Gastric Dilatation-volvulus (GDV/BLOAT) in Newfoundlands

The surgeon first untwists the stomach and returns it to its normal position, a step called derotation. Before or immediately after that, the whole stomach and the spleen are examined closely for tissue that has died from having its blood supply cut off. This assessment is the single biggest variable in the entire procedure, because a stomach with healthy, pink, actively bleeding-when-cut tissue is a very different operation from one with grey, non-bleeding tissue that must be removed.

Where tissue has died, the surgeon removes it, a more involved and higher-risk step than derotation alone. The spleen, which shares part of its blood supply with the affected area of stomach, is sometimes removed too if it has been compromised. Once the abdomen is otherwise settled, a gastropexy is performed: the stomach wall is sutured to the abdominal wall so that even if it fills with gas again in future, it cannot rotate into the twisted position that caused this emergency. This is done as standard in essentially every GDV surgery, not just as an optional extra, because without it a meaningful proportion of dogs bloat and twist again.

The heart is watched closely throughout and for days afterward, because the biochemical disruption of GDV, on top of this breed's own documented cardiac conditions, makes abnormal heart rhythms a recognised complication of the surgery itself, sometimes appearing hours after the dog seems to be recovering normally.

Recovery has a fairly predictable shape, though the details vary with how much tissue was affected.

If you think your Newfoundland has gastric dilatation-volvulus (gdv/bloat), the plan is three steps: write down what you have seen and when it started, book a veterinary appointment rather than waiting for the next flare, and take video of the behaviour or symptom before you go — the thing you are worried about rarely happens in the consulting room. Screening in the parents covers hip dysplasia, subaortic stenosis, dilated cardiomyopathy.

What the vet visit should produce is a diagnosis and a written plan, not just reassurance: what is being ruled out, what the monitoring interval is, and which signs mean you come back sooner. Ask what the treatment costs across a year rather than per visit, because that is the number that decides whether you are managing this condition or reacting to it.

Between appointments, keep a short log — dates, what you saw, what changed. It is the single most useful thing an owner brings to a follow-up, and for gastric dilatation-volvulus (gdv/bloat) it is often what separates a clear pattern from a guess.