Have you noticed your dog laying around the house looking generally upset? Maybe you can visually see that your dog's stomach bloating fluctuates in size, or shape throughout the day. There are many signs of a bloated stomach, and the symptoms of dog digestive system issues. It's a challenge for pups parents, but it's something that you can assess yourself, and start working on immediately to improve their quality of life.
Of course, there are typical cases of gas, weight fluctuation, and sour stomach that aren't related to a bloated stomach. Here, we're going to cover precisely what causes bloat, how to assess it in your pup, and what to do about it.
What Causes or Contributes to Dog Stomach Bloating?
Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus, or GDV, is the proper term for a handful of common stomach ailments that causes dog upset stomach. Your vet may refer to gastric torsion, stomach bloat, bloat, or bloated stomach, but it all comes down to GDV. GDVcan sometimes be mistaken by symptoms such as farting dog bloating.
What happens is that the stomach is swollen with gas, then from the pressure of the gas, the stomach twists. When the twisting occurs, the dogs can't relieve their discomfort through burping, passing gas, or even vomiting.
As the pressure in the stomach builds, there's additional pressure placed on nearby organs and even the circulatory system. Eventually, the pressure can severely impact the veins to reduce the amount of blood that reaches the heart.
There are a few key things that directly impact the risks or possibilities that your dog could experience stomach bloat:
- Extremely Large Dog Breeds - breeds including St. Bernards, Mastiffs, Dobermans, Boxers, Grey Hounds, Great Danes, and dogs with similar structures are at a high-risk of stomach bloat.
- Heavy dogs - dogs weighing over 100 pounds, whether that is normal for the breed or not.
- Eating only once per day - this increases consumption rate and the risk for bloat.
- Underweight dogs
- Male dogs
- Dogs between 2 and 10 years old
- Dog foods with high animal fats
- No water, or excessive water before or after meals
Dog Stress is a particular issue that comes into play. Dogs will often change their eating habits and contract bloat much easier when they experience anxiety, fear, or aggression. Many pet owners have chosen to use Organic CBD oil for pets to help calm pets and reduce the chances of anxiety or fear related issues.
Having said that, not all canine bloat is dangerous. Bloat can occur when a dog eats too much or perhaps something he shouldn't have, but it can also occur when your dog's stomach is overstuffed with air or gas. This condition is transient, much like bloat in people. Because it hurts, our dogs may become sluggish till it passes. However, if the stomach twists and cuts off the blood flow to vital organs, the condition may turn severe. Your veterinarian should treat the condition at this point since a simple stomach bloat might develop into GDV.
Signs Your Dog Bloated Stomach
The primary symptoms that most pet owners notice include:
- Over-sized stomach
- Hyper-salivation (excessive drooling)
- Heavy breathing, or trouble getting a full breath
- Lethargy - particularly tiredness without sleeping
- Dry heaving without vomit
- Whining - constant whining
- Pacing
These symptoms will often occur shortly after eating, especially if you noticed your dog was eating quickly or in taking a lot of air with their bites
Can a Bloated Stomach be Dangerous to Dogs?
Yes! Never underestimate the seriousness of a bloated stomach. Dogs with stomach torsion or GDVare at a high risk of cardiac arrest and shock because of the strain placed on their circulatory system.
GDV has an almost 50% mortality rate. That means that if your dog has GDV, you need to take immediate action to get emergency treatment and then long-term treatment as well. Even when you have emergency treatment, there is still about a 30% mortality rate.
The Skinny: Dog Bloated Stomach Home Remedy Prevention
Learning how to help dogs bloated stomach with home remedies should always start with their diet. If you notice signs of stomach bloating, you need to take immediate action such as home treatment for bloat. Your vet will determine what direct course of treatment is necessary, but the real way to handle a bloated stomach is prevention.
A raw diet is the best way to help dogs at high risk for dogs bloated stomach to deter this medical issue. Among the popular choices are chicken, turkey, ground beef, and down under, you can even get hold of kangaroo meat for dogs. Avoid kibble or even premixed food and instead, focus on natural proteins and small amounts of starch.
A raw diet is the best way to help dogs at high risk for dogs bloated stomach to deter this medical issue. Among the popular choices are chicken, turkey, ground beef, and down under, you can even get hold of kangaroo meat for dogs. Avoid kibble or even premixed food and instead, focus on natural proteins and small amounts of starch.
If you're looking at the different dog food you can find on the shelf, look for food that has meat meal, bone, and fat in the top ingredients. Bones are also good as they can help strengthen their stomach muscles and even reduce gas.
The Go-To Dog Bloated Stomach Home Remedy
Some methods that can help reduce stomach bloat or the risk of stomach bloat include slow-feed bowls. These bowls have deep rivets that make it difficult for them to take large bites. You can also explore freshly prepared food, increasing exercise before meals, and eliminating exercise after meals. Finally, after a dog recovers from stomach bloat, they may require smaller spaced out meals throughout the day rather than one or two feedings.
Fur parents know that there's so much they can do to prevent some issues, but stomach bloat requires purposeful prevention. If you notice the signs of a bloated stomach, you should immediately take your dog to a veterinarian. It is an emergency and likely requires immediate medical intervention.
Here is a list of some natural home remedies for your dogs bloated stomach:
Probiotics and Prebiotics
As part of the normal gut flora, your dog's gut contains both "good" and "bad" bacteria. For your dog to be healthy, there has to be a balance between these two types of bacteria. The fiber that makes up prebiotics cannot be digested.
While they shouldn't be used as a quick fix, you can ensure that your dog consumes enough of them to help ward off bloat in the future. Prebiotics and the finest probiotics for dogs are now found in many commercial dog diets, which helps to support healthy digestion in dogs.
Imagine the digestive system of your dog as a grassy yard. One bacteria is represented by each blade of grass. Prebiotics serve as fertilizer for the existing grass (or bacteria). Probiotics are similar to reseeding the lawn (or digestive system) to encourage the growth of more grass or "good" bacteria.
Avoid Sudden Change in Diet
A sudden change in your dog's food may cause them to produce more gas than usual. You must alter your pet's food gradually if you choose to do so. Additionally, make sure your pet is receiving a high-quality nutrition.
You should switch to more nutritious food if you've lately discovered that your dog's regular dog food contains a lot of fillers, preservatives, and generally bad substances. You can also consider suitable supplements to aid your dog’s nutrition, such as those from PetLab.co.
Don't, however, abruptly alter your dog's nutrition. So that Fido's stomach has time to adjust, go slowly. Surprisingly, switching to a new, healthier meal may cause Fido to feel queasy or bloated.
Poor-quality feeds have a lot of filler elements that are unnecessary for your dog's health. These substances may be more difficult to process and result in a lot of gas. A simple remedy to your dog's stinky excessive flatulence problem could be to move him to a higher quality diet.
Massage Dogs Stomach to Relive Gas
Your dog could be unable to expel gas on his own due to gas accumulation. He can be helped most easily by giving your dog a massage like this:
How to Massage the Gas Out of a Dog
- Identify the Hardened Areas on Your Dog's Tummy
The easiest approach to massage a dog is to gently glide over its body while flattening your palm. Pay attention to the harder parts as opposed to the soft and pliable ones.
- Start Rubbing the Parts Gently for Dog Gas Relief
Skin, hair, fat, muscle, and bone layers may all be felt. Rub to release pressure over wide regions. Squeezing could be more effective in tiny spaces.
It may be possible to complete the massage by patting the dog if you can keep them quiet and make sure they are enjoying it.
- Make Your Dog Feel Relaxed
Please give them a belly rub or a thorough scratch behind the ears.
Make sure that they remember the massage as a pleasant experience rather than as something that violated and uncomfortable them.
While pushing out the gas is the greatest way to massage gas out of a dog, you can also try rubbing other parts of your dog to bring him some comfort. Massage your dog in regions unrelated to digestion to help relieve gas, which can be connected to stress and anxiety.
Light Workout and Exercises
Walking can assist your pet pass gas and is a mild workout. Exercise stimulates the digestive system and boosts blood flow.
Even during a stroll, your dog could pass stool, which would free up some space and make him feel more at ease straight immediately.
Just be careful that the activity isn't too demanding or your dog can become nauseous.
Dogs frequently have a lot of gas, and it's typically nothing to worry about. The bloating should be lessened by using the aforementioned advice, and your dog should feel better in no time.
Just keep an eye out for those canine bloat symptoms, and if you think the problem is worse than you first believed, call your veterinarian right once.
Don’t use Raised Bowls
Ironically, vets used to advise them for bigger breeds to help avoid bloat. Raised bowls enhance your dog's risk of bloat, according to recent studies.
According to research, 52% of instances involving huge breeds and 20% of cases involving large breed dogs. The presence of a high meal dish was directly connected to bloat.
It also makes logic. Dogs in the wild consume ground food. Nobody is supporting their dinner for them on a log! Therefore, feeding your dog at ground level is a lot more natural position for him!
Here Some Homeopathic Remedies for Dogs Bloated Stomach
Carbo vegetabilis and Nux vomica are the two most popular treatments for bloating. Therefore, be sure you have at least these two available. Select a potency of 30C or 200C
