Big Paws Only Dog Forums
Great Danes => Great Dane Discussions => : Mia's Daddy September 19, 2006, 04:27:43 AM
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I had read somewhere that some people give their large dogs anti-gas medication in their food regularly to reduce chance of bloat. Does anyone here do that? If so what do you use and how much?
Also we are having her spayed in next month and are seriously considering having her stomach tacked while they are in there.
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Okay, I'm an idiot...what is getting her stomach tacked?
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Gastro-tack is how the vet put it. It is a procedure that tacks the dog's stomach to one of their ribs to prevent torsion (stomach rolls over/twists cutting off the digestive flow and can kill part of the stomach along with the dog). Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is my understanding of it. The tack does not guarantee the dog will not bloat, but does cut down on the risk of torsion associated with it, right?
It is an invasive procedure that most would not have done by itself, but if you are having your pet spayed it is not that big of a deal to have done while they are in there.
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Ask the vet about the amount to give, I think it depends on the weight. When my GSD started to bloat my vet told me to give him gas-x if I had any. I've never heard of giving it on a regular basis, but I'm sure it's probably done!!
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We switched Phoebe to a new food. Go Natural Salmon & Oatmeal. Before she was very gassy and since we have been converting she has had much less gas. It's one of the more expensive to feed but it's really settled her stomach. YAY! She was SOOOOOOOO gassy before. Once she's totally converted she goes in for her spay and to get her ankle fixed. I cannot wait! We have been in a bind where Phoebe came in. Originally we were only supposed to be dog sitting her with the agreement our friend would spay her. Well it didn't happen and she decided she no longer wanted Phoebe. Bad timing for us because with my husband in school and EI taking forever to kick in and my paying all the bills off what I make doing child care it's been hard to save up. Well friends of ours knowing our love and compassion for animals have helped to kick in money to help us out. Right now we're at $300, and the total to spay and fix her ankle is $600 so hopefully we can find the extra $300 to get her spayed and get her ankle done soon. Other vets quoted over $1500 to do both and this one vet who knows Danes so well offered to help us out by decreasing the cost, bless his heart, so now we're pinching pennies so that hopefully we can get her ankle done by the end of September when she will be fully converted to her Go Natural diet. *fingers crossed* We'll keep everyone posted.