This story was first published on July 11, 2013
Outline
Long-running Internet warning claims that pet owners should never give their dogs ice water and cites a case of a show dog that suffered severe bloat after drinking water with ice in it.
Brief Analysis
The claims are untrue. Reports from veterinarians indicate that drinking ice or cold water is not inherently dangerous for dogs and does not cause bloat as claimed in the warning message. Drinking water too quickly is a known risk factor for bloat in dogs, but pet health experts do not consider the temperature of the water to be a factor. While the dog discussed in the message may have indeed suffered bloat, there is no evidence to support the claim that the condition was caused by iced water.
Example
This is something all dog owners should know. Even with the smallest breeds
need to remember never to give dogs iced or very cold water.This was posted on another board with permission to cross post in the hopes
of saving another dog from having to go through this awful experience.After showing we went back to our site/set up and got the dogs in their
crates to cool off. After being back about 30min. I noticed **** was low on
water. I took a hand full of ice from my cooler and put it in his bucket
with more water. (Note: I use a small Playmate cooler at ringside with ice
water in it also. Have for over 15 years now) I use small 2qt. buckets in my
crates. He had maybe ½ a bucket when I placed him in his crate after coming
back from the ring. We all then started to get all the dogs Ex’ed and food
ready for them.
I have an 18 foot trailer with AC and set up, as a rolling kennel it fits 7-
42″ crates, and MY express Van holds 1- 48″, 1- 42″, and 3- 36″, crates. All
the crates in the van have 24 ” box fans over them. I had **** in his 48′
crate in the van because that is the place he loves to be. He loves to be
able to see everyone and everything. After checking the dogs and thinking
they were cooled off enough we fed everyone. As we were walking around
removing the feed dishes from the crates, one of my friends stated that ****
seamed like he was choking. I went over and checked on him and he was dry
heaving and was 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
min. 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.
We jumped on the golf cart to take him down to the Show vet to find out that
he did not have a bloat kit, He referred us to the clinic that was to be on
call, but we found out that the clinic was closed. After finding another
clinic that was open we rushed **** to that one. We called ahead and let
them know that we were on our way. They were set up and waiting for us and
they got **** stabilized very quickly. After **** was stable and out of
distress we transported **** to AVREC where he went into surgery to make
sure no damage was done to any of his vital organs. I am very happy to say
that **** is doing great, there was no damage to any vital organs, and he
still loves his food.
In surgery the doctor found that ***** stomach was in its normal anatomic
position. The Doctor and I went over the events of what happened up to the
point of **** Bloating. When I told him about the ice water he asked why I
gave him ice water, and have I always done this. I told him my history
behind this practice and his reply was “I have been very lucky for the past
15 years.” The ice water I gave **** caused violent Muscle spasm in his
stomach which caused the bloating. Even though I figured his temp was down
enough to feed, and give him this ice water his internal temp was still
high. Dr. Vogf stated that giving dog’s ice to chew or ice water is a big
NO, NO; there should be no reason for them to have ice/ice water. Normal
water (room Temp.), or cooling with cold towels on the inter thigh, is the
best way to help cool a dog. How Dr. Vogf explained it to me was like this:
If you, as a person fall into a frozen lake what happens to our muscles?
Think about that, then compare that to your dog’s stomach.
I felt the need to share this with everyone, in the hopes that some may
learn from what I went through, I do not wish this on anyone. **** is home
now doing fine. He does not like the fact that he has to be walked on lead
in the yard to keep him from running. He hates not being able to go out and
rough house with the others, but is doing great. So please if you do use ice
and ice water, beware as what could happen.
Original Source : https://www.hoax-slayer.com/ice-water-harmful-dogs-myth.shtml