Torsion/bloat/trapped wind

[Claire Spencer]

Fagan, one of my Irish, turned 7 on Monday.  2 years ago he suffered a full torsion, he was operated on and his stomach stitched, he has been fine ever since ....... until last week.

 

Last week my OH called me home from agility training, Fagan wasnt right, which for my non doggy OH to notice must have been serious !!  When I got home Fagan was clearly uncomfortable, shaking, pale gums and nose licking.  All the same symptoms he showed when he had the torsion, he didnt bloat out, but he didnt last time either. I took him to the out of hours vets, they x-rayed, took bloods and put him on a drip but couldnt work out what the problem was, the only option was to open him up to see what was going on.

 

When they opened him up they found his intestine was completely full of gas, they also found his missing testicle (the vet when he was operated on at 18 months couldnt find it).  The vet didnt know the reason for the gas, there is a chance the testicle could have been involved but she is doubtful (it was still tiny and didnt look cancerous or anything)

 

So now he is home, all stitched up (for the 3rd time in his life!) but no reason for what happened and no guarantees that it wont happen again.

 

A bit of background on Fagan, his vet allergy tests came up with a low grade intollerance to chicken, but no matter what complete food he is fed his wind is awful so for the last 4 months he has been on raw, and has been doing great on it, put on at least 5kg (he has always been skinny) and the wind has stopped.  I also feed him raw chicken with no ill effects.

 

I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this ? Ive bought some windeze tablets for him now, but its still worrying if he is showing signs of bloat I want to get him to the vets, not give him tablets to see if it makes him better first !!  Ive also got some charcol tablets to hopefully help with digestion. I just dont want him opened up every time he has trapped wind !!

[Christine Kent]

No my vet hasnt checked those things but has given me a pot and if there is blood in his stools again to take a sample into them. He has tablets zitac at the moment. He was in the vets for 3 nights and wasn't sick at all. I picked him up yesterday morning and this afternoon he has been sick - yellow watery. The other thing is he keeps wanting to eat grass all the time at the moment and Ive been told by the vet not to let him do that so have to keep him in.  His poo is normal and no blood at the moment. Blood isnt always present.

[Catherine Carter]

I had a dog many years ago who suffered with bloody stools and this was due to a gluten intolerance. Once we got the right diagnosis and I changed his diet , it never recurred. Have you tested Riley for gluten intolerance?

[Christine Kent]

how do I test for gluten intolerance?  Did your dog vomit a lot?

[Catherine Carter]

What we did with my dog ( and this was in the eighties, they may have a test now!) was to stop feeding him any kind of wheat  biscuits. We switched his diet to tripe or chicken or fish and rice.( very well cooked rice!) His stools became normal after about two weeks. He used to have a noisy stomach usually first thing in the morning, and I used to stop this instantly by feeding him a bit of cheese or a spoonful of yogurt. I don't recall him vomitting. He stayed off wheat for the rest of his life. He lived to nearly 15 and was very healthy apart from this.  By the way at this time of year my dogs tend to eat couch grass in the paddock and then throw up... They sort of purge themselves. It is not alarming in anyway.

[Christine Kent]

I spoke to the vet yesterday and she said normally its ok for dogs to eat grass but while this is going on with him she has told me not to let him eat it which is very very difficult as you can imagine.  He is on the Hills I/D for a few more days and I am giving him snacks of pieces of chicken rather than any biscuits at the moment.  His poos are normal now and I just have to keep an eye on him. If he vomits again the vet has told me to ring her and we shall take it from there. Thanks for your help.

[Catherine Carter]

I hope he gets better soon....if it is gluten intolerance even the smallest biscuit might trigger loose bloody stools. His system has to be completely clear of wheat before he gets completely recovered!