[Daisy D]

Jumping in on this thread too.
Almost-7-year-old French Bulldog female, mild allergies, anxious nature, fed Ziwipeak lamb for about 5 years.
Acid reflux symptoms since November last year. Abdominal ultrasound clear, fecal test clear. No blood work or endoscopy done yet.
She’s tried ranitidine and Omeprazole – along with metronidazole, as aswell as the reflux problems, she started straining to poop/not pooping regularly, and were loose. Went off her food almost totally, only taken small amounts of cooked chicken.
She had a terrible time January as got an eye ulcer NYE, which meant multiple vet strips and she extremely phobic, couldn’t tell if any antacid meds were working as she was super stressed her body just kind of went “arghhh”.
Since the eye ulcer started healing (finally) she was perking up a bit on no medication (just a bland diet of chicken and sweet potato). then she relapsed with the GERD symptoms again, so we tried her on omeprazole once more as didn’t feel we’d given it a fair shot in the midst of her multiple problems. She perked up on it after a day, and we had a solid good week, her appetite returned, and she was more waggy and happy. She was also on metronidazole this whole time – which stopped last Friday. On Sunday she spent the whole day, 7 hours shaking with nausea and gulping. Next day she was OK, but again today we got up and she was shaking, panting, gulping hard.
She’s calmed down midday, slept, then woken up again gulping and licking. She’s now sleeping on and off.
My vet is great but only works 3 half days a week – nightmare. I spoke to a different vet at the practice on the phone who is putting up more metronidazole as she figures it’s the only thing that’s changed recently.
Really feels like we’re going backwards – should I be requesting an endoscopy? She is so vet phobic it’s a real concern to put her under general anesthetic, as well as being bracycephalic.

Our problems are spanning three months now, but before this she had regurgitation problems, would throw up water after drinking too quickly/ throw up if excited etc. She’s a very anxious dog and since being ill this time around her separation anxiety has got quite bad and i’ not able to leave her alone for long at all, which i’m sure is adding to it. Even when i’m home she’s panicy at the smallest sounds, and when walking she’s so unsettled, looking this way and that constantly.

[Daisy D]

Hi RebeccaRose, and Susan, thank you both for sharing your experiences. I came across this post while doing my own research into what is happening with my own dog. My almost-7-year-old female French Bulldog has always been what I would describe as a sicky dog. She has always regurgitated water if she drinks too fast, too much – and would often regurgitate food too.

I tried her on a RAW diet which didn’t suit her, she would regurgitate after every meal. We settled on Ziwipeak lamb which suited her well for years. November last year her vomiting and regurgitating increased to daily episodes, along with some mild exercise intolerance, and also increased coughing.

She’s always had a wet cough on and off since I got her aged 1. Vets did all sorts of tests and couldn’t find out what it was from, it lead to her having soft palette surgery and her tonsils out, she’s also been on various antihistamines and more recently appoquel for allergies, assuming it’s from allergies.

I’m wondering if she’s actually had this GERD problem the whole time. My vets suspected GERD last November as Roxy’s had vomited bile unexpectedly (and through her nose) on three occasions in the morning, a few weeks apart. They put her on Zantac and metronidazole but she unfortunately got an eye ulcer NYE which caused her lots of pain and stress, (she’s highly vet phobic).

IT seemed like nothing was working, she would be lethargic, and clearly feeling sick every day – often running about desperately wanting to eat grass. Squeely sounding stomach, not eating etc. Sometimes would vomit, but mostly the hard gulping coughing and gagging – when it was really bad she would shake for around 6 hours at a time.

The vet did an abdominal ultra sound, everything was clear apart from slightly enlarged spleen (they say common with the sedatives). She was also clear for a fecal test.

We haven’t done blood tests as my vet thinks they would be a waste of money – should we consider this? Everything is telling me she will need the endoscopy and biopsies, but am so worried to put her under general anesthetic being a brachycephalic breed and vet phobic to the point it makes her ill.

Two weeks ago the vet prescribed Omeprazole and she was doing great on it, got her appetite back and was waggy again. They kept her on the metronidazole too while her eye ulcer was healing so as not to change too much as once. But this finished on Friday. On Sunday she relapsed and spent the whole day and night shaking, feeling awful.

She picked up the next day and was back to her ‘almost’ usual self, but then today she woke up and I knew she was going to be ill – she’s been shaking and panting since this morning, but is just sleeping quietly now.

MY vet is great, but only works three half days a week at the practice, meaning I sometimes have to wait days to get her on the phone. Today I spoke over the phone to a difference vet who would like to put her back on the metronidazole as it’s the only thing that’s changed since she was doing OK. I pick it up later. Roxy has always been a really anxious dog, and her separation anxiety has got worse since she’s been sick – and i’m sure when she’s been under stress it’s making the nausea worse too.

I’m very aware that both metronidazole and omeprazole are not great long-term options, should I be pushing for a referral for the endoscopy?

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