Learn something new every day. Last week I was unfortunate enough to hear of 3 dogs dying of this disease. Before anyone start pointing fingers, let me start by saying that 2 of these dogs were rescue dogs, and I have no earthly clue of what their breeding was, just that they were littermates and were always together and somehow I lucked out by finding them a home that took the 2 of them. Sadly, last week, one torsioned and one died of toxic gut. I have zero experience with toxic gut, so I asked my vet, whom I trust completely, whom while performing surgery, discussed this issue with 2 other vets and they agree that toxic gut per se is not a diagnosis, but a result of......fill the blank......and after sending him the information I found on the Internet, and after his own research, he insist that there is no genetic pre disposition to toxic gut, because toxic gut is a result of many different health problems. Then, not satisfied, I paid for a consult with a different vet. Lo and behold, her exact words were "toxic gut is not a diagnosis, is a product of xyz problem" This family is mourning these 2 dogs, and mom would like to adopt another GSD, but dad is gun shy, not wanting to go thru this again as their vet tells them this is specifically a GSD problem. The third case was closer to home, a very young dog, and I cant figure out where the problem is. Of course, my vets and some breeders I've talked to tell me, sometimes, S**T happens, there is no explanation. 30+ years in the breed, I've never seen this. Any thoughts? * Ileana * Love me, love my dogs. ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2011. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Each Author is responsible for the content of his/her post. This group and its administrators are not responsible for the comments or opinions expressed in any post. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org SUBSCRIPTION:http://showgsd.org/mail.html NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================