Dagny reminded me of bloat... True bloat: Death is mostly certain after 20 minutes, although the agonizing end may be drawn out. It is far easier to prevent than repair. Bloat is the third main killer of dogs after cars and cancer.

There are two types. The first is a dysfunction of the spincter between the esophagus and the stomach, and the pyloric valve from the stomach to the intestines. The stomach swells up and the blood supply is cut off. *IF* the GasX can get into the stomach, it might help, but the initial cause of the problem may prevent it.

Dogs that are fed cheap dry foods (first several ingredients are grains) are even more susceptible, as they are cheap gassy fillers (really, chicken feed) and will swell. Test your dog's food: put a normal meal amount in a bowl and add warm water, keep away from animals, and see how much it swells in an hour or so.

A Gastric Torsion is where the full stomach (food or water) flips and twists, cutting off the blood supply to the area and putting the dog into shock and incredible pain. Think of a balloon filled with water, then flipped while held at each end.

Certain types of dogs are at more risk: large breeds with deep chests are the worst, such as Golden & Labrador Retrievers, Irish Setters, almost all of the larger hound breeds, Doberman, Gt. Dane and Rottweiler, Airedale (the only terrier breed, so far), German Shepherd, Collie and Standard Poodle. Mixed breeds are also susceptible. Individual cases have occurred in small breeds.

PREVENT IT: No rough exercise (running, ball chasing, jumping, etc) for one hour before eating or drinking a lot, or two hours after. Don't feed kibbles that are mainly grains.

Sue