Gastric bloat is the name given to the situation in which your dog will not be able to burp or get rid of gas in any way out of their stomach or digestive areas. When this happens the dog will normally strain to burp or vomit to rid of the sometimes painful build up of gases, which then makes them swallow more air which also gets trapped causing the panicking dogs condition to deteriorate quickly and without much warning.

As this behavior continues the stomach becomes so inflated that it pushes into other organs and can possibly twist to form more discomfort resulting in the death of your dog if nothing gets done with the trapped gases and air.

Gastric bloat in dogs can be very uncomfortable for the dog in question and cause endless amounts of pain and suffering with death being a highly possible option if it does not get seen to straight away or operated on before it worsens.

As soon as you suspect gastric boat in your dog through the symptoms of, random spurts of straining to vomit but without actually producing any vomit, a bloated looking stomach, difficulty breathing, and no sign of diarrhea you should call a vet as soon as possible. This is an urgent situation and the quicker you get your pet to the vets the easier it will be for them to treat the illness.

Nobody yet understands why gastric bloat happens or what causes the symptoms of your dog being able to burp out the excess gas it needs to. There are many theories but none have yet been proven or no patterns have been found as yet.

This means that any procedure the vet takes on this illness is completely up to them and will be judged from previous experiences of this condition. The most probable of procedures would be to relive the dog's stomach of pressure by giving them a stomach pump which clears all food liquids and gas from the dog which then leaves them free to operate and untwist the stomach of the dog if necessary.

For this condition it is vital that your dog gets seen to as soon as possible, even though most pets with this illness do survive and recover well there is always a chance of fatality. This condition can escalate quickly in a matter of hours, if you fear this then contact a figure of authority immediately to get advice.