[Genevieve W]

I have a 5 year old rescue, Ollie, who suffers from a gulping disorder. I found an old thread on this site that was closed a year ago. I’m hoping to start a new thread and see if anyone who’s experienced this with their dog have found any solutions.

Ollie has had this issue for years but recently it started occurring at least once a week. The episode usually starts at night and he will want to go outside and consume grass to calm him. This will pause the episode for about an hour and then it will start up again. It can last for hours.

I’ve taken him to several vets, we’ve tried different foods, putting him on acid reflux meds, carafate, adding wheat grass to his food. Nothing so far helps in the long run. The carafate worked for about a month – and now he’s having episodes again.

Here is link to an episode he had recently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moU7z5bdrik
Would love any feedback.

thanks,
Eve

• This topic was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Genevieve W.

[anonymous]

See a specialist, either Internal Medicine or Neurology. Your dog has not responded to the treatment from the regular vet.
He will probably need diagnostic testing to be accurately diagnosed.
Have not watched your video. There are no veterinary healthcare professionals here and even if there were, they have not examined your dog so they would not be able to give you specific advice.
I would make an appointment with a specialist, asap.

Several gulping threads are here/not closed. Just use the search engine, example
/forums/topic/frantic-lapping-gulping-licking-whining/

PS: Just watched the video. Impossible to speculate on what it could be. There are a multitude of disorders that can cause these symptoms. I would not give over the counter meds, supplements or any other remedies unless prescribed by a veterinarian that has examined the dog.

[anonymous]

Here is another post you may find helpful /forums/topic/frantic-lapping-gulping-licking-whining/#post-142662

Best of luck

[Susan]

Hi Genevieve,

Oh poor Ollie, video was hard to watch,
I called this the Gulps.
yes this is BAD acid reflux coming up into the throat/mouth, please give either liquid Mylanta or Slippery Elm – 4mls so it soothes Ollies esophagus & pushes the acid down, or I give a dry biscuit “Jatz” wafer biscuit.
I wonder if Ollie has LES??
Have you done Endoscope & Biopsies??
My Patch suffers with IBD – Helicobacter, LES, Environment Allergies, Food Sensitivities.

Same as you we tried most things…
Vet Diets – didn’t help cause of the high Omega Oils, Beet Pulp & Pre-biotics Patches acid reflux seem to get worse.
Carafate made him feel sick, he’d gulped grass after taken Carafate.
Zantac, – taken 18months it worked then it didn’t work like it wasn’t strong enough.
Slippery Elm Slurry 4ml works & helps soothe the esophagus & settle stomach..
Buy Slippery Elm powder, put 1/2 a teaspoon in a cup, boil jug & slowly add boiling water & quickly stir till you have a slurry, not too thick or too thin so you can pull up 4ml into a syringe, make sure its not hot when you give to Ollie, it cools quickly.
Omeprazole-20ml for 1 yr the Omeprazole helped then it didn’t some days.
Patch went down hill November 2017 after we moved, I nilly put him to sleep but before I put him to sleep I woke up 1 morning & thought i’ll do another Endoscope & Biopsies to see if he has stomach cancer?? His other vet quickly admitted him for the next day 10am, he had gingivitis back molars from the acid coming up esophagus into his mouth he eats kibble 🙁 wet foods makes his LES worse, he gulps up wet digest food, wwhere dry kibble stays down better & when it digest it moves onto his small bowel instead of being burped back up, he doesn’t have Megaesophagus.
His Endoscope showed he had red inflamed esophagus & red wind pipe this is what made him really ill & not his happy go lucky self, when I heard his vet say he has red inflamed throat & wind pipe, it broke my heart, he was suffering like this & Staffys are bad for telling you they are in pain, they hold a lot of pain my vet said 🙁
I thought the Omeprazole was reducing his Hydrochloric acid?? his Helicobacter had come back mildly not bad like it was 6 yrs before when I had rescued him, the vet said the Omeprazole must of kept it at bay, then the vet said he thinks his Lower Esophageal Sphincter Flap in between his stomach & esophagus isn’t closing properly & the acid is washing back up into mouth causing Gulps, red esophagus etc
I suffer with GORDS, LES & Barrets Esophagus & I take Pantoprazole twice a day, my Gastro Specialist said Pantoprazole seem to work best for people who suffer with LES & GORDS so I told Patches vet Simon can we PLEASE try Pantoprazole instead of the Omeprazole, Patch has 2 vets his easy going lady vet who has a more Holistic approach & then Patch has Simon who does Patches Endoscopes, Biopsies & removes Patches lumps, he’s very very good vet educated all over the world but he agrues with you & says all PPI – acid blockers are ALL the same BUT they’re NOT I agreed back lol we argued for 1 hour, Omeprazole didn’t agree with me, neither did Parriot & Pantoprazole worked straight away so all PPI must work in different ways, even my Gastro specialist said people all react different with PPI – acid blockers but Simon said its just a way the big drug companies make more money.. Oh well I have proven him wrong cause
my Patch started to get better & hasn’t vomited in 20 months since taking Pantoprazole, he started on 20mg taken in morning, morning is best to take a PPI my Gastro special told me, a PPI doesn’t have to be before breakfast but it is better, so as soon as Patch wakes up around 6.30am I give his 20mg-Pantoprazole with a syringe with water so the tablet goes down his esophagus then he eats 10-15mins later.
End of Summer every March cause of Patches Allergies all thru Spring & Summer Patches Immune System is over worked & then it crashes & he has a IBD Flare EVERY March (I live Australia) causing bad acid reflux again so I had to increase his Pantoprazole last Summer so now he has 20mg-Pantoprazole every 12 hours

He’s a new dog, no more vomiting, no waking up early hours of morning wanting to gulp grass, no more Helicobacter..
I feed 5 smaller meals, Kibble 7am-1/2 a cup kibble, 9am-1/2 a cup kibble, 5pm-1/2 a cup & 7pm-1/3 a cup kibble & at 12pm lunch he gets wet food but not much 1/3 of a can at the moment he loves his Royal Canine Intestinal Low Fat wet can food but I get Paper towel & soak up all the oils when I get out the loaf from the can, as omega oils can cause acid reflux & Dr Judy Morgans old dog who has just passed age 18 yrs old kept having Pancreatitis Flare & it was the fish oils she was adding to his diet..

You will find Vets cant diagnose & wont be able to really help when it comes to the Stomach problems, my vet tells me Susan you know there’s no tests or blood test to know what’s happening with Patches stomach unless you have Endoscope & Biopsies, Biopsies will give us answers to what’s wrong with stomach/small bowel, this is probably way no vets have any answer & have to guess what’s happening with Ollie 🙁
Have you ever done the Triple Therapy meds?
Metronidazole, Amoxicillin every 12 hours with a meal & a PPI once a day in morning taken for 3 weeks.
Keep diet low in fiber, low in carbs, low/med fat & med protein & feed small meals & ask vet about LES a lot of aging dogs suffer with LES but we think Patch had LES when I rescued him age 4yrs old..

[YorkiLover4]

Hi Genevieve,

So sorry to hear this about Ollie 🙁

I went through something similar earlier this year. I had been to several vets, and tried so many ways to make the gulping/gurgling stop. We FINALLY found some help when I came across this page-

https://www.askariel.com/remedies-for-acid-reflux-in-pets-s/1880.htm

We started out with the GastroULC and Probiotic, and the gulping subsided a few days later!
Hope this helps Ollie! Reach out if you have any questions!

[Genevieve W]

Thanks YorkiLover4!

Was your pup on any other meds when you started the GastroULC and Probiotic?

[Edith M]

My dog has started having the same symptoms for a week now, and nothing seemed to help. Vet did full Xray of his upper and lower torso(esophagus, heart, lungs, intestine, pancrea, kidney, etc.)with barium, fasting overnight. Did blood test and urinalysis. Everything came back normal, except his stomach and pancrea as per Vet appeared to be moderately inflamed. His symptoms only starts after eating his meal. He was not bloated the morning of barium xray, and not gulping, because he fasted overnight. He is prescribed sucralfate, and pepcid ac, which doesn’t seemed to help. I gave his Vet a call but she is not in today, and other Vet from the clinic will return my call anytime today. I read that gulp disorder can be a precursor to bloat, so I decided to give him Gas X today and he seemed to be comfortable now, passing gas on both ends. No return phone call yet from Vet. I will start him on probiotics, and digestive enzyme supplement tommorrow. I will update.

[Edith M]

My dog is getting better. It turned out that his lip licking, gulping, and vomiting foamy saliva was caused by constricture of his esophagus. When food get stucked in his esophagus, he would start the symptoms, until he successfully regurgitated the the food that was stucked in his esophagus. We now feex him with soft food(pre-soaked dry food) and use a slow feeding dog bowl. He is on OMEPRAZOLE to control stomach acid that can cause irritation of his esophagus which causes scarring and constriction of the esophagus. SUCRALFATE to protect the lining of his esophagus for further irritation. METOCLOPRAMIDE, for motility of his digestive system, to help movement of foods. He was misdiagnosed for megaesophagus buy some vets, and instructed me to feed him soft dog food made into small meatball that can easily passed through his esophagus, which end up filing up in his esophagus each day and unable to regurgitate. For one week he was suffering from nausea and vomiting, heaving , and swallowing air(causing dilation of stomach that pushed his other internal organ)that his small intestine position was moved from normal position (by the abdominal wall), into the abnormal position(against his back). The xray of his digestive system showed foods(meatballs, liquid, and air are stucked in the esophagus going down to his stomach. The abnormal position of his GI, slowed down the motility. He had to have a surgery to reposition his digestive system back to it’s normal position. He is doing well now 1 month post surgery. I continue to give him his meds and closely watch him eating g and feed him soft foods. When I see signs that he is having difficulty swallowing I immediately give water through a syringe and keep his head up. I would then start seeing him getting relief, then he would go back and finish his food.

[Genevieve W]

Thanks Edith M for the update! I took Ollie to a new vet who also prescribed metoclopramide along with the sucralfate.
A week ago I took him to an internal vet specialist and had an ultrasound and he was scoped. This specialist recommended I take Ollie off of the sucralfate and prescribed Budesonide. He had 2 episodes in the last 6 days so I put him back on sucralfate after consulting the vet. I will give an update when the biopsies come back from the scoping.
Glad your dog is getting relief.

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