Gastric torsion

[Guest MOLLY]

At what age is a running dog more suseptible to torsion?

The pup is being fed 2 meals per day, morning and night. I always feed the 1st thing when i get up, their 1st walk may be an hour to 4hrs or so later, no set routine.

She is now 27wks and starting to take the running dog shape, is she in danger of torsion and if so what can i do to remedy it...dont want to change to one meal per day, as she is till growing.

Moll.

[bill88 6]

Molly i'm no expert,but i think two small meals is better than one large one.Maybe an idea to do some research (google) on whether it effects pups,i'm pretty sure it can.I think the critical thing is,time between feeding and exercise or between exercise and feeding.For me its always 5 hours,mainly because thats what my old man did,and he never had any probs with his dogs.Some people say the dog only needs to rest for an hour or two,before feeding.That may well be the case,but i'm not prepared to take the chance with any of mine.Better safe than sorry i say.Bill

[Guest reload]

Alreet MOL,

 

With a pup of 6 months plus, two meals a day, feed after exercise and once the dog is well settled maybe a hour or so.

Dont let her guzzle water and eat right after exercise or before exercise.

 

Strangely Bloat or Gastric Torsion is statistically more likely in dogs....mmm Strange...But once a dog is really starting to be able, physically, too exercise hard I would start keeping a eye on it.

 

Good luck she looks a cracking pup

[Kat 3]

Its also advisable to place the feed bowl up off the floor. I use a plastic wastepaper basket and the bowl sits nicely in, but there are purpose built metal hoops that take the bowl. Mine cost 79p in a cheapy shop tho lol I sadly lost one of my wirehaired pointers recently due to bloat and its really really horrible.

[Geoff.C 0]

Its also advisable to place the feed bowl up off the floor. I use a plastic wastepaper basket and the bowl sits nicely in, but there are purpose built metal hoops that take the bowl. Mine cost 79p in a cheapy shop tho lol I sadly lost one of my wirehaired pointers recently due to bloat and its really really horrible.

 

Good advice Kat, I was taught,as a lad, to get the dogs neck in line with it's back as it eats. So always adjust the bowl height to suit the animal.

This is supposed to reduce the "hoovering" of air as they eat. Tall breeds like Lurchers,have a long way to lift the food from the floor level.

It doesn't matter much of course,if they are lying down with a lump of lamb or chicken.

[DevoidOvTalent 0]

There was a study that found that dogs eating from raised bowls had a greater chance of bloat. I don't think it correlates as a cause, simply because most people who own a breed prone to bloat feed in raised bowls.

 

For dogs that are gulpers or food bolters, you can put large rocks or balls in the bowl so the dog has to eat around them, feed from a flat shallow pan, or from a muffin tin, to slow down the consumption.

[Kat 3]

theres many schools of thought on it. A weimeraner study showed that raised bowls only increased bloat in animals that had already had suffered from it. Its not just a feeding issue tho as something as simple as the dog jumping off a sofa could cause the twist too. Of course in the wild they dont have bowls and they tear meat often whilst lying down so the other recommendation of no bowl just putting the food on the ground for the dog to hoover up will also help prevent gulping..

[juckler123 707]

Something ive never come across in lurchers ive often had to feed twice daily and up to two pounds of flesh per sitting when there having some graft and never had a dog with bloat rest before and after feeding i would have thought is the main way to avoid this problem.

If i were you Molly i would give a minimum of two to four hours rest depending on the size of the meal.

[skycat 6,173]

I wonder if the tendancy to gastric torsion can be genetically linked: I know that some pure breeds are more susceptible than others, but is it something that can lurk within the genes of a particular line?

I've never fed even big (over 28") lurchers off the ground, and never had a problem. Alaskan wolves can reach over 30" and they don't have raised feeding stations!

 

Thank God I've not encountered the problem as it must be one of the most distressing things to happen to both dog and owner.

 

I usually feed once a day unless its a pup or working very hard. Feed in the evening before settling down for the night. For pups of 6 to 12 months old I feed a small meal in the morning, about 1/3 of the daily allowance, take them out for exercise at least 3 hours after that meal. Feed remaining 2/3 of their daily allowance anywhere between 7 and 10 in the evening depending on what's going on. They usually have access to a huge meaty bone most of the time as well, so they can chew on that instead of the kennel or furniture!