[Ashley D]

So I took my Magnus (almost 2 year old boxer) to the vet today. He had been perfectly fine until about 1pm after our groomer left. He burped up this brown, awe full smelling liquid and had been trying to lick and eat everything he could get his paws on. He was sitting there, swallowing, lapping, licking for about an hour when the whining started. The vet didn’t necessarily diagnose him with anything…she just told me it wasn’t bloat and didn’t seem like an obstruction. She gave him a cerenia injection and sent me home with instructions to feed him a bland diet for a few days. We got home and he was better, for about four hours. Now, more than 12 hours later, he is sleeping. But he has been waking up all night to these episode of frantic licking/swallowing/lapping/gulping.

My vet seems to think his food might be too rich for him, and suggested I look for a grain inclusive, low fat, lower protein food. Switching my dogs’ food is always so overwhelming and stressful, because I want to make a good responsible choice for their wellbeing, and not just pick whatever popular food is out there.

Any suggestions on a good quality, grain inclusive, low fat, low protein dry kibble? It has to be dry for a couple reasons. 1) he is 70 lbs and I think I would go broke feeding him raw, freeze dried, or wet fooods. 2) he has a tendency to scarf his food down. I’ve tried slow feeders, but he outsmarts them every time…so I hand feed him, like a bird to ensure that he chews and takes his time eating.

Thanks in advance,

Ashley (a concerned, sleep deprived dog mom)

[anonymous]

https://www.gofromm.com/fromm-family-classic-adult-dog-food

PS: If the symptoms continue, ask your vet if it could be neurological, in example seizure activity of some sort?

[anonymous]

Make sure your dog is drinking water. I would add a little to her dry food she will have to lap it up to get to the kibble.

[Ashley D]

Anon,

Thanks for the response! I will check out the food! He has been drinking, but I need to slow him down because when he normally drinks, he tries to chug, then it exacerbated the issue at hand.

Also, thanks for adding the thing about possible neurological issues. On my long list of things this could be, I was wondering if it could be neurological as well.

His symptoms don’t really match with anything else because he isn’t throwing up, or even attempting to throw up.

[anonymous]

Let’s hope it’s acute rather than chronic, maybe he got into something toxic?

Did he receive oral or topical flea/tick medication recently? Seresto collar?

See how he looks 10 days from now. But I would leave a message for your vet to call you back and discuss if he continues to be sick

Example /forums/topic/4-year-old-chihuahua-jack-russel-mix-and-seizures/#post-120430

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by anonymous.

[anonymous]

Another example per the search engine

/forums/topic/dog-ravenously-licking-floors-carpets/#post-120250

And /forums/topic/dog-ravenously-licking-floors-carpets/#post-120312

[joanne l]

What brand of dog food are you using? And how long has he been on it? Sounds like something is upsetting his stomach. If this continues I would call the vet and ask if a ultra sound of the stomach would be necessary.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by joanne l.

[Patricia A]

Ashley your boxer has never exhibited this behavior before and has been doing fine with his food ? Is it possible it is connected to the groomer visit since it started then? Meaning swallowing medicated shampoo or anything else you know groomer uses on him? Just a long shot but strange this started after visit and was fine before.

[Ashley D]

Joanne,

I have my dogs on Merrick, large breed chicken formula. Arlo (my Weimaraner/pibble mix, has been on it since he was 8 weeks old (well the puppy formulae, then we transitioned him to the adult food). We just adopted Magnus in December 2018, and we gradually switched him over to it since Arlo was doing really well on it. I agree though, something is upsetting his stomach. This has happened twice now, and I cannot seem to figure out the triggers. My vet suggested trying him on a grain inclusive food, because grain free foods tend to be richer. She suggested something lower in protein and fat.

Patricia,

For the last 8 months he has had no issues on the food we feed him. His episode wasn’t anything with the groomer. She was only here to cut my other dog’s nails (because he Doesn’t let me do them). So there would have been nothing for him to ingest. This type of thing happened once before in the middle of the night and woke him from a deep sleep.

[anonymous]

Well, you know the answer. More testing is needed to make a diagnosis. I would go to different vet in your area and get another opinion. Better yet consider consulting an internal medicine specialist or a neurologist, whichever the vet that examined him thinks would be best.
Also if you can video the symptoms when they occur on a camera phone or something to show the vet it would be helpful.

I would stop focusing on the food as it may have nothing to do with causing these attacks.

Also, be careful about taking advice that you get on the internet and forums. You will have better luck listening to a vet that has actually examined the dog and knows his history.

As you can see from the links I provided, people sometimes go around and around and often get nowhere. It can really add to the confusion.

[Ashley D]

Anon,

I do not to anything for my dogs without researching (quite intensively) then discussing with their vet to help make the final decisions. A good example is when my dog Indiana, who has since passed, was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. I researched alternative therapies that could be administered in conjunction with his oral chemo treatments, discussed them with the vet and the oncologist, and we decided on a few to try. I got a wonderful extra four months with my boy. He was happy, and loving life for just a little longer, until he told us it was time.

I don’t think it is a good idea to stop focusing on the food since it is what my vet suggested we do to see if it helps Magnus’ episodes. It is the whole reason for my post. Yes, we don’t really know what is going on, and I will likely have to take him for an esophagoscopy…but if there is a chance his episodes could be alleviated by switching him to a lower protein, low fat diet, I am sure going to try.

[joanne l]

Ashley I agree with you that is why I am asking you what brand do you feed now and what protein is in it? To see if there is something in that food that is causing it, because it sounds like he is nauseated.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by joanne l.

[Susan]

Hi Ashley,
sounds like he had bad acid reflux, what he had eaten for breakfast was still in stomach not digested properly & it would of smelt awful so imagine the taste when he brought it up, you should of let him eat some grass not much about 1 mins worth or gave 1 piece of very brown dry toast. .. or give ant acid med Zantac/Pepcid, or 5ml liquid Mylanta would of relieved discomfort straight away…
Why Magnus wanted to eat & eat was to take away the acid taste in his throat & the bad taste after vomiting acid & undigested food that came up his esophagus, bad acid reflux can cause stomach ulcers, burn throat/esophagus & wind pipe when bad..
Next time this happens do you have liquid Mylanta, get small bottle keep in the fridge give him 5mls in a 20ml syringe this helps straight away, then after 20-30mins give him a few plain dry biscuits, or white breed made into toast cut in pieces, or buy Slippery Elm Powder make into a slurry..
Put 1/2 a teaspoon slippery Elm powder in a cup, boil the jug, then slowly add boiling water & stir quickly till you make a slurry, don’t make it too thick cause you need to pull up into a syringe.. you make it thin but not too thin or thick, you don’t make a paste…
Give Slippery Elm Slurry when dog has nausea, has just vomited to line his esophagus & stomach, when he’s mouth licking, swallowing, has upset stomach or diarrhea..

With kibble you don’t want Protein % too low under 25% as the carb % goes up when protein & fat is low low.. High carbs can cause acid reflux as well.. I feed 25% + Protein, 13% max -Fat & Fiber-5% max, Carbs -30% & under.

Have a look at “Wellness Core Large Breed Adult” Patch does really well on Wellness Core L/B & Canidae Pure Wild formula’s for his Acid reflux…
https://www.wellnesspetfood.com/natural-dog-food/product-catalog/core-large-breed-large-breed
Wellness have their “Wellness Simple” formula’s, Patch did well on the Simple Turkey & Potato kibble, I have found Patch does best on Potato Grain Free diets for his acid reflux you just have to work out what agrees best with your dog
Also be careful with Omega Oils, Fish Oil, Salmon, Oil, Coconut Oil, Linseed Oil these oils can cause acid reflux, same with high fiber diets, some of the low fat weight management kibbles are high in fiber low in fat.. make sure you check the fiber stay under 6%
also High Kcals kibbles are very dense & harder to digest, so stay under 370Kcals per cup

also feed 3-4 smaller meals a day, so his stomach isn’t empty too long
I feed 7am, 12pm, 5pm & a very small meal 7-8pm-1/4 a cup kibble..

Here’s the Wellness range, its often on special this is when I buy it, when I have my 25% off voucher.

For Dogs

Here’s the” Acid Reflux in dogs” F/B group, Acid Reflux is very common in dogs, my vet said she see at least 1-2 cases a week, owners don’t know what wrong or happening with their dog.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1635198406751056/

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