Ok, this is more under the category of “things that can save your DOG’S life…” but close enough.
Last night, after I went to bed, Little started retching, like coughing/trying to throw up without producing anything. I thought he was actually puking, so I woke up to clean it up – but found that he was just gagging. Over, and over, and over. And he had drooled all over the couch (and he doesn’t drool).
And he would stand up, retch, lay down, retch, stand up, retch…
So I decided to Google “dog retching”. Which turned up several websites, all of which told me that retching unproductively was the number one sign of bloat (or gastric torsion) in large, deep-chested dogs.
Awesome.
Now, I will say, by this time, Little had *stopped* retching. And, in fact, he was acting ABSOLUTELY FINE.
But then I found this site, which described how a dog had the SAME SYMPTOMS, and was happy and “wagging her tail”, who then DIED on the operating table.
If the intention of that website is to scare the living daylights out of its readers, well…it succeeded.
Little and I were off to the emergency vet.
(Thankfully, we live about 10 minutes from one, so this wasn’t nearly the big deal that it could have been at 2:00 am.)
And now…here is my second piece of lifesaving advice (for Fido…)
The vet said that about an hour before we arrived last night, another dog had come in, dead on arrival, because his owners didn’t know that retching unproductively was a sign of bloat. They thought they’d let him wait it out, and by the time he stomach got the characteristic “bloat”, it was too late.
So if your deep-chested dog is exhibiting retching, drooling, or any of the other symptoms listed on that link – take the dog in. It is a really easy diagnostic process. If it is bloat, and it goes untreated, it is fatal.
Our happy ending: $200 later…Little is absolutely, perfectly, totally fine. He loved the X-ray machine and apparently loved having sandbags placed on him (to hold him still for the X-ray) and thought it was a great field trip at 2:00 am. His stomach was totally fine, his other organs were in the right place (I wasn’t really worried about that, but she kindly highlighted it for me anyway 
)…but hey, better safe than sorry, right?
Right.
(Although I do wish it hadn’t cost $200.)
5 comments
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April 7, 2009 at 11:35 am
Emily
thanks for the link. i hate that vets are so expensive. have you guys looked into pet insurance? we don’t have it, but there are times when i wish we did:(
April 7, 2009 at 11:41 am
R
Ha…ha…we just cancelled the policy. Like a month ago. We never used it, and it was expensive.
Sigh.
April 7, 2009 at 1:02 pm
liz
That’s good to know because I tend to be the wait-it-out type. Bloat totally scares me. I refuse to take Audrey out until at least an hour or so after she’s eaten. And when I can help it she exercises on a completely empty stomach.
I am glad Little is ok. I have pet insurance. I have been meaning to figure out if it’s worth it. I got it because Audrey was having lots of little issues and it seemed to make sense, but she’s been good to go for a while. (Knock on wood).
April 7, 2009 at 1:48 pm
R
Liz – I don’t know what kind of pet insurance you have. We had VPI, which was really expensive to us, but I’ve been told that the AKC pet insurance is cheaper and better. I haven’t actually checked it out, though.
Bloat terrifies me, too. It is the one thing that I am obsessed with for Little. He also goes out only on an empty stomach, and if he’s somewhere where he’s playing with other dogs, we might only feed him one meal a day…and we only feed him kibble (which can cause bloat more easily since they drink water with it and it expands) at night, when he’s less active. But still, it is horrifying to think that the pup could be okay one minute, and then dead on the way to the vet the next.
(I cried when I heard about the other dog last night. I cannot imagine how horrible that would be.)
April 8, 2009 at 3:33 am
Julia
Glad that Little is okay. You’re absolutely right, better safe than sorry. If only dogs could talk, then it would be so much easier for us to find out what is going on. Since they can’t, I am of the philosophy (as you properly titled your blog post) “better safe than sorry”.