[mmt]

I’m so glad this discussion has so many contributors. Hopefully people are finding something that helps.

I am the one that brought up the Chinese herbs. They aren’t working anymore. They were discontinued after a bad stretch, after Royal Canin decided to stop distributing a prescription food to a big chain. Thank you, RC. However, the vet I’m going to has some different herbs she would like to try.

I just wanted to add that the drug Sucralfate has been extremely helpful. From what I understand it has antacid properties and coats ulcerations in the throat and stomach. It is a pill that you make a into a slushy liquid. It has been a huge help, lifesaver, really.

We are trying acupuncture, again. Ugly side effects from the first treatment but are going to see if side effects lessen. It did work quite well once before. The vet, who knows Eastern and Western medicine, is hopeful. I’ve learned this is not going to go away but there are steps that can make it better, like the last contributor said. The other really helpful thing the vet told me is there is an acupressure point above the wrist (so 2 fingers above that big single top pad, on the arm). When I applied pressure to this, the results were pretty much instant. This was when stomach juices were violently trying to come up, over and over, terrible. So it was so fantastic to have something I could do to stop it, even if temporarily.

To KHouston, does your dog do the gagging/wretching/pseudo vomiting or just eat things frantically. I haven’t heard of anti-anxiety drugs working but, duh, of course. And that poor dog, 4 owners!?

It’s hard to read this thread because it makes me sad and upset reading your stories because I know how terrible it is. Good luck to everyone and thank you for not getting rid of your dogs due to this. 🙁

[mmt]

Yes, he was diagnosed with Liver Qi Stagnation. I guess it’s common in people and pets and is commonly thought to be IBD. A natural medicine vet/acupuncturist might have some recommendations. I don’t think food is much of a player in getting this disease under control but who knows, maybe your dog has a different issue. I definitely would talk to a vet about trying Omeprazole (Prilosec) for general acid reduction. When they put a scope down my dog’s throat it was totally raw and burnt from acid reflux. I still use it sometimes when he seems to be swallowing more. Very best of luck to you!

[mmt]

Hi. Sadly, I know exactly what you are talking about. The wretching and gagging and swallowoing. It is the worst thing to watch. I’m lucky enough to live near a vet school. After thousands of dollars in tests, 5 different types of medicine and a prescription vet diet, I thought my lab mix was on the mend. Then it happened again one night after I saw sympotoms during the day for a few weeks previously. Very long story short (about 1.5 years of vet visits), the only thing that helped him was Chinese herbs. I went to a Comparative Medicine Dr at the vet school and she diagnosed him right away and tried acupuncture but said he needed too many sessions, it wasn’t feasible. She then prescribed him Chinese herbs in the form of teapills and he has not had another session (knock on wood!!!). The teapills started working in about one day. Every once in a while, we still deal with episodes of swallowing BUT nothing like what used to happen. It is pretty infrequent and manageable. He is still on a motility drug twice a day but the Dr hopes that we will get to the point, with the right diet, where we only manage flare ups and he isn’t regularly on any drug.
This is the worst, most heart breaking thing to watch. Good luck to you. I’d get to a Chinese Med Dr asap.

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