By Linda Nothelfer and AliLyn Valliere

Champion Kashara C Breeze was not the typical Afghan. She was more like a Golden. CB had the best temperament of all the Afghans I have ever been around. She loved everyone and greeted everyone with a wagging tail. CB loved everyone and everyone loved her. CB or Ma Dog as I called her, was my foundation after returning to the breed from a 13 year absence. I looked long and hard for just the right Afghan Princess. When CB retired from the show ring she blessed us with 2 full liters and 1 singleton litter. Many have attained their championship and brought such love and life to all they've touched. We are fortunate that CB passed her great temperament and wonderful conformation features onto her young.

The evening that we lost CB we had fed all the dogs at the usual time around bedtime. We feed kibble mixed with canned food and a bit of water. We alternate raw about three times a week so they get a mixture. All the dogs are fed in their crate so that each gets what they need without any competition and feel they take in less air this way. Like every other night she was left in the crate for 35-45 minutes before being let out to do her business. We were in the house watching TV and we had heard her whining, but we just figured she wanted to come in because she was the spoiled one that was always allowed in the house when the other girls weren't. So AliLynn went and let her in about a half hour after we let them out.  She wasn't whining anymore however she was just kept walking around the living room like she was looking for a place to lay down. 

Then she started to dry heave so my boyfriend let her outside in the other kennel because he didn't want her to throw up on the floor. When she went out she started to scream like she was hurt. I went and got my Mom and we went outside.  Mom then saw that her stomach was bloated. We got her in the truck and started to drive to the emergency vet located about 15 minutes away. I road in the back with CB and was trying to calm her but she was just whining and whining. She then screamed again and I just kept talking to her.  She screamed one more time before we got to the vet and we took her in.  She went into X-rays right away and was just whining here and there. 

Visible signs of bloat are extremely extended stomach, hollow to the tap and hard, very hard. CB had already gotten as big as twice her normal size. Her gums already showed loss of blood flow and were a light pink. Some dogs will scream and scream nonstop during an attack however CB only screamed a couple times, I think because she knew we would help her. Also some dogs will be gassy at times before an attack and that is an early sign. If your dog is gassy then please reevaluate your feeding program. They will become very restless and have a hard time sitting still for long.

The x-rays indicated the stomach had turned at both ends, cutting off all blood and energy supply to the stomach. I could see the twist at the top and a slight twist at the spleen.

The vet gave us our options of only a 20 percent chance of surviving the surgery or to let her go peacefully in her sleep. At this point we felt the condition was too far along coupled with the stress of surgery at almost 10 years old and chose to let her go peacefully. We all said  good-bye as she was wagged her tail and gave us kisses, even though she knew what was going on she didn't care. In her typical CB way she wanted us to know she knew she was going to be happy and she wanted us to be happy.

A younger dog can come out of surgery from bloat with a much better chance, but even then there is a risk of too much shock on the system. Also the blood flow has a great deal to do with the amount of damage done.

Ch. Kashara C Breeze

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