It's an owner's nightmare:  returning home or waking up to find a beloved pet has died of gastric dilatation-volvulus, or bloat and torsion as it more commonly is known, an agonizing condition that can strike suddenly and fatally.

Sadly, for many owners this nightmare has become a traumatic reality.

Dogs that succumb to the condition suffer immense pain and an obscenely distended abdomen that can grow to as large as a beach ball.   They exit this world too early jarringly, and they leave their owners feeling helpless and confused.  As new research emerges, however, owners may be able to fend off the fatal grasp of bloat and torsion and take steps to minimize the risks to their dogs.

Bloat is a condition in which there is a rapid accumulation of air in the stomach causing dilatation.

Volvulus, or torsion, occurs when the dilated stomach twists, cutting off contact with the oesophagus at one end and the small intestine at the other.  This effectively isolates the stomach and traps the air.

The very enlarged, twisted stomach puts pressure on the blood vessels, often twisting them in the abdominal cavity and this impairing blood flow back to the heart.  Because the heart receives an insufficient amount of blood to pump, blood flow decreases to the rest of the body.  With this, there is the fairly acute onset of death of the tissues that are deprived of oxygen, including the stomach wall itself, which rapidly undergoes necrosis.

The early signs of bloat include discomfort. The dog paces or repeatedly gets up and then lies back down. There also is excessive salivation, panting and unsuccessful attempts to vomit. As the condition worsens, the abdomen distends in most - but not all - dogs and feels taut like a drum. Shock follows (i.e. pale gums, weakness, shallow pulse, cool extremities, etc.). Often, dogs then go into a coma, and death is the ultimate outcome if they are untreated.