Bloat — In a 55 lbs dog?
Yikes! Henry had a bit of intestinal bloat last night. He’s OK now after a quick application of Gas-X and Pepsid AC (both of which are available over the counter, and both of which are OK with my vet). I didn’t realize that smaller dogs could get bloat though, and I’m really only familiar with it while taking care of Jennie’s Swissie, Mouse.
Bloat is basically gas — but left unaddressed, it can mean gastric or splenic torsion, which usually creates internal bleeding and can mean quick death for a dog. Large breeds like mastiffs, great danes, and swiss mountain dogs are especially prone to it. If you have a large dog, it pays to be prepared for bloat. Here is one link, and here is another — assemble a bloat kit before you need it.
In Henry’s case, it wasn’t that severe. The spell started out with hip hiccuping and vomiting into his mouth — and then swallowing it back down. He still had an appetite and would still drink water. His abdomen was swollen, but not to the point where it was as tight as his ribcage. He was whining a little bit and looking away from me, and any time he put his head down to sleep he’d burp and vomit, so he was having to hold his head up. I called Jennie up to get her take, since she deals with this constantly — we checked his capillary refill rate, and his gums were normal, unlike the time that we discovered Eowyn’s allergy to Previcox, and his heart rate was normal without any lethargy, so I wasn’t worried about internal bleeding or torsion. She suggested just treating with Pepsid AC (famotidine) and Gas-X (simethecone) and seeing if that helped.
And it did. No vet call required, and no harm done. If it hadn’t, you can bet I’d have called the vet right away and would be bundling Henry off to the doggie ER as fast as we could go. He’s sleeping peacefully right next to me right now with his head buried in the pillows I’m leaning against!