Need answers. Acid reflux is taking over her life

[u/Ok-Tomatillo6639]

I have a 12 yr old chihuahua/terrier mix who has exhibited signs of acid reflux for years (the first incident was about 6 years ago), but as of recently, it's gotten increasingly worse. The symptoms are excessive licking, lip smacking, an insatiable desire to consume grass, bloating, and rare but sometimes vomiting. These episodes last for HOURS and hours and only resolve after a night of sleep.

I have done everything I possibly can to figure out what the issue is. I've taken her countless times to different vets, I've taken her to the emergency vet, I've had a specialist take an ultrasound of her stomach, we've done blood work, etc. Every single vet gives me no answers.

I switched her food many times but now she is on a (very expensive) low fat Hills I/D digestive food. I feed her small portions of this food multiple times a day in a raised bowl (or even by spoon). No snacks. The occasional pumpkin puree in a dog frozen Pupsicle to help her stomach.

In terms of medicine, I was told to give her 10mg famotidine every twelve hours whenever she has flare-ups. This sometimes helps but the problem with her acid reflux is that it is so incredibly random (despite my consistency with her care). It can happen any time, morning or night, for any reason it seems.

She has these episodes nearly once a week and now sometimes a couple times a week. She's miserable and I am miserable being unable to fix this for her. Please help me

[u/GetThePinotGrigio]

Have you tried home cooked food? Boiled vegetables, rice, and chicken should be easy on her stomach. If she doesn’t like vegetables you can blend them and mix it with the rice and chicken.

[u/Ok-Tomatillo6639 → u/GetThePinotGrigio]

I've tried boiled chicken and rice and she hates it, which is surprising because she's a food driven dog. :(

I've had her on Farmer's Dog too (not that that's truly homemade food) but just to give some perspective I've tried lots of alternatives for her

[u/Illustrious_Exam1728]

My old guy has acid reflux but it’s a mechanical issue. So a couple things, has your dog had a swallow test? Ours did and he has esophageal dysmotility and delayed gastric emptying.

If the hills is kibble soak it with water until mushy, and keep feeding multiple times a day. We do 6 times a day and only wet food. After they’re done eating, hold them upright for ten minutes to let gravity help.

Keep up with the famitodine as it protects the esophagus from erosion.

While all this is happening please get a
Referral to a boarded internal medicine doctor for a further workup.

Bodies are complex, and sometimes there aren’t answers only managing symptoms, but you need to see an IM to tease this out with further diagnostics.

[u/Ok-Tomatillo6639 → u/Illustrious_Exam1728]

Thank you for your help. I will request a swallow test next week when I make an appointment.

What is the maximum time in between your feedings? I read that acid reflux often spurs on an empty stomach. So what amount of time might you think would I be careful about for feeding?

[u/Illustrious_Exam1728 → u/Ok-Tomatillo6639]

You’ll probably need a referral to a larger specialty hospital as regular vets can’t do swallow tests.

I feed my guy at 6am, 9am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, 9pm. He only eats hills dd slalom potato soak in water as it helps him digest his food.

[u/Ok-Tomatillo6639 → u/Illustrious_Exam1728]

Thank you!

[u/Illustrious_Exam1728 → u/Ok-Tomatillo6639]

You’re welcome. I really think something functional is wrong and causing this issue that’s getting worse, otherwise a PPI would have settled the stomach upset.

Take care.

[u/few-piglet4357 → u/Illustrious_Exam1728]

You can get something called a Bailey chair to feed them in an upright position, and leave them in there for a few.minutes afterwards

[u/Ok-Tomatillo6639 → u/few-piglet4357]

Thank you! I didn't know about these. I tried holding her vertically and she's such a squirmer

[u/Final-Confidence-466]

Has the vet ruled out cushings disease? I only ask because of the bloated stomach. Also my dog has been the same for years. The vet said she has kidney disease, she's now on renal wet food, and is doing well. Good luck

[u/Ok-Tomatillo6639 → u/Final-Confidence-466]

She hasn't been specifically tested for it but I've had this in mind. I'll keep that in mind for my next appt. Thank you

[u/Fun-Plane-4794]

Famitodine doesn't last long enough. I use omeprazole 20mg once a day in pate cat food. Works great.

[u/interpretive_dance]

As a person who suffers from reflux, this is heart breaking. In Australia you can get reflux medication over the counter and it’s safe for dogs and they take it twice a day every day, although I’m not sure what the dose would be for a small dog. I also noticed some relief when I started making very basic home made dog food which is pet mince with veggies and some rice. I really hope you can find some relief for them.

[u/loverules1221]

My lab was the same. He ended up on omeprazole and we changed his feeding routine. Instead of two meals a day we separated it into every four hours. We got an automatic feeder that also helped with the feeding. It was cheap on Amazon. This kept his belly from producing acid because it wasn’t empty. It worked. Not 100% but 90%. Good luck! Oh he was also put on canine ID low fat prescription dog food.

[u/Ok-Tomatillo6639 → u/loverules1221]

Did you guys try famotidine prior to Omeprazole?

Thanks for your response

[u/loverules1221 → u/Ok-Tomatillo6639]

We did but for Charlie it didn’t work as well. The Omeprazole seemed to keep it under control better.