[Susan]

Hi, gee poor boy he must be in comfortable, sometimes the Pepcid doesn’t work cause their acid reflux is real bad & they need a stronger ant acid reducer, the Pepcid (Famotidine) worked the first week for Patch but then after 1 week it wasn’t working…..Zantac (Ranitidine) was developed mid 90’s a bit better then the Pepcid, Patch was on the Zantac for a while while I tried different kibbles, but I wasn’t trying grain free kibbles cause the fat was over 12 % he didn’t get better, he was still grinding his teeth at night, uncomfortable changing beds thru the night, waking me up wanting grass…
If the Pepcid works but doesn’t work good enough, I would ask vet can you try 20mg Losec (Omeprazole) just give for 4 days then stop, give once a day in the morning, then see how he does, then when you see he’s getting uncomfortable again give a losec tablet with water, I push the tablet down throat back of tongue & I have a 20ml big syringe & fill with water & slowly squirt the water in side of Patches mouth so the Losec tablet goes down his throat, I even rub throat downwards to make sure pill isn’t sitting in his throat & goes into his stomach….Omeprazole (Losec) is a Pump Proton Inhibitor (PPI) once you take a PPI for more then 20 days you can not just stop taking it, it needs to be reduced slowly, PPI are the best for bad acid reflux especially as they get older…Patch is on 20mg Losec permanently, I found he did so much better when taking the Losec when I’d stop the Losec his acid just came back with in 2-3 days..
Blood test wont show up any health problems to do with the stomach & small bowel, but yes the liver, gallbladder & pancreas will show up thru blood test, the only way is to have a couple of Biopsies done of the stomach & small bowel it’s the only way by doing an Endoscope & Biopsies, I wish I did it first in the beginning, the money I wasted doing blood test, Ultra Scans, trying vet diets that made things worst cause most vet diet are high in carbohydrates & high in soluble fiber grains that makes the acid reflux worse…..
A cooked lean diet is the best this way you can control ingredients, carbs, fiber & fat etc… Finally after 2 yrs of trying every single kibble, I found TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb, limited ingredients, I had never tried it cause the fat is 15% max, now I feed 5 smaller meals a day, 7am-breakfast 1/2 cup TOTW kibble then walk, then I give Patch his 20mg Losec around 8.30am then 9-9.30am another 1/2 cup TOTW, 12pm 1/3 cup TOTW, 5pm cooked lean pork rissoles + boiled Sweet potatoes or 1 heaped 1/2 cup TOTW Lamb Kibble & at 8pm 1/3 cup TOTW kibble, the fat in the TOTW is 15%max but the Kcals per cup are 338 very low & the Carbs are low at 38% Carbs the TOTW kibble & the 20mg Losec has stopped his acid reflux FINALLY…..
I just looked at the ingredients in the Fromm Weight Management formula, gee there’s too many ingredients, too many proteins & has fish oil, & fiber is 7% too high, you need to look for a grain free, limited ingredient, low fiber around 4-5%, & fat around 12-15% the lower the fat the higher the carbs, so you need to increase the fat a bit to reduce the carbohydrates, grains are soluble fibers, you need foods like sweet potatoes that are insoluble fibers, so the food isn’t sitting in the stomach fermenting, insoluble fiber passes thru the stomach quicker, where soluble fibers sit in the stomach longer, no good, Patch use to vomit the kibble back up all undigested when he was eating kibbles with grains….. The Wellness Core Reduce fat kibble is very high in fiber 8.5% that would have made his acid reflux worse…I wanted to try the wet tin Wellness Core but the fiber was too high. So I cook instead.
It’s taken me 3yrs to work it all out finally, if the Fromm kibble doesn’t really work, take it back for refund, just say he stopped eating it, the fish oil is probably giving him acid reflux, now he won’t eat it…… I can only feed kibbles with Canola Oil…..NO fish or Salmon oils they give you acid reflux, the fish oil repeats on you, you burp it back up… the Australian TOTW has no Salmon or fish oil but I think the TOTW made for America has Salmon Oil, I live Australia….
Patches acid reflux was good when eating the Holistic Select Salmon, Anchovy & Sardines grain free kibble, the fat is 13%, Kcals 341per/cup, carbs are only 28% so if you do have to take back the Fromm look for the Holistic Select Adult/Puppy Salmon Grain Free formula, if you email the kibble companies they email you the max fat, max fiber & carbohydrate % its very hard to find kibbles that are low in carbs, low Fiber, low Kcals per/cup & medium fat%..
I stay away from weight management kibbles the fiber is to high to keep the dog feeling fuller longer & they use soluble fibers that stay in stomach longer to feel fuller longer then the food starts fermenting in stomach, but weight management kibbles may work for your boy.. you wont know untill you try a few different kibble, how I knew was I’d feed a cooked meal with sweet potatoes, no rice no grains & Patch wouldn’t get his acid reflux then feed him a grain low fat kibble for dinner & he’d be grinding his teeth, the acid must come up throat into his mouth leaving an awful taste in mouth, In the beginning he had a real sore mouth & throat when the acid was real bad from the Helicobacter-Pylori infection, I wonder if your boy has the Helicobacter? now there’s a blood test for humans, I had to have the Endoscope + Biopsies 3 yrs ago for Patch but for myself I just had a blood test last year, I suffer with GORD’s real bad acid reflux, then I was put on a PPI, Somac it’s like Losec all my symptoms went away within 2-3 days + a diet change & eating smaller meals thru the day, if your on Face Book join this F/B group called “Canine Pancreatitis Support” look in the files & there’s a heap of low fat foods, a lot of dogs with Pancreatitis suffer with acid reflux as well..
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1435920120029740/
I just had a look, on f/b Pancreatitis group you might have been better buying 4Health Turkey & Potato formula instead of the fromm, it has less ingredients, no tomato pomace, no fish or salmon oils, no garbanzo beans, no chick peas or Lentils has only 8 ingredients, the less ingredients the better, less foods to cause acid reflux, the Kcals are 337 per cup, protein-24, fat-14%, Carbs-39% or there’s 4Health Mature 7+ the fat-10%, Protein-20% fiber 3% Kcals-320% per/cup but carbs are 49% & it has more ingredients then the 4Health Turkey & Potatoes..
Good luck, keep a diary, so you can look back what & when he ate ?? & what meds were given, keep us up to date what’s happening…