My mom is my source for internet rumors. She is always forwarding me "true" stories that, after a teeny bit of research, are found to be urban legends. So it was with interest that I read this new-to-me posting about an email going around the internet claiming ice water caused bloat in a dog. How could I (and my mom) have missed this legend? Facebook to the rescue: later that afternoon a Facebook friend posted the ice water / bloat story to her wall.
I did a Google search to see if, in fact, drinking cold water could cause bloat in dogs and only found blogs, etc. where the same type of story was being repeated. However, here is what some veterinarian posters say about cold water and bloat. From here:
"Frigid water gastric "cramping" is a falsehood akin to those that inform you that your hair will grow back coarser if you shave it (myth), or that you shouldn’t go swimming for 30 minutes after eating lest you drown in a fit of cramps (myth)."
From here:
"Hi – thanks for your email. I did some research
and talked to several people about your question. There are several known risk factors associated with bloat but eating ice cubes has not been firmly documented. Apparently, an email has been floating around the internet identifying ice cubes as a problem. I found some information in blogs but nothing solid. I talked to several veterinarians and none of them confirmed this claim."
So make up your own mind. Some very helpful articles about what can cause bloat and what to do about it can be found here, here, here and here.
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