A rumour is circulating social media warning dog owners not to give their pets iced water as it can cause bloat which can then lead to acute gastric dilatation-volvulus which can potentially be very dangerous for the dog. Many versions cite an example of a dog that apparently suffered severe bloat after drinking iced water.
example collected June 2014, article truncated.
Hello Everyone,
I am writing this in hopes that some may learn from what I just went through. We were having a good weekend till Saturday. On Saturday I showed my Baran and left the ring. He was looking good and at the top of his game. He had a chance at no
less then one of the two AOM’s.
It did not work out that way. After showing we went back to our site/setup and got the dogs in their crates to cool off. After being back about 30 min. I noticed Baran was low on water. I took a hand full of ice from my cooler and put it in his bucket with more water. We then started to get all the dogs Ex’ed and food ready for them.
I had Baran in his 48′ crate in the van because this is the place he loves to be. He loves to be able to see everyone and verything. After checking him and thinking he was cooled off enough, we fed him. We walked around and one of my friends stated that Baran seamed like he was choking. I went over and checked on him. He was dry heaving and drooling. I got him out of the crate to check him over and noticed he had not eaten. He was in some distress. I checked him over from head to toe and did not notice anything. I walked him around for about a minute when I noticed that he was starting to bloat. I did everything I was taught to do in this case. I was not able to get him to burp, and we gave him Phasezime….
The 2014 version of this rumour has circulated via Twitter and Facebook and links to a blog called the Wendt Worth Corgi Blog.
The rumours actually trace back several years to 2007 but have persistently failed to cite any evidence or source for the claims, and the popularity of these rumours has led to many different veterinarians to dispute the claims and even labelling the warning irresponsible.
PetMD, the online pet advice website mentioned the hoax warning in a 2010 article, calling the rumours ”easily debunkable, and borderline irresponsible message”]
Dr. Audrey Harvey agrees, and speculates that a causal link between iced-water and bloat may, in rare cases, be caused by the fact that dogs are typically given iced-water on abnormally hot days when they may be more thirsty and thus more inclined to drink quicker, and in the process unintentionally gulping excess air which can indeed lead to problems such as bloat.
Whilst the rumour contains what the author would have you believe is a real case of bloat, the hoax remains entirely anecdotal, lacking any evidence that iced water actually caused the problems outlined in the message.
Whilst many vets state the drinking water to fast and consuming air in the process can lead to bloat, there is no link between the stomach problem and drinking iced water, thus the warning should not be circulated.
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