Wow!! I'm sure glad that Speedy is fine. That's tough stuff. You're right to post this and say that all who own basset hounds must be aware of it and how to recognize the symptoms. I highly recommend the information that Betsy posted as required reading for all basset owners. It may save your dogs life.
There is a lot of conflicting material out there on bloat, especially on the Internet. We had a vet with a very extensive background with bloat, both research and actual experiences, speak at one of our basset hound club meetings. She said she didn't have a clue what truly caused it. From her experience she did say that feeding dogs two meals rather than just one was a good idea, but it wouldn't prevent bloat. She has seen dogs that haven't eaten bloat on the operating table during surgery for an unrelated problem. Even the rather extensive Purdue study doesn't say what causes it. Some of what they say in their study conflicts with other information on bloat that I have read.
We've lost one to bloat and saved another one. Our first one bloated while we were at work. We cama home and found him in his dog house. It was a very sad day. Our second case happened in the middle of the night with our Moose. We knew right away what was happening and got him to the emergency vet that's about 20 minutes from our home. Eventhough his stomach had twisted, he was able to walk in under his own power. The tech who took him back didn't even think he had bloated and asked us if we really wanted to pay for an x-ray. A friend of ours was on duty that night and as soon as they were sure that he bloated she started preping him for surgery even befote the vet presented us with the results and estimate. Either the bloat or the surgery upset his pancreas, which is fairly common. He had to stay in the hospital several days before that cleared up.
There is a lot of conflicting material out there on bloat, especially on the Internet. We had a vet with a very extensive background with bloat, both research and actual experiences, speak at one of our basset hound club meetings. She said she didn't have a clue what truly caused it. From her experience she did say that feeding dogs two meals rather than just one was a good idea, but it wouldn't prevent bloat. She has seen dogs that haven't eaten bloat on the operating table during surgery for an unrelated problem. Even the rather extensive Purdue study doesn't say what causes it. Some of what they say in their study conflicts with other information on bloat that I have read.
We've lost one to bloat and saved another one. Our first one bloated while we were at work. We cama home and found him in his dog house. It was a very sad day. Our second case happened in the middle of the night with our Moose. We knew right away what was happening and got him to the emergency vet that's about 20 minutes from our home. Eventhough his stomach had twisted, he was able to walk in under his own power. The tech who took him back didn't even think he had bloated and asked us if we really wanted to pay for an x-ray. A friend of ours was on duty that night and as soon as they were sure that he bloated she started preping him for surgery even befote the vet presented us with the results and estimate. Either the bloat or the surgery upset his pancreas, which is fairly common. He had to stay in the hospital several days before that cleared up.
