Hello! I have a 42lb, 5 year old, spayed female, pitbull mix, who is currently under the care of a veterinarian (she just had her annual earlier last month!). Last year, I found out she has acid reflux. Before medication, she would reflux/belch/baby barf (? I'm not really sure how to describe besides it sounds like you can hear the gas rolling up her esophagus) all the time.
She was seen by an internal medicine specialist, and all her lab-work came back normal; a barium swallow ruled out mega-esophagus. Her Cobalamin B12/Folate, Amylase, cPL, and Cortisol were normal. Her TLI was elevated, but it is suspected it was high at that time because she was having diarrhea from the Purina EN diet I had her on (after she was switched from that diet, her diarrhea resolved). Further diagnostics were recommended, Fluoroscopy and Endoscopy, but due to financial concerns, I am unable to pursue it.
The only thing of note found during an ultrasound was that she has delayed gastric emptying and small intestine peristalsis. She is currently on Cisapride twice daily and Omeprazole once daily, and I just ordered some RC Hydrolyzed Protein dry food to see if it helps (currently waiting for it to come in). I was previously feeding her dry American Journey Salmon and Brown Rice food soaked in water to make it easier to digest for her; I tried playing around with canned food but it worsened her symptoms.
She has had about 3 bad episodes of vomit and regurgitation twice over the past year, but has had acid reflux attacks about once every 1-2 months. Her acid reflux attacks involve her being restless, pacing, slowing really hard, salivating, and you can hear the gas gurgling/bubbling/moving around in her stomach. All she wants to do during her episodes is to eat a bunch of grass. She still belches after she eats but it has improved since starting the Cisapride and Omeprazole. Before medication, she would do it in her sleep, after she jumped up on my bed, and just sitting down next to me; she will still belch during those "activities" but it is not as frequent or seems as uncomfortable to her.
I thought her symptoms were mostly controlled, but she just had another acid reflux attack tonight. Sitting upright like a person seemed to shorten how long her episodes last; her longest episode was a little over an hour, but tonight's was only 5-10 minutes. I just feel terrible because you can see how uncomfortable she is when she belches and has acid reflux attacks. Outside of what I am already doing, is there anything I am missing or something I could do to help her?
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