Unusual gastric torsion

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Thomas Johnson — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 13:11:22 GMT

[quote user="Virginia Campbell"]

One of my colleagues opened a springer full of grass and leaves: the stomach was stuffed drum tight and the dog was miserable. It hadn't actually torsed but there was no way she could have puked it up - the vet had a job to unpack the stuff. As soon as the stomach was emptied the dogs' mm colour, heat rate and rhythm improved mightily. Think that one did OK, never had a recurrence.

[/quote]

I once operated on a spaniel that had been regurgitating food for a few days, but drinking water and keeping that down. Stomach looked very distended on xray and on ex-lap was found to be stuffed full of hay, very compacted and took some time to remove. The dog made a good recovery and as far as I am aware didn't do it again.

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 08:30:44 GMT

He's doing well so far. and he's a lovely dog, with lovely owners, but accident-prone doesn't even begin to describe him! I've already had to remove his spleen. He went to sleep in front of the off-hind wheel of a pick-up truck, and his terribly shocked owner ran over him, Luckily the ground was soft, but his spleen was almost torn in half! Now this.

Any bright ideas - short of a padded cell will be most welcome. Come to think of it. if this dog was put in a padded cell, he'd probably chew it and get obstructed. He really is that kind of dog, and a perfect darling with it.

Wynne

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Seadna — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 21:21:04 GMT

Farmers sometimes use additives in their silage, usually Lactobacilli cultures I think, they also sometimes add tasty things like molasses as a top dressing. I wonder did the dog find something delicious in that particular crop of silage?

Also, I think dogs can contract listeriosis from spoiled silage...not to mention mycotoxicosis...I would be worried about the little beggar doing himself harm in the future.

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Catriona MacIntyre — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 20:30:28 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

CATRIONA DON'T DEPRESS ME

Wynne

[/quote]

Doomed! We're DOOMED!

Tis our vocation in the Islands Wynne! Don't be taking it from us!

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 20:23:50 GMT

CATRIONA DON'T DEPRESS ME

Wynne

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Virginia Campbell — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 19:20:26 GMT

Now, if you can tell me how to stop her rampaging around gobbling sheep poo when we're walking round the store lambs I would be much obliged. She barfed a heap of it on the yard when we got back from walking all the fields on Sunday. Five minutes later and it would have been mum and dad's kitchen floor. Or the hall carpet.

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Virginia Campbell — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 19:16:46 GMT

My own dog likes silage but generally only grabs one mouthful on the way past the ring feeder. I suppose you'll have to get the owner to work out whether it was unusual for the dog to do more than grab one mouthful in passing. I imagine it would be odd to have one that was actually obsessed to the point of seeking it out, getting her head down and stuffing herself. I did see one farm springer in my first job who had a taste for rat poison - I saw her for her third episode when she had located the drainpipes in which the farmer had hidden the stuff when she wasn't looking- she must have shaken and rolled them to dislodge the breeze blocks weighing them down, and tipped and rattled them till the bait fell out. He said that if she did it again he would euthanase or rehome as she would have hated a muzzle or to be chained up or confined.

Hopefully yours isn't as bad. My own dog (working cocker) seems to be more excited by freshly forked-up silage, especially if she sees it tumbling into the feeder - she likes to grab it and toss it around and will then swallow a mouthful or two - so I guess get your client to keep the dog in the cab of the tractor with him when he's doing the rounds with the mixer wagon or block cutter so he can keep an eye on her, then take her with him to go and do some other job away from the freshly distributed silage and silage face. Should work OK as long as she's a well behaved tractor co-pilot (my cocker is, thankfully - the cab is the safest place for her to be as she is somewhat lacking in vehicle sense)

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Catriona MacIntyre — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 18:46:40 GMT

Saw a similar case with grass in a Basset Hound. Turned out to be a brain tumour!

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 14:07:23 GMT

Prob a food bloat, but it had rotated slightly - not enough to cause necrosis, but enough for me to be unable to stomach tube, prior to surgery. The tube went in fine towards the end of surgery.

Wynne

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Robin Grimmer — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 14:02:12 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Gastric torsion in a springer spaniel, which lived on a farm. When I opened up the stomach. I found it full of silage! How do you stop a dog eating silage, unless you confine it indoors, or muzzle it?

Wynne

[/quote]

Was it more a food bloat like some one posted on here recently, or was it a true GDV?

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 13:24:03 GMT

Linda and Richard That's a very good chicken/egg question - I don't know.

Wynne

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 13:19:17 GMT

[quote user="Richard Carter"]so is the silage a consequence[/quote]

It reminds me of the young lady of Ryde

Who ate green apples and died

The apples, fermented

Inside the lamented

Made cider inside 'er inside.

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Richard Carter — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 12:48:20 GMT

so is the silage a consequence or a cause of the original pathology?

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Mark Hedberg — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 11:18:25 GMT

[quote user="Hannah Wynne Richards"]

Wynne

[/quote]

Bizarre! That said, compared with some things a labrador sends down the hatch, not bad! ;)

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 10:01:59 GMT

Thanks I can't see this particular dog being happy if either confined or muzzled.

Wynne

RE: Unusual gastric torsion

Linda Filshie — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 09:59:09 GMT

Maybe a variant on grass eating with an upset stomach? Omeprazole for a couple of weeks might be helpful.