HUNTING
BEWARE STOMACH TWIST, IT’S FOR REAL!
Two months after stomach twist surgery, Kona, author Scott Haugen’s pudelpointer, was back in the field, where he enjoyed dozens of hunts throughout this past winter. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
By Scott Haugen
W
“
e have five minutes to decide if we’re going to have them operate or put him down!” Words I’ll never forget, coming from my wife on the telephone last September.
IT WAS A hellacious time, as a few hours prior we’d just returned to our home after having been evacuated for 11 days due to wildfires raging in our area. After unpacking what few belongings we grabbed on our way out the door, it was time to feed the dogs. Kona, our 3-year-old, 62-pound pudelpointer, ate as he normally does; chewing every bite, taking his time. But halfway through dinner, Kona stopped chewing. His ears drooped and he hunched over. I tried
comforting him by rubbing his ears, which he normally welcomes, but he was having nothing of it. Then Kona slowly hobbled into the yard and tried throwing up, but nothing would come up. His stomach felt tight to the touch. A few minutes later he slowly walked 20 yards further into a field, one where we often exercise and train. He laid down, which he never does, and again tried throwing up, with no success. Kona started to moan, which he also never does, and I could see his stomach expanding and getting tighter. He followed me to the house, and by this time my wife Tiffany saw what was happening and had the truck started. “I’m taking him to the vet hospital,” she said. Our regular vet was closed due to the fires still burning out of control near them and when Tiffany called
me on the phone, she was at the office of the veterinary surgeon. Kona was in his prime, the most fit, best all-around dog I’ve ever hunted with anywhere in the world. The estimated $6,000 cost of the surgery wasn’t a question, and minutes after Tiffany called, Kona was being prepped.
THE SURGEON TOLD Tiffany that Kona had suffered gastric torsion, or stomach twist. We’d never heard of this in dogs, only horses. But the more I talked to hunters around the country, the more I learned about stomach twist in dogs, and the more horror stories I heard. One breeder and trainer of Drahthaars I spoke with follows a strict feeding regimen specifically to prevent stomach twist, which includes feeding his dogs one time a day, at 8 p.m., and immediately putting them in their kennels for the night; he never feeds
calsportsmanmag.com | APRIL 2021 California Sportsman
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