Established 1997

  

Our dogs love lying on their Kuranda beds.  They keep them off of cold drafty floors during the winter and provides excellent ventilation in the hot summer months.

 

Though they benefit greatly from Kuranda beds, we don't have enough for everyone.  If you would like to donate a bed at a special wholesale price so another rescue dog can sleep in comfort, you can do so directly from the Kuranda web site.

 

Click here to help!!!  http://kuranda.com/donate/5449/

Cassy is shown enjoying her Kuranda bed.



To donate to BSRR with PayPal click the button below.

Kelly rescued “Skinny” from a rough start in life — she’d been chained 24 hours a day and starved. Kelly provided love and compassion and they shared a great life together for almost six years. Then one day Kelly came home and discovered Skinny had eaten nearly two pounds of treats out of a five pound sack. Kelly set to work putting the treats out of Skinny’s future reach and started cleaning up the mess. Unfortunately, she didn’t think to pick up the bowl of water, nor did she notice when Skinny drank it dry. However, 10 minutes later, Skinny started to whine and soon after that her stomach nearly doubled in size. Kelly called the closest vet, a cattle vet, being the closest Vet to Kelly’s remote home. The vet told her to bring Skinny in right away. However, when he saw Skinny, he told Kelly to get her to a canine vet in Great Falls right away. It was an hour and a half away! Kelly took off. The trip took too long; by the time Kelly pulled into the Great Falls vet, Skinny was in shock. It was too late for Skinny; her stomach had twisted and her intestines had died. However, it is not too late for you to learn from Kelly and Skinny. Learn how to prevent your companion from bloating, learn the warning signs of bloat, and if you ever see the signs, get to the vet immediately. The only thing that can save your pal is quick action!

A few years later, Kelly was ready to open her heart to another canine companion. She searched and searched and finally adopted Koda, a rescued Rottweiler from Big Sky Rottweiler Rescue. It was a match made in heaven! Kelly and Koda did everything together…they walked, they ran, they exercised the horses together, they hung out on the couch together, they were simply inseparable.

Kelly fed Koda about 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon as she usually did. They spent the afternoon and evening together as they always did and then went to bed. Koda woke Kelly up with his restlessness about 1:00 a.m. Kelly thought he either had to relieve himself or his stomach was upset, so she let him outside, waited for him to come back in, and then they went back to bed. But Koda didn’t return to sleep; he was still restless. Kelly felt his tummy every few minutes. About 1:30 a.m. it started to feel just a little “tight.” She called the vet clinic in Great Falls to tell them she was on her way and she took off.

During the hour drive to Great Falls, Koda’s stomach had doubled in size, but he was still alert and able to walk into the clinic under his own steam. Kelly was allowed to be in the operating room as they first tried to relieve the pressure. Then they opened Koda up. Unfortunately, Koda’s stomach had twisted right where it attaches to the esophagus and the intestine was dead. The vet told Kelly this was the worst place for this to happen because there is no way to cut it out and re-attach the two living sections. He recommended that Koda be put down. As Kelly cried, the vet told her that there had been nothing to speak of in the intestines, and there were no other visible signs as to why Koda had twisted. There was simply no explanation. He comforted her by saying she had done everything right. It didn’t matter to Kelly; she’d just lost her best friend.

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Bloat

Bloat, Gastric Torsion. Twisted Intestine, Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (GDV). Call it what you will, this is a serious, life-threatening condition of large breed dogs. Bloat symptoms should always be taken seriously and acted upon quickly. The life of your dog may depend on it.

Prevention Options:

¨    Feed two or three meals a day instead of one large meal

¨    Feed a high quality food

¨    Wet dry food and let it absorb the water before you feed it to your dog

¨    Do not allow the dog to eat rapidly

¨    Do not allow the dog to drink a large quantity of water (gulping)

¨    Do not exercise your dog one hour before or one hours after they eat

¨    Do not allow your dog to go “belly up” for an hour after eating

¨    With females of a susceptible breed, consider having gastroplexy performed as a prophylactic measure at the time of the spay

Warning Signs That Your Dog May Have Bloat:

¨    Throwing up

¨    Trying to go to the bathroom/and or throw up and not being able to

¨    Heavy panting, howling, crying and rolling on the ground in pain

¨    The dog may drool, retch, wander restlessly, become listless, show pain and may go into shock

Treatment:

¨    It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to get your dog to the vet quickly

¨    X-rays will confirm the condition, and the vet will try to reduce pressure by either passing a tube down the esophagus or  inserting a large needle through the abdominal wall into the stomach

¨    Surgery is performed to rotate the stomach back into place where it is secured.

¨    The spleen is also usually removed

For more detailed information on bloat, please visit:

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/bloat.html