these can become stretchy with age (sadly a few things about me are
becoming stretchy with age...) BUT---if an individual inherited a a gene
that made those particular ligaments MORE stretchy then hopefully you can
begin to see how a genetic predisposition might work. Like buying those
pants that were made with bad Elastic to begin with---they are going to give
out much more quickly but it may depend partly on what they are exposed
to---are they your favorite pair and you wear them every day or do they hang
in your closest most of the time...
---I QUITE literally JUST googled this concept of stretchy ligaments and and
it appears that Volvulus DOES occur in humans and 2/3s occur because of
abnormal laxity in the ligament holding the stomach in place
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/190750-overview#a0102 The other thing
that I was going to say (also mentioned in this link) is that some bloat
seems to be caused by an abnormality in how the stomach moves things along
(1/3 are caused by this per this link.) These stomach emptying issues could
give those ligaments a bigger workout and put more pressure on them (leading
ultimately to bloat and torsion.) So you can see that different issues
(stretchy ligament. OR prone to bloated stomach because the stomach does not
empty as effectively and causes the ligaments to stretch, OR wear and tear
of time and so they can become to stretchy with age...) can cause the same
result (bloat and torsion) and have different causes (makes sense that
stretchy ligaments and stomach emptying issues have ENTIRELY different
causes even though they have the same visible outcome ... bloat and torsion....)
So the dog from a high risk family can get lucky or have other factors and
not bloat or never bloat at all---(fat dogs are less likely to bloat for
instance because fat helps hold the stomach in place also.) A dog could
theoretically stress the system because of something he ate or drank that
caused a issue. That is why you cannot consider the possible genetics of a
condition without the context of the family history (Medical Genetic
Pedigree.) It is like looking at a puddle on the floor---you have no idea
why it might be there without context."
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And some more thoughts from a different person:
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"I'm with you all the way on why GDV isn't a subject of canine vet research. It's a condition that can cause an agonizing death within an hour if not recognized and corrected. Yet research is intensely applied to skin diseases, eye diseases, structural diseases, most of which the animal can go on living with.
And I do agree that stretch of the ligaments could be a function of it.,whether it changes or starts out stretchy enough to be dangerous from early in life. Alot of young dogs bloat who haven't had years to stretch those ligaments.
But anatomically, there are many other factors that are probably equally, if not more, to blame. The shape and size of the stomach (imagine a hammock swinging round and round). The internal space the stomach hangs in. We really don't know the answer as to whether a big, barrelly abdominal space is less or more prone to supporting bloat than a narrow, deep space. (Btw, GDV does occur in humans, but is exceedingly rare. The theory there is that the upright posture works against GDV. Maybe we just have to teach them all to walk on their hind legs like that great boy in the You-Tube clip, a doggy with no front legs, who walked, ran every place on the only ones he had.) So add the forces of gravity applied to the size and shape of the stomach, and the internal space housing the G-I tract, etc. and so forth.
And then we come to the placement of the tethering ligaments of the stomach +/- stretchiness. So far all these things are likely mostly genetic in their origins, just like the structures many breeders already manipulate to effect changes in the most superficial traits we like/ don't like in our dogs. Maybe it's time to pay attention to what is better manipulated on the inside of the dog?
Which brings us to the functional factors in the development of bloat. Very often it is pointed out that dogs under stress are the most likely to bloat. Well, there's a large nerve that originates at the level of the neck and projects caudally where it innervates the heart and the stomach, among other structures. And the vagus nerve profoundly affects the function of both those organs. When a dog is significantly stressed, it is the vagus nerve that can slow the heart so profoundly that the animal can appear dead, which is one way to escape trauma. and, if you or I find ourselves in a threatening situation---like being packed in a crowd. Ever wonder why so many people faint in church? Well, that's the vagus nerve slowing our heart rate down so low that blood pressure follows it down, and perfusion of the brain falters. At which the time is just about right for thee or me to hit the floor ungracefully while possibly making things worse by conking our noggins forcefully on the way down. They don't call it a vaso-vagal faint for nothing.
Anyway, dogs, too, are subject to the effects of stress from without, causing changes on nerve signals within. And the vagal innervation of the heart may well play a part in the shock that ensues quickly in the face of GDV. Not to mention the effects it can have on the stasis of the stomach contents, the edema of the stomach wall, the causation of abnormal G-I peristalsis such that the stomach starts side-to-side motion instead of "north to south" movement. And since I've been running on 2-3 hrs. of sleep lately, I think I'm going to stop there, leaving the Q's: can we learn which are truly bloat prone dogs by using non-invasive methods (sonograms, C-T scans, MRI's, PET scans, etc), and then breed away from these genetic phenomena? Can there be developped safe drugs which can block massive vagal output at the critical time in the development of bloat (without pushing the animal into the equally dangerous opposite effect) Of course it can be done. So why isn't the vet research attention being focussed on it? Thank you and good night."
Anyway, I've wondered about causes too. It just doesn't make sense to me--esp. now that I have some more knowledge of anatomy--that the stomach or intestines could twist just because of the dog playing after eating, or because of the type of food they eat, or whatever.
Ayk, your idea about the mesentery is really interesting, and makes a lot of sense. (I wouldn't even have known what that was a week ago, but I was at the cadaver lab on Weds, and the instructor pointed it out and explained what it does.)
I'm not sure I know about the difference between torsion and bloat, though. I thought they were the same thing, with torsion just being the official name and "bloat" what it was called.
Same, ayk can you explain in plain English please?
Here's a link explaining bloat better:
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/gastric-volvulus-bloat-dogs-life-threatening-emergency