I’m sure we must all be familiar with acid reflux. We must all of us have suffered from it at some point in our lives.
Well acid reflux in dogs is exactly the same. Too much stomach acid causes gastric acid to come up from the stomach and flow into the esophagus. The sphincter leading from the esophagus to the stomach opens when it should be closed. It allows bile and sometimes undigested food to flow in the wrong direction giving your dog an uncomfortable burning in its throat.
Also known as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), canine acid reflux is easily treatable but can cause long-term discomfort and inflammation of the esophagus if left untreated.
Symptoms of acid reflux
While there are many symptoms of canine acid reflux, the most common symptons are:
- Excessive lip licking
- Burping, gagging or retching
- Vomiting bile
- Regurgitating undigested food
- Pain when swallowing
- Restless at night
- Bad breath
- Potential weight loss
Causes of acid reflux
Once again, there are a great many potential causes of acid reflux. These include:
- Hiatal hernia
- Inappropriate diet (commercial dog food)
- Obesity
- Medication (steroids)
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Anaesthesia (both the way the anaesthetic is carried out and the drugs used can cause acid reflux)
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Treatment of acid reflux
While there are numerous medications associated with the treatment of acid reflux in dogs, you won’t be surprised to hear that in the main, these only deal with the symptoms. And some of them have some serious side effects! I urge you to take a dietary approach instead.
- Smaller, more frequent meals (3 or 4 small meals a day)
- Low-fat, low-GI, homemade diet
- A couple of tablespoons of plain natural yogurt late in the evening so that your dog does not go to bed on an empty stomach
Summary
The good news about your dog’s acid reflux is that if treated appropriately and early enough, your dog will hopefully soon return to normal and never have an occurrence again.
Please check out my consultation services if I can help.
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