[Janet Q]

Hello, I am new to the group here. Thank you everyone for all this info. I am taking notes now as my rescue dog SASHA from Mississippi has this problem. We got her 7 months ago. She is an English Shepherd/Great Pyrenese mix supposedly. She is 7 yrs old. She looked perfectly healthy when we adopted her other than a lick granuloma on a paw. She did have a lot of fears we were told. She is very afraid of people and cars and noises. She walks in the woods fine. She seems to scratch quite a bit so we started her on Benadryl , then cetrizine, now Chlorpheneramine.

Her first Licky/Gulpy Episode was in September. She just had her 8th one tonight. I give her Acepromazine immediately now and it seems to help her. The last 2 episodes only lasted an hour or 2 and she wasn’t totally frantic. The other episodes lasted 3-4 hours and she would vomit halfway through.

She went 3 months without an episode and started up again on Dec 17.

When she starts the episodes she just suddenly starts licking anything like the floor, comforters, carpets. Then starts gulping and gagging. I have slept in bed with her with her leash in my hand so I would know if she jumped off the bed to lick the floor or started licking the comforter again.

She really seems to be even more afraid of noises when she is going through these episodes. Any creak in the house, or noise from a cat jumping off furniture down the hall etc. She will just have a horrified look on her face.

I have read about gastritis and that it can be caused from ingesting fur. She licks quite a bit like OCD and she did have that lick granuloma when we got her. She tore up 3 sets of King sheets when I first got her also and recently shredded a pillowcase while I was home doing dishes.

So I am thinking of finding a specialist near me to have the scope procedure done to check out her esophagus for damage.

I also have her on sucralfate, benadryl, chlropheniramine, composure treats, Lean Treats by Purina, Dasaquin.

She was on a probiotic for a few months and I didn’t refill it.

Her food is Taste of The Wild Salmon, mixed with a little JM by purina and a few spoons of canned Purina Adult Chicken and Rice.

I try to walk her each day on a 20 foot leash so she can run a bit.

Thankyou again for all these posts as I a have never had this problem with a dog before.
I will let you know what I find that works.

[Susan]

Hi Crystal, my Patch had the gulping, vomiting & he grinded his teeth… its acid reflux coming up into his throat, change diet, lower the fat & try not to feed kibble, home cooked is best for this even if 1 meal is cooked & the other meal is wet tin food, a low fat tin food… over the 2 years, I have found kibble makes it worse & treats especially if the treats are high in fat….. fat in a kibble should be around 10%, fat in wet tin food 3% fat & under… I’ve been cooking, lean white meats, chicken, pork & fish & I add sweet potatoes, Oh I don’t feed all these meats at once, separate meals…. 3 small meals a day..

I would be seeing a vet, ASAP, it only cost about $60 for a vet visit & some answers & a script for medications, some vets will write you a script that you take to a chemist & its cheaper, after trying natural remedies & nothing worked for Patch, Patch had an Endoscope & Biopsies done, make sure the vet does the biopsies, when the vet looked at Patches stomach everything looked fine BUT the biopsies results showed Helicobacter-Pylori & IBD The Helicobacter-Pylori makes the acid reflux worse & ant acids don’t work & medications are needed, Metronidazole, Amoxicillin & Zantac & change of diet, Gluten free & no sugar carbs……in the mean time give him some Pepto or Mylanta about 3-4mls to relieve this 20mins before his meals, its not nice to have, he may also have ulcers depends how long he has had this problem, the acid burns the stomach & you get stomach ulcers that can bleed, vet will give ant acid medication like {Famotidine- Pepcid} or {Ranitidine-Zantac} or {Prilosec- Omeprazole} to relieve his symptoms…

[C4D]

Crystal C,

You really do need to take the dog to a vet ASAP!!! Gulping and crazy eyes sounds like he might be choking or gulping for air!!! It sounds like he might have a damaged trachea. This could result in some serious problems including difficulty breathing and swallowing. This is definitely a situation that needs a vet diagnosis rather than supplements, especially since it started after an incident involving injury. Please rule out any medical problems!

[CRYSTAL C]

My 2 year old beagle “Henry” just started doing this. I now call him “Gulpy McCrazy Eyes” when he starts the frantic licking, eating grass and gagging that leads to vomit (at night). I have been feeding him Blue Buffalo Salmon & potato limited ingredient grain free since I got him a few months ago. He eats twice a day. And since we are in training, he gets lots of treats, but only grain free. It all started with a throat irritation that was the result of him sticking his head out the window that was down partially and I slammed on my breaks when a giant duck flew across the road in front of my car. He coughed for a while, but otherwise acted ok. I stopped using the gentle leader because it seemed to make his throat worse. Even though the gentle leader is the best thing to happen to dog-walking EVER, we will use the harness. Laying him down and rubbing belly seems to help the gulping subside. It seems to build upon anxiety. not sure about acid reflux yet. But may try pepto and magnesium before pepcid.
I will try natural remedies before expensive vet and stressful procedures. I take pro-biotics myself for digestion…Another option for those who suffer from allergies is ALLERPLEX. I love it and highly recommend it for both humans and our four-legged friends. Thank you for all your comments. I am glad I read this thread before freaking out and wasting time and money!

[Dori]

He could just be eating too quickly. Are we talking about your Yorkie (avatar picture)? If so, I would first try one of the bowls that are made to slow down their eating they are available in various sizes and you can buy them pretty much everywhere. Elevating bowls for toy breeds are not always recommended as I’ve read in the past that it interferes with their trachea which are already fragile to begin with and also possibly musculoskeletal issues. Let me find the article and I’ll come back and post it here. But anyway, my thought is he/she is eating too quickly and gulping air as he eats. Toy breeds aren’t usually chewers, they like to inhale their food and lots of air at the same time.

[losul]

Weezerweeks, please use much caution about giving a dog human antacids/PPI’s/ acid , especially for any prolonged length of time, beyond occasional usage, without carefully regulated dosage, without guidance from a good vet, and without knowing the actual cause of acid reflux symptoms, if that’s even what it is (acid reflux). As said above, hypochlorhydria can cause the exact same symptoms. I cringe every time I hear of someone self medicating., and it could be creating worse problems, especially in the longer term, if the cause is low stomach acid, or even if the problem does not originate from excessive acid production.. Even, if the underlying cause were to be excessive acid production, if you cut a pill that was designed for a 160lb human in quarters and give to a 10 lb dog, that dosage seems way too much anyway. It’s too easy to intuitively assume these sort of symptoms (reflux or indigestion) stems from excessive stomach acid. It could be excess stomach acid production or refluxing for numerous reasons, but I feel that way too often it may be caused by just the opposite, probably both in dogs as in humans. If antacids are given to a dog in wrong dosage or if the dog really suffers from low stomach acid and antacids are given, it could lead to achlorydria (no stomach acid)…

I spent a great deal of time studying on this over the last year and a half or so, the “acid” reflux, GERD, hypochlorydria, achloridia, hyperchlorydria, digestion problems, etc. and how it relates to overall health/disease. It’s a complicated issue, and I’m absolutely no medical pro at all, but I think I’ve learned some good info on the subject. Good health really begins in the first part of digestion, the stomach, IMO. Most of the info available pertains to humans, but should apply to dogs as well. I’ve been wanting to write about this again for awhile now….It’s been high on my to do list… I really sympathize and feel with the folks and their dogs, the helplessness feeling and distressed feelings such as on forum threads like “dog gulping and swallowing”, and of course with Sue and her dog Patch, and anyone else’s also.

Sue, I think you’re finally probably on the right track now with your thinking, and on the right path with consulting with the Naturopath vet, I hope you continue with that. I hope you are also up front with her/him about Patch’s extensive past antacid usage, also the extensive antibiotics usage. H. Pylori thrives in lower stomach acid and will in fact even help create a less acidic atmosphere for itself via it’s large production of urease, which metabolizes in the stomach to ammonia and neutralizes stomach acid. The H pylori can also damage the mucous and the parietal cells in the stomach, which produce the hydrochloric acid and pepsin in the stomach. It does become necessary to use the antacids along with the antibiotic therapy to eradicate the h pylori. I thought this odd at first, but it turns out, I found that H. Pylori does needs hydrochloric acid in it’s metabolism, so to limit stomach acid during eradication makes sense. And of course antacids become necessary to allow time for ulcers or damaged esophagus, etc. to heal. I think you already said that Patch didn’t have ulcers or damage to his esophagus? Actually H. Pylori is very rare in the stomachs of dogs as I understand it, but other helicobacter species are more common and may be a normal inhabitant of a canine stomach.

I don’t believe there are any good tests on a dog to find out about stomach acid production. There’s a good test for humans, the Heidelburg PH capsule test, minimally invasive, although it’s not a mainstream or well known diagnostic tool, (nope most doctors will just prescribe an antacid) and it can also even measure PH in the small and large intestine.. I called them sometime back and asked if there was any in use for dogs, which I already doubted, I was told no, but that she would bring it up at the next company meeting. Humans can do some limited self testing to a certain extent, which I won’t get into, but can’t really do that with dogs, as they can’t tell exactly what they are feeling at the moment.

I’ve got whole lots of links bookmarked on this subject, when I can get to them and when I get time. For now, there’s a pretty good summary of digestion/disease issues just from the Heidelberg Medical site. I would read ALL the “learn more” topics (on the right side), including hypochlorhydria, allergies, diabetes, gastritis, asthma, dumping syndrome, hyperchlorydria, achlorydria, the medications, PPI’s, H2’s GERD, antibiotics, pyloric insufficiency, etc. Please read them all.

http://phcapsule.com/digestion/gerd-reflux/

[Susan]

Hi Jen, I know what your going thru, for 2 years my boy has the same gulping fits, swollowing & swallowing, he had Endoscope & biopsies done, last December, biopsies found Moderate to chronic Lymphocytic gastritis with associated spiral bacteria infection..(Heliocobacter-Pylori) vet was surprised that his stomach had no ulcers or scaring from old ulcers & the stomach look really good, vet couldn’t get into the small bowel cause his lower pylori spincter was close & the only way to get more answers was to have Patch cut open & have more biopsies on small bowel to see what is happening, I said NO, I cant do that to him cut him open & then do what, we already have tried all the medications…. I thought once he takes all the meds for his Helicobacter & & a diet change (Vet Diet Royal Canin Gluten free Duck & Tapioca) everything will be great… when the meds were finished, he started his has swallowing & swallowing attacks again, more when he eats cooked foods or raw diet, he starts regurgitating & water comes up & then he swollows & swollows the water…I think his esophageal spincter isn’t closing properly.. I have it, its called non ulcer dyspepsia, vet said he has acid reflux & he was put on Losec cause the Zantac or Pepcid wasn’t working no more…
You know how you said he’s on the Hills Z/d so we know its not the food PLEASE PLEASE try another food, my boy didn’t get better on the Hills Z/d…..a few other people I know from a Face Book group said their dogs also didn’t do well on the Hills Z/d vet diets…. at first we thought he was doing better cause Z/d has more insoluble fiber, so it moves thru the stomach quicker, then diets with more soluble fiber but now when I look back it was probably the Ant-Acid meds that stopped his swallowing & swallowing attacks….also low fat diets help…look for a new diet that’s limited ingredient, novel protein & 1 carb “California Natural” has hypoallergenic diets, their Lamb & Rice has just 4 ingredients, http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products & see if you see any improvement & try a different ant acid maybe Zantac if you don’t want to use a Pump Proton Inhibitor (Losec or Somac) I found Somac to be better as it didn’t affect the bowel like Losec did …You keep saying you know its not the food but have you tried any other diets, I would be trying a new diet before trying any medications, I’ve learnt along the way that food seem to work the best & supplements… Lew Olson has a great face book group called K9 Nutrition & she helps & answers all post…..

Finally after Patch not getting better up & down some nights with these swallowing attacks, …I feed a Hypoallergenic gluten dairy sugar FREE Salmon & Sardine kibble that’s is 10% fat that I soak in water till its soft then drain all water very well then put thru a mini processer blender for a few seconds it comes out like wet tin food & what a difference it has made I’m not being woken up thru the night ….its not 100% we still have the odd swallowing attack (acid reflux) sometimes cause I’ve been introducing new foods to the diet, I just give 3 ml liquid Mylanta & the Mylanta seems to help & stops the swallowing & swallowing attacks….
Sometimes you need to do things yourself as vets aren’t real good with nutrition & dog foods they stick with their vet diets & think they’re great, I tried them all, Hills being the worst as it caused bad skin problems & they use chicken even though the chicken is broken down some dogs still pick up that it was once a chicken & have a reaction with the Z/d diet.. join this Face Book group, there’s a few dogs that have these swallowing attacks aswell “Dogs with Inflammatory Bowel Disorder group” Good-Luck

[Jen r]

Hi Everyone, I have a 4 and 1/2 year old Boxer (Rex) who started doing this 3 months ago and even after meds would not stop. It would be about a 3 hour panic of licking and swallowing and I took him to the vet and they thought it was just an upset stomach. He was given an injection of Cerenia (the best nausea medicine made for dogs) but he episode was pretty much done by the time we got to the vet. We decided to do an endoscopy right away and found he had pretty severe inflammation of his duodenum which is the first part of the intestines right below the stomach. The GI guy was surprised with the presentation of him gulping with this inflammation being lower down in the GI Tract. He thought there would be severe esophageal disease but it was clear. We also did allergy testing to see if food was causing this. He had some bad milk and some meat allergies so he was put on prescription food called “Z/D” which is hydrolyzed food meaning that it doesn’t need to be broken down much so it is great for allergies. This is very pricey stuff. (thank god we have insurance on this boy!) He was also put on a GI steroid called budesonide to decrease the duodenum inflammation. He went through multiple blood tests checking for pancreatitis which was ruled out. He did ok for about 2 months. He had one time when he started to lick and I immediately gave him a Pepcid and it stopped. Then after the 2 month time he started up with the episodes to the 10th degree. He would panic and they would last longer and longer. I am a pharmacist so I spoke with my vet about what meds to give when these happened and we tried a concoction of things and nothing seemed to help much. They make a cerenia in tablet form so I thought once I had that then life would be great but even that didn’t work. Each time it happens I would give the cerenia, a simethicone (gas x), and Pepcid. In 2 hours it didn’t do anything, (if this was normal nausea these things would definitely work, this is why we know it is not stomach related). We ended up going to an internal medicine specialist and she did ultrasounds and said everything looked normal but also gave me a barium liquid to completely coat his stomach. She told me that she had another boxer in the same boat as us and she thinks it is something called Limbic Seizures. I guess they are a seizure that isn’t your typical thing. There is no loss of consciousness or shaking so no one would ever think of it. It occurs in the Limbic area of the brain which controls emotions and other things. If it happens it causes a spasming of the salavatory glands and this is causing them to lick their lips to swallow it back down. When doing this they suck air in too and if they throw up, it is usually very foamy in appearance. At the time when he got this we found out he had a bad UTI at the time so we waited until the urinary infection was gone thinking that maybe this was kicked up from the infection he was fighting. The specialist wanted to start the seizure meds right away but I wanted to make sure we ruled out other things first since some of the meds for seizures can cause more damage and need to always do follow up lab work for liver damage and other things. She said it was ok to wait but she didn’t think it would get better. The infection has been cleared for 2 weeks now. We also added lansoprazole (prevacid) to his daily meds and three times a day metoclopramide (an pro-motility med to keep his belly going well). We had 9 good days so we were hoping it was working and then had a bad episode but the barium seemed to help after about an hour of giving it. Then he had 4 good days and then yesterday had it start at 12pm to 2:30 again giving the cerenia, simethicone and Pepcid first, waiting an hour and then giving the barium. Barium coats everything so you can’t give meds after as they won’t be absorbed. It stopped at 2:30 but at 4:30 had a 20 minute bout that stopped on its own and then again from 6:45 to 1am. I am exhausted from this and feel so bad for him has he is in such a panic and I feel I can’t help him anymore. So we know it isn’t food things since he is on that diet to rule out any of the food issues. if it were just upset stomach the cerenia would work like a charm but doesn’t at all! So today I am trying to get a hold of the specialist and tell her she was right that we need to start the seizure meds. I should have listened earlier but with the other infection going on I didn’t want to put him on something that could hurt him without knowing. Now that is the next step. I think people don’t ever think Seizures as it doesn’t look like it but with reading all these forums with people having no other answers it seems like this is more common than I thought and people aren’t getting the right diagnosis’s from their vets as the vets don’t even see the 2 correlating. I will keep you posted as time goes on and if the meds cure him…..if so it would be a miracle!!!! Thanks for listening!

[Allison M]

I know this is kind of an old topic but my beagle does this as well. She was diagnosed with Bilious Vomiting Syndrome. She will start gulping and frantically licking the carpet along the walls to eat dust and fur. Sometimes she starts eating the carpet. If I stop her from doing this or if she can’t find any dust to eat she will start pulling her own fur out and eating it off of her body, then she will vomit. I feed her 4 meals a day and she also gets Pepcid. If I see her start gulping I will feed her a small handful of her kibble and this almost immediately fixes the problem. It sounds like many of the dogs on this forum are suffering from the same Bilious Vomiting Syndrome that my dog Rosie has. You guys can read about it here: http://www.furrycritter.com/health/dogs/Bilious_vomiting_syndrome.htm
This page also has very helpful info on Bilious Vomiting Syndrome, be sure to click view full answer: http://www.justanswer.com/dog-health/33nu4-dog-will-not-stop-licking-carpet-started-today.html
They key is many small snacks throughout the day! Hope this helps!

[Susan]

Hi, get a diet that is lower in fat, if I go over 10% for fat in a kibble, my boy gets real bad acid reflux, with wet foods stick with fat 2% & under, I use 1 teaspoon Mylanta liquid as soon as I see him gulping & swallowing..as soon as you lower the fat in his diet you’ll see a different, with high fat foods you make more acid to digest the fat also there could be something in the Honest kitchen that is giving him the acid reflux, just like us when we eat something that doesn’t agree with us…. your best off with a limited ingredient diet or a low fat home cooking (turkey breast) when this happens, my boy had acid reflux for 1 week, then he had a real sore throat, where the acid burnt his throat, the Zantac wasn’t working, now I use Mylanta its different to Pepcid, I don’t believe in adding a acid like vinegar to stop acid, it made my acid reflux worse & where the acid came up into my throat the apple cider vinegar just made it worse & burnt my throat more……try a lower fat diet, if he doesn’t get better, see a vet, I feed something different for breakfast then something different for dinner & then I see what food was better & didn’t cause any acid reflux….

[Mieke v]

Hello all,

Just wanted to let everyone know that our dog had all of these symptoms as well. Gulping, licking, sometime frantic eating of grass or anything, odd posture, random vomitting, random loose stools with mucus, and the list goes on. We switched him to Honest Kitchen Zeal for 2 weeks along with a dosage of 10 mg Famotidine (acid reducer that you can obtain at any grocery or drug store) at each meal. He weighs 55 lbs. No other food or treats. After two weeks we introduced rotation with Wellness Core (canned) and continued the Famotidine. He was symptom-free within a day or two. He has not had any further symptoms now in three months. We took him off the Famotidine after about one month but carefully watched him for licking, etc. Now he is on a rotation of HK Zeal one day, one day Wellness Core (canned) or Merrick Grain-free Wilderness (canned). We always make sure that the HK Zeal is a full day between the other two. If your dog is not digesting the HK fully, suggest pre-mixing and leaving in fridge. We also increased his physical activity to one 3-mile fast walk with water pack per day after he was symptom-free. Strongly recommend switching up foods and going ultra-low fat, grain-free. It saved his life! So grateful to this forum and our local fancy pet store which helped us.

[Christine U]

I just read the fat on his RC dry and it said 7.5 and his wet 3.5%. I think he’d eat all wet. I always thought all wet was too much overload for his gut, but since fat is half, maybe it would be better.

All his issues have only affected upper GI. All his burping and gulping episodes never included diarrhea. I do hear his tummy rumble and he does have the occasional toot. The vet wanted to do an endoscopy as the next step but I didn’t. I wasn’t sure I wanted to put him through another procedure and if it would actually tell us anything. It seems to be controllable with food so I wanted to try that. (I have IBS and have been through too many procedures all for nothing). The food change to Royal Canin cut his symptoms by 75% or more so I know we’re on the right track. Plus a gal at the vets has a dog with super sensitive stomach. She told me all the stuff her dog tested for, procedures….eek! And it told her nothing….her dog just has a sensitive stomach. I know all dogs are different but Chewie has been through hell more than once so I try to be careful with him and avoid unnecessary stuff.

I’ve tried a couple different probiotics and like you said, did not agree with him.

[Susan]

Hi Christine, the Gulping is Acid Reflux, my boy started getting this when on the Royal Canine HP that’s when all Patches problems started, 2013, fast forward 2 years, Patch had Endoscope & Biopsies done December 2014 & he has Helicobacter, IBD, they get real bad acid reflux, burping, heartburn, he was put on triple therapy Metronidazole, Amoxicillin & Zantac cause he cant take Losec but they are normally use Losec, he was on this 3 weeks, as soon as the triple therapy stopped within 1 week Patch was gulping & swallowing again, at night early hours of morning is worse, I’ve been giving 3ml Mylanta this really heaps…Patch was put on another triple therapy Metronidazole, Clarithromycin & Zantac, the Clarithromycin made him so ill, I had to stop all meds, that was last week, I have also stopped any kibbles, no more kibble, I have been buying turkey breast mince 99% fat free about 1 kilo =(2.2 pounds) I add 1 egg & mix thru mince & then I make about 4 long meatloaf & with the left over turkey breast mince I make real little turkey balls as treats, I put on baking tray & bake, I boil a heap of butternut pumkin & freeze 20g squares, I section the turkey when cooked & freeze, to 1 cup of cooked turkey after I’ve mashed all up, I add about 1 heap spoon boiled pumkin….pumkin soothes the GI tract…… Patch is on this diet for 6 weeks to let everything rest after the strong antibiotics made him ill….

You need a real low fat diet as fat makes acid reflux worse, high protein kibbles normally have high fat, also limited ingredient diets are best, if you can, feed a wet diet, as kibble is too over processed & makes things worse with acid reflux & gulping.. Your dog is small, you could cook & freeze like I’m doing, boil a heap of potatoes & freeze sections for the day & buy some fresh white fish & freeze after cooked. I use to use tin tuna & spring water then I tried tin salmon but the fat was too high in the salmon…so far turkey breast has been the best…

“Wellness Simple” limited ingredient has Grainfree Salmon & Potatoes or Turkey & Potatoes in wet & dry, the fat is min-12% here’s their link to have a look, just scroll right down to the bottom for the Simple range, I use to feed the Duck & Oatmeal & the Lamb & Oatmeal as Patch cant eat potatoes & these flavours had the lowest fat, min-11% & min-12% fat but that’s min fat-11%, so u add another 1 & 1/2 more for max fat%…
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/recipes.aspx?pet=dog&ft=1#Complete

[Christine U]

Hi everyone,
I seriously need advice.
I’ve been to regular vets and holistic vets.
I have a 4 year old Parsons Terrier/Shitz Tsu mix with bad GI issues. He’s had so many tests and it seems to be food related. We’ve tried so many foods and right now he’s on Royal Canin White Fish and Potato both wet and dry. He still has the occasional ‘gulping’ type issue but no diarrhea or vomiting.
Recently I found Grandma Z’s grain free fish and potato and he loves that and the ingredients seem to be a bit better than Royal Canin.
Here’s my issue. First…I’m ALWAYS open to finding the best food I can for him but we are getting ready to RV full time. My concern is finding his food on the road. Every vet has to order it and it can take 1-2 weeks. I plan to carry a lot with us, but I know there are so many new grain free foods out there. Maybe there’s one I haven’t heard of.
Any tips, advice, recommendations?
Thanks so much!
Christine

[Carole K]

Interesting katrene–just researched magnesium and seizures have been linked with low magnesium. My beagle has suffered with the gulps and licking followed by vomiting everything she licks off the floor. Like every one else on this forum, I have changed food, used antacids and spent too much money at the vet’s office. My new vet suggested we start giving her a mild anti seizure med–I decided to wait a bit for fear of side affects because she is a senior. Not sure if I should try magnesium or just go for the meds. I am so opposed to over medicating dogs. I was sure it was her stomach but now I’m leaning towards seizures causing the gulping and licking. Think I’ll try magnesium first–as soon as the roads get plowed and I can get to the store. Feeling hopeful.

[Katrene J]

Hi, I have an 8 yo, male English Springer with the same problem everyone here is describing. My sweet guy started with the gulps about 5 years ago. The frequency at first was once every 3-4 months. It gradually increased to every 2 weeks or so. Or it had up until last November [2014]. Since November he’s had two bouts and both were mild – no deeply scared, frantic grass-eating dog those two times. He was definitely uncomfortable and seemed kinda worried it might get worse but a little throat massage and he could go back to sleep.

Like a lot of folks on this and a couple of other wonderful, helpful forums, I’ve tried a ton of things and even thought at times we had the problem solved, only to find a few weeks or a month later that I was wrong and had to go back to the drawing board. It’s been 3 1/2 months now since Tommy’s had a bad night. Instead of the predicted 7 or so episodes you’d figure he’d have had at the every-other-week frequency, there were only the two mild ones. I changed only one thing.

Now it may be another wild goose chase in the end but with a hiatus of almost 4 months I figured it’s worth sharing the change we made at this point. I hope it can help another dog. The last thing I want thought, is to give anyone false hope. This may be something or it may be nothing and we all know that each dog is so very different what works well for one may do nothing for another.

With that part out of the way let me tell you what has worked so far for Tom. Back in early Nov Tommy and I were up with a night of the gulps. I scanned the web for any new info that might have been shared since his last bout of the gulps. One person had posted. She [I think] said the only thing that worked for her dog was Pepcid Complete – not regular Pepcid, Not Tums. Only the Complete formula helped. I didn’t have any Pepcid complete on hand so I went online to check the ingredients. It turned out that Pepcid Complete is basically Pepcid plus Tums plus magnesium. Those things I did have on the shelf. I gave Tom the equivalent. He shortly seemed somewhat better. Not good enough so we could go back to bed but somehow less worried, less desperate.

I started to research Magnesium. I had had it on hand for leg and foot cramps. It’s amazing for relieving muscle spasms. Could a throat spasm be part of the gulps problem? The dogs do seem to be gulping like they’re trying to swallow something stuck in their throats… One friend had had success with a very powerful anti spasmodic years ago with her gulps dog, an Aussie. A magnesium deficiency could be a cause of GERD too, I’d read. There sure seems to be some stomach problem with the gulps too… It seemed worth investigating.

I’m NOT a vet nor do I play one on television so please take what follows with that understanding. First I took some magnesium myself as a supplement. That went ok and I learned that, as mentioned in the research, too much creates loose stools. Good – that gave me a gauge to know when to cut back.

I began to give Tom magnesium as a supplement. This is plain magnesium we’re talking about here, nothing fancy. It’s regular grocery store magnesium, 250 mg tablets. Started Tom on it slowly, etc. He weighs about 55#. When he was getting one 250 mg tablet in the morning and two 250s at night I held it there. His stools were still fine and that dosage felt right – not a scientific reason but sometimes I think my subconscious notices things my conscious mind doesn’t and I’ve earned to pay attention.

Since being on that regimen of 250mg AM and 500mg PM Tom has had only the two bouts of the gulps that I mentioned earlier. One was over Christmas when I’d backed off on the Mg to about half the dose for a few days [we were guests and the loose stool potential was weighing heavily on my mind!]. The second was about a month ago. That was the time I never had to even wake up completely. He began soft gulping but was only mildly concerned. I gently messaged his throat for a minute or two. He sighed and curled up next to me. We both went back to sleep. One more momentary massage about 4 hrs later and the gulps were over.

My gut feeling is that some dogs have or develop a magnesium deficiency. If that’s the case Tom’s may have started when I had to take him off a raw diet. Or it may be it’s that the land that grows our food is so magnesium poor at this point the dogs are simply not getting enough no matter what they’re fed. Whatever the cause, for Tom at least so far, the magnesium supplement seems to be working. He and I both hope our experiences can help someone else’s good dog.

[Danie]

Hi all,
We are new to raw and have been feeding our Littles ground raw (with bone) because I am SUPER paranoid about them choking! We had a choking incident recently (before the raw switch) and I am really concerned that it will happen again. I have seen a lot of recommendations for chicken necks, wings, legs etc. However, I am not comfortable with these as my Cairn has really strong jaws and is famous for chomping and gulping things down when he can. (He’s the one who had the choking scare).

I really would like to give them RMB’s whole, for all the obvious benefits, and have been considering the following:
– Chicken backs; all ribs removed
– Turkey necks – though turkey is hard to come by where I live so this may not be an option
– Oxtails; uncut

I would really appreciate any recommendations / feedback in this area especially from other raw feeders with smaller dogs, as I am super nervous about it and will be watching them like a hawk when I do become brave enough to let them try it.

Thanks in advance 🙂

[Danie]

Hi all, we are new to raw and have been feeding our Littles ground raw (with bone) because I am SUPER paranoid about them choking! We had a choking incident recently (before the raw switch) and I am really concerned that it will happen again. I have seen a lot of recommendations for chicken necks, wings, legs etc. However, I am not comfortable with these as my Cairn has really strong jaws and is famous for chomping and gulping things down when he can. (He’s the one who had the choking scare).

I really would like to give them RMB’s whole, for all the obvious benefits, and have been considering the following:
– Chicken backs; all ribs removed
– Turkey necks – though turkey is hard to come by where I live so this may not be an option
– Oxtails; uncut

I would really appreciate any recommendations / feedback in this area especially from other raw feeders with smaller dogs, as I am super nervous about it and will be watching them like a hawk when I do become brave enough to let them try it.

Thanks in advance 🙂

[gina m]

Our dog Dolly had the exact early morning panic gulping. She’s a 7 years old terrier mix that we adopted 3 months ago. After reading this forum and other sites, we tried giving her dog food that only has one food ingredients – Natural Balance LID. Figured too much fat, too many kinds of meat might cause acid. We also started giving her 1 teaspoon of coconut oil per meal. We feed her twice a day. My wife also has digestive issues and coconut oil has helped her tremendously so we figured why not try it. I think it’s helping her. Though we also gave coconut oil to our other dog (dolly’s brother) and it seemed to make his stool too soft so we stopped giving coconut oil to him. And after reading some sites, we also decided to add some Probiotics and Enzyme supplement. We just started this yesterday so we’ll see how she does. So far so good. I hope dolly won’t get another attack, but it’s a trial and error to get the right balance of food for her.

[Cole B]

So glad to hear other people have heard of this! I have a two year old lab/border collie cross named Gunner. His first gulping and licking attack happened a month ago. The vet blamed kennel cough and put him on Robitussin for a week. His first attack started right before bed one night and then happened on and off all night. Unlike a lot of other dogs in this post the first time it continued into the day time for half the day. I got a video of it but my vet wouldn’t even let me bring him in case it was kennel cough. His attack finally stopped and hasn’t happened again til tonight. I know it wasn’t kennel cough, I’ve worked in dog kennels for my entire adult life and I know kennel cough as well as my own name. Since the first attack stopped and went away for the last month I tried not to worry about it.
But now tonight he’s been gulping, swallowing, licking, occasionally coughing. He also seems to be throwing up liquid into his mouth and then swallowing it again. After reading through this post I tried a combo of taking off his collar, feeding him 1/2 a cup of kibble, and cuddling/petting to calm him down. His attack stopped almost immediately after I did those three things. Now he’s sleeping peacefully. I also fed him on a box so it was raised since I know acid reflux in people can be worse if they don’t sit up to eat. I’m relieved that it stopped! Its so hard watching them go through that. He was so upset.

Other background for Gunner:
He eats 1 3/4 cups Diamond brand lamb and rice twice a day
He is allergic to grass, which is a nightmare in itself! Certain times a year he has no fur on his legs from allergies.
He occassionally gets bacterial infections on his skin which my vet says is caused by a lowered immune system from his body’s constant fight against allergies.

He hadn’t had anything to eat other than kibble before this attack. He had been fed at 7:00pm and woke me up at 4:00am with the gulping. Not sure how long he had been doing it, I’m a deep sleeper. He’s always done really well on his lamb and rice diet.

I’m just so glad for this post since he instantly got better after trying a few suggestions from this posting. Thanks everyone for your advice!

• This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by Cole B.

[crazy4cats]

Hi Kristin S-

I also have two strong chewers. The only thing that I can come up with that I would feel safe leaving my dogs alone with would be a Kong. Someone mentioned this idea a while back. I soak some kibble for a few minutes and pour out most of the water and add a little bit of canned to the wet kibble. Then I stuff it in the Kong and put it in the freezer. By getting the kibble a little soft and wet before freezing, it makes it take a lot longer for my dogs to dig it out. Other types of chews and bones, I would never feel comfortable leaving them alone with. I do put their bullysticks in vice grips before I give it to them. Making me feel a little more at ease. They are getting better about gulping and swallowing their treats. But, I’m still concerned. Good luck!

[JoKarol D]

It seems this may be common in Australian Cattle Dogs. I have a female 2-1/2 years old. We’ve had her since she was 8 weeks old. About a year ago she started these bouts of licking. She liked to eat hair and things like that so initially I thought she had hair stuck in her throat. But as she is getting older the bouts are getting more serious. She had another attack last night. My son was up with her all night. She’s frantic during the attacks and runs around the house trying to eat anything in sight. We do let her outside as she eats grass and that either makes the attack subside or makes her throw up. If it subsides she comes back in and is able to sleep for a couple of hours and then will have another attack. This will go on all night until about 6 am. Then the attacks will completely stop until the next night about 9 pm. They usually last for a couple of nights then go away for a while. She hadn’t had an episode in a while and last night I gave her some caramel popcorn… a few pieces as a treat. I guess that was bad as her attack started about an hour after I gave her the treat. Tonight it started again but she is sleeping peacefully under my bed right now.

Why do these things always start at night? And disappear during the day? Its so sad because she is frantic and wants help during her attacks. She is breathing heavy and licking and gulping and running all over the place. When I get her to lay down and try to calm her down, her stomach is gurgling and making all kinds of noises so I know it must be very uncomfortable. From these forums it seems pretty common and I can’t believe more vets have not heard of it. I was going to try to treat her naturally before I got a vet involved. I recently changed her food to grain free food and she loves it. But she eats it so fast (like others here have described).

Just knowing it is pretty common is very comforting. Thank you all for posting so much helpful information. I hope all of you find the right system that will work for your dog. I think every dog probably will need something different as every human’s body is different. Please keep updating with what is going on with your dog…. the good bad and ugly. Together maybe we can help our babies lead pain free stress free lives!

[Laura L]

My dog also has bouts of gulping and swallowing, I get funny looks when I describe episodes to the vet and he is convinced it is acid reflux. When MacKenzie starts one of these episodes she goes into a “blind panic” and will eat anything. She will lick dirt and hair from the floor, chew the curtains, eat socks, dried leaves and grass. She will eat anything she can get in her mouth and it is difficult to watch and stop. She also has bouts of vomiting around one time a month that is not related to gulping episodes (she generally will vomit after grazing but then it settles down). I have had some success using Prilosec or Pepcid. We recently started seeing a chiropractor and she always gulps or reverse sneezes when her jaw is being adjusted. I think episodes have decreased since starting the chiropractic treatments although I have noticed that during the night when she grooms herself it will often trigger an episode. Maybe the Prilosec with help Quincy, if I find anything else that works I will be sure to post.

[Naturella]

Anita, even though your vet said to do that, the kibble size will do nothing to help clean your dog’s teeth. It is like cleaning our molars with large cookies.

What you can do is try to get your dog used to brushing. You can start with putting some coconut oil or dog toothpaste on your finger and let your dog lick it, then slowly get it used to you rubbing it on his/her teeth with your finger, and little by little move to a rubber brush that you put on your finger, or a real dog toothbrush. Since you have to get in the back of the mouth, it won’t be easy, but it’s really the best way to keep their teeth clean, and you need to do it daily, or at least a few times a week.

Another alternative is feeding raw meaty bones, like chicken necks, feet, wings, legs, etc., or pork/beef riblets and neck bone pieces. Always supervise while your dog is eating those and make sure she/he crushes them up well and is not gulping them. You can feed those a couple times a week, but make sure the amount is no more than 20-25% of your dog’s balanced diet. And no cooked bones.

Hope this helps! 🙂

[Susan]

Hi Sabema, ask your specialist can he prescribe some 20mg Omeprazole (Losec) its a stronger ant acid then Pepcid, its given daily, 1 hour before food & last 24 hrs, also is he on a low fat diet, as high fat diets can cause bad acid reflux, I hope your specialist helps this time cause 4 years is a long time like my Patch…. I finally had an Endoscope + Biopsies done, 1 month ago & Patch has “moderate to chronic Lymphocytic Gastritis with associated spiral bacteria infection” (Helicobacter infection)…he was gulping & swollowing at night with bad acid reflux, heartburn, sometimes vomiting & feeling nauseous… make sure if you do have an Endoscope done that you get biopsies as well cause when my vet did Patches Endoscope everything looked good visually then 5 days later I got the results from biopsies.. With my last dog, I just had a endoscope done & like Patch everything looked good, I wish I had gotten biopsies done but I didn’t have a computer back then, to google info & join groups to find out what other people were doing..
Good-Luck with Tucker, once you get a diagnoses you’ll feel so much better cause the illness can be treated with the proper meds, An Endoscope + biopsies is best.. with an Ultra Scan you can’t see inside their stomach, I just wasted $450 having an ultra Scan done..

[Cristi C]

Molzy, we had problems like this with our cat. No vet could help us. She chronically threw up but had no other problems. Her appetite was fine but her weight was very light. She was hyper and nervous. As she aged, she began to have more problems besides her vomiting and nerves: she began to lose all her fur, gulped a lot in the evenings, and had developed focal seizures in her face (also in the evenings). At his point we switched her to a grain-free diet, made in the USA, and changed her litter from corn to wheat. She calmed down, her vomiting decreased, and her fur began to grow back–but her gulping got harder and more frequent and her seizures, more frequent as well, began to spread to her front legs. Last week we replaced her wheat litter with clay litter. The gulping has stopped, the seizures stopped, and she is calmer and happier than I have ever seen her.

In other words, the key to our cat’s good health was removing her from all contact with grains. Not only can she not eat them, she cannot touch them. She eats Core Wellness foods But here’s the thing: she can only eat the fish variety. No poultry or other meats. I believe it is because poultry and other meats eat grains. And I think the problem is toxins, whether GMO, fungus, or pesticide, in those grains. Our cat is just the canary in the coal mine.

[Susan]

Hi Constance, something is wrong with ur boy…
when he was on the Pepcid it helped him then I’d put him back on it even if its just for 1 month…
Maybe try home cooked meals
boil some chicken breast & some pumkin dont add tooo much pumkin about 1 spoon to a medium size meal mixed with some boiled white rice I put the chicken & pumkin in a blender & munch up then I’d add some rice leave him on this diet for about 1-2 weeks he wont get ill from not being on a proper balanced diet, in such a short time but his stomach & bowel will have a rest for a couple of weeks… you should start to see him getting & feeling better from just feeding him the boiled chicken & rice if he starts to feel & get better, maybe he cant stomach Kibbles or hard kibbles or kibbles too high in fat% ??
I found grainfree kibbles with potato are harder kibbles & if he’s gulping his food he’s probably not chewing the kibble & its sitting in his stomach,
my boy cant stomach real hard kibbles he’s on a vet diet Eukanuba Intestinal Low Residue kibble this digest real easy so easier on the stomach & bowel, when you cook you can freeze little section meals for a fortnight, also have you tried wet tin food instead of kibble…. if you look for a wet tin food try & find one where the fat% is lower around 1-2% fat… Wellness Small Breed makes some lower fat wet foods called Petite Entree’s the mini fillets have less fat at 2% ..there’d be other lower fat wet foods you could try if you didnt want to cook, but it works out cheaper cooking & you know what he’s eating..

What was the fat% in his kibble & bits that he was eating & was he doing good on that or was he sick & had diarrhea on his old kibble, if he was doing good on his old kibble have a look at the protein% & fat% & try & get another kibble with similar amounts of fat% & Protein % & see how he does thats if you want him to stay on a kibble..

With gulping food I only put so much food in bowl at a time..just now Patch had his breakfast boiled chicken & Pumkin so I just add 1 spoon in his bowl put the bowl on the floor then pick up the bowl add another spoon of the mushed up chicken & pumkin tell him to sit put bowl on the floor this way they are slowley eating its time consuming but it stops them gulping air that can cause pain & burps I found….
When he’s starts to gulp I stop feeding him & tell him No eat Slowley, in time he should start to slow down a bit….it slows them down it may take 5mins but you know that they have chewed their food & not swollowed a heap of air..

Have you tried soaking his kibble in water for about 1 min then drain water so the kibble is
a bit soft a good kibble should be soft after soaking for 1-2 mins Kibbles with Potatos are harder.. if he swollows a whole kibble without chewing, its partley digested if its been soaked in water..
thats why soft wet food is better as these kibbles would be just sitting in his stomach whole cause he hasnt chewed them..
I feed chicken & Pumkin for breakfast, for lunch & dinner I do soft kibble 3-4 smaller meals a day is better this way there’s less to digest if he’s gulping all his kibble..

just see if this makes him feel better on a cooked diet for a couple of weeks & more smaller meals a day & give him his pepcid 1/2 hour before a meal, like the vet recommended a day..

[Hildie V]

Are you thinking it isn’t pancreatitis then? I asked my vet about Exocrine Pancreatic Insoffeciency and/or pancreatitis and he said the two blood tests he had taken on separate instances when I had taken her in showed heightened levels of Amylase but that he didn’t think it was EPI or Pancreatitis but that we could take a deeper look if needed. But the symptoms on all the websites are different that the gulping, hard swallowing, licking of the air, occasionally vomiting and eating everything off the floor…

The other thing my girl experiences at times is mucus around her stool like a sausage wrapping. And sometimes the stool is green, or a mix of green with a bit of yellow, or sometimes dark and sticky on the outside (not all the way through)

One time her bum bled after a poo…

I am wondering if this is all liked too. The thing is that it’s all so random and never consistent, could be days apart then not happen for 6 months later.

[beth e]

has anyone been told pancreatitis? we have been thru the gulping swallowing that definitely seems like acid reflux. plus throwing up what looks like oatmeal – hours after a meal. we took our cairn terrier to the vet after weeks of on and off symptoms. our regular vet was not in and the substitute diagnosed it as pancreatitis. said we should leave her for an iv. since she has no problem drinking or eating we said we didn’t feel comfortable leaving her as the stress would far outweigh the benefits of the treatment. so she came home with antibiotics, pepcid and tramadol. chicken and rice diet didn’t go well she’d spit out the rice so we went to chicken and green beans. no kibble since we figured that was the oatmeal like substance she was vomiting.. the other dog eats wellness grain free kibble and some wet wellness chicken. ( and she also did before this all started) they both had a teaspoon of greek yogurt before bedtime. now its nonfat greek yogurt. we are sure stress is a big part of the problem since she is constantly looking out the windows for the cats. tight as a piano string if you touch her. the pancreatitis diagnosis is not keeping with the symptoms. she always has an appetite. she used to drink lots i mean lots of water- at one time we suspected diabetes but tests came back no. but since she is off dry food the water consumption at least the dramatic “got to have it and have it all” has stopped and she drinks normally. today i’m wondering if its the cats and she might be allergic to them. this mornng she had a few coughs and swallows – we went out in the backyard on a leash – she walked all around where they hang out came in and coughed and did the acid reflux gurgling on and off for an hour.

[Susan]

Hi Hildie, My Patch sounds like ur girl, with the stomach problems, he started the gulping & swollowing May 2013 & he was put on Carafate 1 hour before meals & Zantac every 12 hours 45min before meals, I found the carafate didnt work, I stopped the new vet prescription kibble that he was on & he was put on Vet diet Eukanuba Intestinal then again in last Dec- January he got his gulping & swollowing as I was trying another new kibble, so back to the Eukanuba & had to stop new kibble, Fat% was 15% too high & he got real bad diarhea, May this year I started an elimination diet & found he cant eat potatos causes bad diarrhea, itching & rash on chest…

It doesnt matter what he eats cooked foods Kibble, wet tin foods he has the same pain under his front paw, right side, around his rib cage area that he always wants me to rub after eating, I have to burp him like a baby after eating he does a big burp then he feels better..we always go for walks after he eats breakfast lunch & dinner..

Yes you’re right I too have found its the fat if its higher then 12% fat he starts with the gulping also I found if the protein is high he has his gurgling bowel 3am-5am, I found if I give him his Vet prescription diet Eukanuba Intestinal low residue kibble he does not have the swollowing & gulping or the noisey bowel early hours of a morning, the Eukanuba is only 10% fat % 23% protein & kibble breaks up real easy I also soak kibble for around 3 mins then drain the water so if he doesnt chew a few kibbles & has just swollowed them as he gulps his food the kibble is soft & easier to digest, I found when he had cooked chicken & pumkin for dinner he would wake up 2am-5am with his noisey rumbling bowel….
so now I only feed his vet prescription diet Eukanuba Intestinal for dinner last meal 6.30pm & he doesnt not wake up early hours of the morning…
I split his meals 5 small meals a day
Has the vet ever prescribed anything stronger then Pepcid & Pepto Bismol like Prilosec also
called (Losec Omeprazole) … I suffer from GERD & Barrett’s Esophagus & have had the Helicobacter Pylori virus twice now…. I have to take Somac its like Losec, Soamc has really helped with my bad acid reflux especially at nights & early hours of the morning… Vet tried Patch on the Losec but he had a reaction, his gums went white & he was acting drunk or he was dizzy something was wrong after the second day on the Losec, its ashame cause the losec really works for dogs with bad stomach acid reflux..
I have to eat a low fat diet & I found I cant eat meats, chicken & fish is OK but if its beef its just sits in my stomach giving me pain.

I have seen 4 vets now & 3 of the vets wanted Patch on Prednisone (steriod) I wouldnt put him on a steriod as Prednisone can cause stomach problems & ulcers…maybe later if he’s worse but at the moment, touch wood he’s doing OK in the Stoamch/bowel area..

May I ask what foods are you feeding now?? what foods are working & she is better on..

[theBCnut]

My pup didn’t have the licking and gulping with his acid reflux, but my vet gave me a choice between Pepcid and Prilosec. He said Pepsid works faster, but Prilosec has other protective factors which he prefered. He told me to keep Prilosec on hand and if my dog ever had another episode to give it for 5 days. If it cleared up, great. If 5 days didn’t clear it, then it was time to bring him in. Grains did it to him too. Acid reflux is pretty common with food intolerance issues.

[Hildie V]

Hello 🙂 I too have a Boxer who gulps (swallows hard repeatedly), licks the air, licks the floor, tries to eat everything that isn’t nailed into the ground, sometimes throws up. This happens randomly and almost always between 1am and 3am, although sometimes just occasionally it happens during the day.

She has been seen by 6 different vets for this. I have had her tested for almost everything possible. Tests involved: x-ray, barium x-ray, stool sample, extensive stool culture, urine cultures, blood work, autoimmune disorders, megaesophagus… the only thing I have left to do is an endoscopy but that will either turn up negative or show something we already know that we’ve been doing trial therapies on.

At first I was told it may be: acid reflux or tonsilitis. I was told to give her Pepcid AC (fomatidine) and Sulcrate Suspension. This worked for a bit (give 1 hour before or 3 hours after food). I stopped using Pepcid and continued with the Sulcrate when she had an episode. It doesn’t work anymore.

Now, after all these tests she is on her third treatment for Heliobactor, just like someome else here mentioned. She also is on Amoxicillin and Metronidazole, as well as Pepcid and Pepto-Bismol. This is her thrid go-around in four months and she’s still randomly doing this.

I have come to several personal conclusions. Firstly she CANNOT eat grain. The last time she was on a good-streak I made oatmeal cookies for her and she got an episode that night. Secondly, she cannot eat high fat things. Another good streak, I gave her eggs before bed and she got an episode. Another good streak and she snuck into the garbage and ate beef fat strips, got an episode that night. I really believe this is acid reflux. I don’t know what is causing it. I REALLY hope the antibiotics do the trick this time for Heliobactor.

If she has an episode, I know it’s usually 2am but I don’t sleep anyway so I take her for a long walk and you would never know she was having a problem. Until we get home, then it’s back to the gulping. She seeks comfort in me rubbing her belly in a firm was as to burp her.

So…Along with doing whatever it takes from my vet’s suggestions (He is AMAZING) I am also gonig to treat her as if she has acid reflux. No big meals before bed. No eating after 8pm. Multiple smaller meals throughout the day. No more kibble (she has tried every food possible, kibble, dehydrated, raw, fresh homecooked and it doesn’t make a difference). I will stick with a low-fat homemade highly-digestible meal plan and give probiotics (Dr. Peter Dobias) and digestive enzymes (Prozyme). I will keep Pepcid and Pepto Bismol on hand (you can give together).

I am PRAYING that this stops. It is the scariest thing when it happens. She begs to me to help her but there isn’t anything I can do to make it stop.

[Sarah Y]

We found this one to be very helpful for our beagle who inhales her food. We tried a couple of other bowls until we found this one and it definitely improved things. And with goldens having bigger snouts, it might help even more:

[Cassie P]

My dogs name is maybel. She has a clean bill of health and no medical issues besides the occasional gulping air and swallowing. She was abused very badly before we rescued her so I’m sure she may have had trauma with a collar. She always pulled very hard on a leash so we got her a harness to help her. She has done the gulping before and she would eventually throw up. I don’t know why so many of our dogs are having this problem :/ I always keep chewable gas x and pepto bismol here for her and me too. My advise to anyone experiencing a sudden onset if you can’t get to the vet is get some gas x into your dog and some pepto to coat the stomach. Burp your dog while its head is elevated so the air can come up or out the other end. Don’t try to massage the throat like you would a collapsed trachea attack. I’m not a vet but I use to work at one and have rehabilitated animals for over 20 years so I don’t know everything but I do know a lot. 🙂 Also, I don’t exercise my dog after a large meal as it could lead to bloating. Thank you to all that replied! Cassie

• This reply was modified 9 years, 6 months ago by Cassie P.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 6 months ago by Cassie P.

[Cassie P]

Hi, I’m new here and just registered so I could post on this thread even though it’s a couple years old. I have a rescued black lab and I experienced the same thing. Has anyone else noticed hearing bubbles in the throat as they are gulping? Here is what I did to help my baby: she started gulping and swallowing, I brought her to the kitchen gave her a tablespoon of pepto bismol. She’s about 50-60lbs. I then have her a 1/4th chewable gas x and brought her to the chaise lounge with me and I patted her belly for an hour and a half. I patted kinda like burping a baby. She started passing gas-all the air she had swallowed and then she felt better. It was horrible and scary but I didn’t let her see that from me so I did the shhhhh shhhh to her and it helped. I so hope this helps someone else’s dog and sorry for all my run on sentences 🙂 I pray all your dogs feel better!

[Naturella]

I feel you – my husband and I are in college, and a few of the regular posters here are too. We also shop on a budget, but manage to find good deals very often. Pure Balance is good, but if you feed rotational – switch between brands of kibble and between protein types (fish, chicken, beef, lamb, etc.) you can take advantage of good sales. If shopping online is an option, check out http://www.petflow.com , http://www.chewy.com , http://www.wag.com – they all have good sales often. On Petflow, go there at least once/week and type in “trials” in the search bar, it will give you super cheap foods in a “trial” (usually regular smallest) size (4-5lbs) for about $1/lb! It’s a steal! Also, this is a good thread to check out: /forums/topic/coupons/page/15/ It has all kinds of information on coupons and deals! 🙂

As for the natural chews, I put vice grips on Bruno’s bully sticks, cow ears, and fish skins to prevent gulping of big pieces and it works. With the Himalayan chews and antlers, I would take it away when it approaches less than an inch (maybe for your dog, 2 inches will be a good time to take the chew away and replace it). Also, they are good for teeth cleaning.

As for toys, Bruno likes the Nylabone and JW bone-shaped chews. He loves ropes too but he eats them often. He likes the tough Kong products too, I stuff them with doggie ice-cream (homemade), freeze and serve. Or play tug with them. He has a rubber ring we play tug with too. We never have nor will get him squeaky chews, those are evil to humans! LoL. But yeah, more often than not Bruno would prefer his natural chews (antlers are pretty loved in our household), or peacefully gnaw on a JW bone, or bring his Walmart rope to ask me to play tug with. 🙂

[theBCnut]

I get beef and pork ribs from the butcher. I raise my own goats(and now a steer too). I also order from Hare Today and My Pet Carnivore.

Your GSD will chew them up, and then because they are NOT cooked, he will digest the pieces. To start with, you do have to keep a close eye on your dog to make sure they actually gnaw instead of trying to gulp the whole thing, so it is best to start with bones that are really too big for him to even think that he can swallow them. He will learn than he has to eat them instead of gulping. Some people have had to try tricks to slow their dog down, like attaching vise grips, but that isn’t common.

All cooked bones are dangerous. They will definitely splinter. Chewing raw bones will definitely help clean his teeth, though he may prefer to chew on one side more than another and you may have to hold a bone so that he has to chew on the other side. I used to have to do this with one of mine, but somewhere along the way I no longer have to do that.

[Susan]

Hi Karen, I have this problem with Patch, burping after meals & bring food up into his mouth & last year he was vomiting undigested kibble 8 hours after eating it..I also thought it was Mega Esophagus & asked the vet… have you seen the poor dogs that do suffer from Mega Esopagus, how they have to sit in specially made chairs when they eat & some are just pups…poor things..
All the kibbles that I’ve tried so far, I found the Wellness Simple Duck & Oatmeal to be excellent, its a meduim size kibble & it digests easily..Oatmeal & pumkin is excellent for tummy problems & easy to digest..
Holistic Select also made by Wellpet is another easy kibble to digest & easy on their tummys, the kibble is smaller but that is better if they swollow kibble whole, less to break down & digest being a smaller size kibble..
I do a kibble test, I get about 2 kibbles put in a glass of boiling water then I count to 40 then put 1 of the kibbles inbetween 2 teaspoons & push down, a good kibble will crush, a hard kibble will normally go flying out of the spoon & wont crush… kibbles with potato are harder, Ive found to be no good…
I also put his kibble in a bowl then I fill with cold water drain fill again & just soak for about 2-3 mins then drain water again, that way the kibble is just soft but still has its crunch & not all swollen & yuk to eat, I put the kibbles back into the cup & only add 1/4 into his bowl then another 1/4 of kibble that way he’s not gulping to much air..
With Wellness Simple Duck & Oatmeal he hasn’t bought up any kibble when he burps, but when he eats wet tin food it comes up into his mouth with the burp, any cooked foods that he eats comes into his mouth also…so Ive been putting his Tuna & pumkin on dry white bread toast, the toast seems to keep things down…
I think Patches stomach isn’t working properly & his food is just sitting in his stomach some days…How I know his stomach isnt working this morning Patch did his poo & the end of his poo was orange from pumkin & had grass that he ate 3 days ago, I know the last 2 days he has not eaten any grass or pumkin, so its taken 3 days to poo out his food, so I assumed things arent working properly, a lady on a different site recommended “Reglan” its a tablet that you give 1 hour before meals, this helps move the food along when the stomach isnt working properly, helps reflux, burping & nausea in dogs & humans…I’ll have to run it by Patches vet first but I might try him on the Motilium (you have Reglan in America we have Motilium) to see if this will help push his food thru instead of just sitting in his stomach & fermenting some days..
If you want to know if the food is passing thru properly, what I do is one morning for breakfast I will give Tuna & boiled pumkin on dry toast, the next morning I’ll just give wet tin kangaroo food for his breakfast, with the Tuna & Pumkin the poos are orange/brown, then try & work out how long its has taken for ur boy to digest & past that meal & then you’ll have more information to tell ur vet…
I hope this information will help your boy in some way…

[Shelley M]

Hi all, I am a new raw feeder (thanks to reading many many posts on this forum!) and so far my experience has been good…..with one exception……I am the owner of a “gulper” :-\

She is a 13wk old black mouth cur mix. LOVES food of any kind. Currently I am feeding a pre-mixed raw with the addition of RMB (the plan is to eventually switch to PMR and off pre mixed but for now this is what is comfortable for me…..one step at a time LOL)

My question is…exactly how much does she need to chew up the RMBs ? I have given her chicken necks a few times and she bites off chunks and swallows them (I try to hold on to slow her down but it’s not helping much). Even the larger turkey necks are still not chewed up , just bitten off and down the hatch). Are the bones digestible enough to be ok or…..???

Of course I am still in the “omg is this going to send us to the ER” stage so maybe I’m just being paranoid….

[USA]

Hi Liz and Mr Lou!

You have very good instincts and Mr Lou is lucky to have you! And of course you are lucky to have Mr Lou!

The frozen green tripe is an excellent source of digestive enzymes and should eliminate the need for adding digestive enzymes to Mr Lou’s diet. Because he received an antibiotic shot which kills the good as well as the bad bacteria I would add probiotics to help replenish his gut. I use this one from Vitacost and it looks like they deliver to Canada.

http://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-probiotic-15-35-35-billion-cfu-60-vegetarian-capsules-9

Start slowly. Half a capsule every other day added to his largest meal. If everything is Okay after 6 days you can go to 1 capsule a day sprinkled on his food. After a month you can reduce it to 1 capsule every other day if you’d like.

k9choicefoods looks like a good food. I couldn’t find the numbers for Protein and Fat but I like the way they raise their animals and their quality seems outstanding.

I would stay away from kibble for multiple reasons. It is a super processed food that is as far away from raw as you can get. The quality will NEVER come close to the raw food you are feeding Mr Lou and feeding a whole food in it’s natural form without any alterations or processing is the absolute best in my opinion.

The Honest Kitchen uses quality ingredients but their foods are too heavy in carbs for my liking. And with any food that has it’s moisture removed who knows exactly how long it takes to re-hydrate it 100% or if it is even possible to re-hydrate it 100%. I just wouldn’t take the chance if I were you. But if you do use a dry food use very little and re-hydrate at least for 24 hours.

The water you understand so just keep up the GOOD WORK and keep drinking while eating or after exercise to a bare minimum. There is mixed evidence on raised feeders but I tend to agree that if you use raised bowls it will allow more gulping or air so I don’t recommend them.

Sardines contain the fish oil you are looking for in a whole food form which is always better than a supplement. Mr Lou is a big boy so after starting really slow a 3 oz tin (packed in water) once or twice a week should be good. If Mr Lou doesn’t like sardines then 2 fish oil capsules daily should be fine.

For supplementing plain raw meat I would use Steve Brown’s dinner mix and not a dehydrated food like Preference by The Honest Kitchen (carbs and re-hydration again)

Here’s to a healthy and happy life for both Mr Lou and you (it rhymes)!!!!!!!

[Dori]

You should definitely at this point only be feeding him twice a day. You can feed kibble for one meal and wet for the next. He’ll eventually get use to the two meals a day. He also may be gulping his food at dinner time afraid your other dog will get it? Possibility. I have three dogs as I’ve said before. Katie and Lola each eat their meals in their crates with the door shut. Hannah eats her food bowl on the floor between both crates near the water bowl. I have a small area rug on one side of the kitchen counter with the water bowl in the middle and one crate on either side. That insures me that whatever amount I gave to each of them I know that they ate it and not one of the other dogs. Also feeding this way I know if one of them is under the weather and is not eating. It also takes away any anxiety that any may have if they eat a little slower than the others worrying that one of the others will come along and eat their food. NO! Do not spoon feed your dog. YES, your dog is training you to spoon feed it. Unless it’s sick, when your dog is hungry then he’ll eat. If he’s leaving food in the bowl then you’re feeding him too much. They are like people, some meals your hungrier than others but you don’t then have someone spoon feed you the rest and force you to eat it all even after you’re full.

What you’re doing with the water bowl breaks is what I’ve always done when I first get a puppy. I find that otherwise they some times just entertain themselves with drinking water. Not that they are thirsty. Just something to do. Don’t forget that drinking way too much water is also not good for him so until you’ve got the potty training a little more under control then I would continue with the water breaks.

[julie w]

my small chihuahua has been having what appears to be these gulping and swollowing issues with siezures after numerous veterinary tests coming back normal iv been doing some research on the internet and seems its a neurological condition which many people call gulping siezures and the treatment is zonisamide im now going to take this information to my vets and hope this is the cause and treatment http://www.jasonbk.com/2014/02/hiness-gulping-a-cautionary-tale/#comment-105 this is a useful website with information

[crazy4cats]

My dogs get a bully stick once a week. We always secure them in vice grips to ensure they don’t just swallow them. One of my dogs is very bad about gulping. They last a little bit longer than most chew treats we give them. They love them!

[Mom2Cavs]

Hi and welcome! You’ve been given some great ideas for the gulping. The one gulper I had was fixed by a slow down bowl. There are lots more products out now than when he was living that might help, like food puzzles. I would also try adding a probiotic/enzyme supplement first to see if that helps. Nature’s Farmacy offers one that is dissolvable in water called Digestive Enhancer. I order mine from them. So if you’re feeding straight kibble you could add a tiny bit of water and the supplement. Supposedly it doesn’t have a taste….mine take it in their food just fine. There are also other good brands available, too. Most times yogurt isn’t enough. If that doesn’t work after a few weeks, then I’d think about switching foods for your pup. Precise is a decent food (I just bought a bag myself) but just because it worked for your other dog doesn’t mean it’ll work for this pup. All dogs are different. I hope this helps a little. 🙂

[T]

I think both gulping and indigestion could contribute to excessive flatulence (passing gas). Indigestion, food intolerance or some other cause for GI imbalance is likely the biggest factor, though. Especially if the stool is sometimes abnormal.

You might try hand feeding her, one kibble at a time, having her sit and wait in between each bite. This will prevent the gulping and help with self-control and bonding to you. If you try this for a week or so and the gas is still a problem, you might think about trying some different dog foods.

[Shasta220]

Again on the gulping – I wouldn’t worry too much about buying fancy bowls when you could have a DIY version for a fraction of the cost 😉 my guy gets half his meal as treats when we work obedience. I have him work, then give him a few Kibbles as reinforcement. The other half is either in a bowl mixed w his supplements, or stuffed into a kong. 🙂

[Shasta220]

I’m honestly not sure what exactly causes gas. I’m assuming she’s up to date on wormers? Gas is often a sign of worms in pups.

For the gulping: Try putting her daily food into a kong or other treat-toy. I’ve also heard that spreading it out on a big cookie-sheet helps because they have to lick up a few pieces at a time. I even heard one genius idea to put a giant link-chain in the food bowl, so they have to lick through the links!

I know many people use yogurt to help with gas. My boy gets gassy too (like, stay outta the room kinda gas!) sometimes. I have no idea why, but one day when I added a couple teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to his food, the gas disappeared within a day! (If you do the ACV, I’d suggest only 1/4-1/2tsp mixed with at least 1tsp water) Probably just coincidence, though. I’ve also heard of using activated charcoal or chlorophyll – they’re supposed to help with several digestive problems.

[Susan]

My boys gulping started last December, finally Im working out what the problem is, its stomach acid reflux coming into his throat.. he manly was having it early hours of the morning 1am-6am, Ive found kibbles high in fat made him worst, At 8.30pm I give him a dry biscuit a human biscuit then Ive been giving him Zantac (Ranitidine) similar to Pepcid (Famotidine)…at 9pm, I wake him up & give him 1 third of a Zantac, this has helped so much.. I read ur post Bunny how ur giving Sulcrate (Carafate) this must be giving on an empty stomach 1 hour before foods as it coats the stomach & if there’s food in their stomach it will just coat the food, ur better off giving Pepcid or Zantac as this helps settle their acid after they have eaten, the meals before bed make sure they are very low in fats as fats cause stomach acid, I also try to have my dog sleeping with his head higher then his bottom, so he’s sleeping like a human with a small pillow under the head, this way the acid can’t wash into their mouths causing the burning in their throats, everything that u’d do for a human with GERDs, I do for my Patch… Its funny I suffer from GERDs & now Ive rescued a dog with the Gerds….

[First N]

I too have dealt with my 5 year old retriever gulping and swallowing with both of us in a panic as to what was wrong. Thought it was torsion for first attack. X-rays and blood work revealed nothing. Thought maybe he had gotten into something. Vet thought it was esophagitis and acid reflux. Had him on Sucralfate, Prilosec. Wet his kibble and fed 3 smaller meals a day.Seemed to help but then attack would re-occur in 20 days. Vet referred us to specialist. Specialist suspected HELICOBACTER bacterial infection. Endoscope was performed and a couple of tissue samples taken. Tests confirmed quickly that it was Helicobacter. Treatment involved 10 days of “Triple Therapy” with Probiotic supplements. Triple therapy is a Combination of 2 antibiotics: Amoxicillin and Metronidazole with Bismuth Subsalicylate (Pebto Bismol). Tests also showed elevated levels of eosinophils which indicate inflammation in stomach and intestines. Specialist recommended Switching him to food containing a “novel” protein: which is a new protein that he hasn’t eaten before. So far everything is going well, fingers crossed.

This post may or may not help some of you but I hadn’t seen a mention of Helicobacter as being a possible diagnosis. I wish you and your dogs the best. My dog is such a sweet boy. It was worth it to see him not gulp or swallow anymore.

[losul]

Dori there may be a quick way of getting at least some minor info. google maybe how ivermectin is metabolized in the liver, half life of ivermection. Millk thistle and drug interactions, etc.

grapefruit/juice also interferes with certain drugs metabolism.

Wish I had more time to research again. and i have a horrible way of organizing my stuff.

Don’t necessary change your milk thistle protocol because of something i said though, but I would definitely suggest researching it. I thought most vets did suggest waiting a short period of time before starting.

Shawna I don’t think he ever actually coughed before that I’ve ever noticed, I think He actually did once today, I was listening and watching very closely after that application, and I think that’s what it was. A gulping or belching maybe occaisonally. He does seem like he’s been much more of a couch potato lately.

I’m going to call the vet maybe gone awhile.