Treatment For Acid Reflux?

[FluffyZooCrew]

Jake is 11 years old, and has had acid reflux since I got him a year and a half ago. He burps all day long, vomits bile often, and throughout the day, will sometimes vomit small amounts of bile in his mouth, and forces himself to swallow it back down. I can only imagine it's miserable, I'm miserable when I have heartburn.

I talked to my vet about giving him Zantac or Pepcid AC after hearing from others about its use, and knowing for a while now that it can be given to dogs. My vet was hesitant and said he'd prefer not to, after I mentioned that I read online that it shouldn't be used, or at least used with caution, on animals with underlying heart conditions. Well, that's Jake. He has congestive heart failure, a heart murmur, mitral valve prolapse, and a heart so enlarged, that it's compressing his bronchial tube. Jake's on heart and fluid medications for the control of his health problems. So I understood my vet's concerns.

So my vet told me to give him a Tums, regular strength, 1 tablet up to 3x daily. This isn't working. Tums barely works on *my* heartburn, and isn't very long lasting. On top of this, I have my concerns with the 500mg's of calcium carbonate that make up the active ingredients. That's a lot of calcium for a small dog (20 pound shih tzu).

My vet seems to be completely and utterly clueless on what else I can give him.

Does anyone here have any experience with acid reflux in dog's? Is there a prescription medication that anyone here knows of that I can talk to my vet about?

Diet change isn't an option, as he's on prescription H/D for his heart. We had him on raw at one time, but I felt uncomfortable not being able to properly calculate the amount of natural sodium in his diet. His heart is entirely too bad for me to take any risks like that, especially with his CHF.

Thanks in advance!

 

[corgipower]

You could try honey before he eats. It coats things and helps break down the acids if I remember correctly.

 

[FluffyZooCrew]

Honey? Really? And how do I administer it? And how much? I think I've heard that before too.

 

[corgipower]

About a teaspoon should do, 20 minutes before a meal.

A quick google search keeps indicating something called Active Manuka Honey as being the kind of honey you would want. As for how to administer it, I don't know LOL. Mine will just eat honey straight - they'd lick it off the spoon.

 

[FluffyZooCrew]

Yeah, I've been sitting here researching, and I keep coming up with Manuka Honey as well.

Right now, I'm researching Mylanta, and seeing if there are any side effects from that. So far, no articles on any veterinary prescription drugs that can be prescribed for acid reflux in dogs. Ugh.

 

[chucksmyboy]

You can give dogs 1-2 Pepsid per day. We gave them to my sled dogs before and during Iditarod and other long races.

 

[Mum2mutts]

Many people with reflux (especially with burpy symptoms) find that they get great relief from helping their digestion instead of suppressing it by taking digestive enzymes and/or acidophilis.
Sometimes those kind of symptoms (smelly burps- undigesty gas) point more to incomplete digestion (which can give reflux-y symptoms), and I've seen many people who suffered try these and swear by these
My girl (had bad problems in the past) occasionally gets nasty gas- and I crush an apple cider vinegar tab into her food for a day or so.............smells gone!

I dont think there is any harm in any of these- could check first though, but i know in a lot of older people stomach acid actually decreases with age, and many people think it is too much acid, but in fact they have too little.....................hope something helps him!

 

[Athebeau]

I would be looking at a diet change, your best bet is to contact Sabine at Better Dog Care, Better Dog Nutrition - Creating Healthy Lifestyles for Canines: Main Page. She formulated a diet for my Dobe with a heart murmur and he is doing fantastic. Homeprepared is the way to go for many health issues as you know what they are eating. You may find a protein source that works well for her, foods to avoid such such as crucificeous veggies which can cause gas and turkey has been know to cause gas in one of my dogs. Anyway, I would consult an expert such as Sabine on diet or if you have a holistic vet in your area they could help formulate a specific diet for your dog.

I have a dog that has horrible problems with gas. For her kibble (any kind even California Natural etc) caused her to get gassy especially if it was chicken/turkey based. I found switching to canned helped a lot, then switching to home prepared helped a great deal more. I have always given her probiotics and or natural organic yogurt with the best balance of good bacterias. I also always keep a homeopathic rememdy called nux vomica around for when she is uncomfortabley gassy. I also have added fennel seed to her food to help out as well. I grind it in a coffee grinder first before adding. Smaller meals, no exercise right after feeding etc. I also found slippery elm bark beneficial, I use that for many things including diarrhea. You might want to research DGL (deglycyrrhizinated licorice), I have never done research on it so I'm not sure if it's safe for dogs. Its great for humans

The site I have attached is from a holistic human Doctor - Dr Weil. But, even though this site is for humans I have found you can take a bit of information away that may help with what you are dealing with in your Canine issues.

Acid Reflux - Dr. Weil

 

[FluffyZooCrew]

Thanks Athe, but I'm going to stick to his prescription diet, which is H/D cans (no kibble). He has more than just a heart murmur, which is a very bad one to begin with. He also has an extremely enlarged heart, that's compressing his bronchial tube because it's so enlarged, congestive heart failure, and mitral valve prolapse. So I'd prefer to stick with his prescription diet, so I know the exact percentage of sodium that he is getting. With raw, and even home cooked, I just can't calculate the amount of natural sodium well enough for me to know the exact amount he's getting. And his heart is so bad, I'd prefer not to take any chances.

Thanks though.

 

[Athebeau]

That is why I recommended a Canine Care and Nutrition consultant for you. But, that's your choice I had a Newf with an enlarged heart/CHF and she lived to be almost 14 That btw is really good for a giant breed with health issues. Most times CHF is due to malnutrition. The heart muscle needs 18amino acids, 6 of the 18 are heat labile so when food is cooked, pasteurized or otherwise heated these 6 amino acids are denatured and then coagulated to an insoluble state which the body cannot use.

Any way with the dogs health issues you should be seeking the help of a holistic Vet.