Bulldogs World

 Warning. Ice Cubes and Ice Water 
This was written by a dog owner. Permission was given for me to post by the man who received the e:mail.

"I know alot of us have given our dogs ice cubes and ice water especially during the hot summer months, not knowing that it can cause bloat in any breed of dog. I, myself, have done this, however will never again after reading this.

"This was posted on my breeders' board with permission to cross post in the hopes of saving another dog from having to go through this awful experience." 

"Hello Everyone, 
I am writing this in hopes that some may learn from what I just went through. We were having a good weekend till Saturday. On Saturday I showed my Baran and left the ring. He was looking good and at the top of his game. He had a chance at no less then one of the two AOM's." 

"It did not work out that way. After showing we went back to our site/set up and got the dogs in their crates 
to cool off. After being back about 30 min. I noticed Baran was low on water. I took a hand full of ice from my cooler 
and put it in his bucket with more water. We then started to get all the dogs Ex'ed and food ready for them." 

"I had Baran in his 48' crate in the van because this is the place he loves to be. He loves to be able to see everyone and everything. After checking him and thinking he was cooled off enough, we fed him. We walked around and one of my friends stated that Baran seamed like he was choking. I went over and checked on him. He was dry heaving and drooling. I got him out of the crate to check him over and noticed he had not eaten. He was in some distress. I checked him over from head to toe and did not notice anything. I walked him around for about a minute when I noticed that he was starting to bloat. I did everything I was taught to do in this case. I was not able to get him to burp, and we gave him Phasezime." 

"We rushed Baran to a vet clinic. We called ahead and let them know we were on our way. They were set up and 
waiting for us. They got Baran stablized very quickly. After Baran was stable and out of distress we transported 
him to AVREC where he went into surgery to make sure no damage was done to any of his vital organs. I am very happy to say Baran is doing great, there was no damage to any vital organs, and he still loves his food."

"In surgery the vet found that Baran's stomach was in its normal anatomic position. We went over what had happened. When I told the vet about the ice water, he asked why I gave him ice water. I said that I have always done this. I told him my history behind this practice and his reply was, "I have been very lucky." The ice water I gave Baran caused violent muscle spasms in his stomach which caused the bloating. Even though I figured his temperature was down enough to feed, and gave him this ice water, I was wrong. His internal temperature was still high. The vet stated that giving a dog ice to chew or ice water is a big NO, NO! There is no reason for a dog to have ice/ice water. Normal water at room temperature, or cooling with cold towels on the inner thigh, is the best way to help cool a dog. The vet explained it to me like this: If you, as a person, fall into a frozen lake what happens to your muscles? They cramp. This is the same as a dog's stomach." 

"I felt the need to share this with everyone, in the hopes that some may learn from what I went through, I do not wish 
this on anyone. Baran is home now doing fine. So please 
if you do use ice and ice water, beware of what could happen."

Just wanted to post this so everyone in our group can read it.