Bloat

ORIGINAL: dvet

I would agree doing it at time of spay is  l;ogical and making a much larger incision I don;t think is required..I am saying this as never having done it but I can do small incisions for diaphragmatic hernias, spleenectomys etc...again I am saying with out haveing done it....but I can do great surgery in my mind...I susppect in my mind I caould take tonsils out during a spay and also doing a spay while doing a tonscilectomey----Hey::: i:m only kidding....honest

I scrubbed in on a spay/gastropexy on an irish wolfhound (the only time i've seen both procedures) and the incision was just a few inches short of an abdominal exploratory incision. It might have been the way the dog was built, or just that one procedure though... I don't know. I hadn't started surgery when I saw the procedure, so I didn't have the knowledge to judge...

so I didn't have the knowledge to judge...

Well TAHBSO is usually done from a lower midline and gastropexy from upper midline, so at least you will have a midline that extends a quarter the way beyond half to be able to reach both places. But, I would never do it open just a few port sites for lap or none at all for endoscopic!!! With people we can get away with the expensive toys though a lot more.

Do you find dogs have as much pain after laparotomies? It's pretty painful from the human end.

"The vet did tack his stomach but I thought she told me that the vet warned it could still happen again"

It will prevent gastric torsion but not bloat.

dogs have pain after any surgery but it can be very well controlled...first with lots of attention..I would send clients out with pain med but advise them not to use it unless they really felt it was needed...dogs cannot concentrate on 2 things at the same time...so good scratching behind the ear, belly rubs even just sitting and talking to them will help control oir help them ignore the pain...I sent my spays , even c sections as soon after surgery that i felt they would be free of anesthetic accidents,,,Even C.sections, I would let them off the table and they would follow the owners who had the pups in a box...then at home they usully, I guess ignored the pain cause  the pups kept their minds off of any pain...and if you gave pain med to the bitch...you were givine pain med to the pups so the less the better, none give is much better..

Unless they have changed their minds, I have read in several places that if you are going to get this done to do it at the time of a surgery such as spay or to wait to see if the dog does bloat.
Gee misskiwi67 you are making it seem that if you have these breeds you better get the surgery or else. But gee,,,again, Bubblegums breeder said she never had a Dane bloat on her yet.  While certain breeds are more prone to bloat, that sure doesn't mean that every Dane is going to bloat and you better get this surgery. You are putting them in harms way for the surgery and the chance is great that they will never bloat to begin with.

Danes are the number one breed to bloat, I don't see how a pexy could be more risky than the disease. Surgery is controlled, bloat is not. I just know I would never want my dog to go through what Poker did. Seeing is believing, know what I mean??

For the person who is worried their dog will bloat... YES, get a pexy. You will sleep better at night. It won't completely prevent bloat, but it will delay the deadly consequences of a gastric torsion. For someone who takes preventative steps and doesn't want to put their dog through another surgery... being vigilant is just fine. I never meant to make anyone feel like a bad owner because their dog wasn't pexied.

I have a big problem with people who do this with their breeding dogs. I have an even bigger problem when puppy buyers ask about bloat and are told "Our dogs have never bloated..." but not told that it is because of the op.
 
If Danes as a whole are prone then the reasons should be examined and lessened if possible...even if that means...losing some size...depth of chest...or whathaveyou. Bloat in Akitas runs in families...and whether that is genetic...or conformational, I do think it is inherited...and I want to know about it.
 
I don't want this getting like Bulldogs (requiring surgeries just to "be" in most cases) where NO Danes can live past age 3 without an op. That would be truly sad.

 I never meant to make anyone feel like a bad owner because their dog wasn't pexied.

 
Awe gee, I don't think anyone thinks you are saying that if you don't get this surgery that your a bad owner,,,,if your referring to me,,,  the point that I am trying to make is that even if  Danes are the number one breed to bloat, sure doesn't mean that if you have a Great Dane its going to bloat. In this past year, I know personally of 3 dogs that died of bloat, two of them are German Shepherds the other is a Dane. Don't know the story on the Shepherds but the Dane was at the groomers when he got sick. The owner said when she got there he was sick and vomitting and she figured it was the stress from being at the groomer,,,something that he doesn't like. He was taken to the vet immediately where they stablized him, but he died a short time later. I don't know the story of why they didn't do surgery to try to save him but they didn't.