Monday, March 26, 2018

The English Mastiff

Dr. Murphy shared with me what occurs to a dog who must go into surgery for a gastric dilatation and volvulus (GDV), otherwise known as a stomach bloat. This happens when the stomach of a dog becomes full of gas. Unfortunately, this extra air can cause severe abdominal pain and the stomach begins to rotate, losing blood supply and any possible way of losing the extra gas. Without surgery, the victim can die within hours from agonizing pain of the twisting stomach. Soon after she explained exactly what happens, she told me the patient was a massive English Mastiff laying on the floor in CCU if I wanted to take a look. Therefore, I walked down to CCU and saw the dog laying on the floor with stitches near his stomach.