[Michelle P]

@Susan
I just wanted to give you an update on Oscar. Bloodwork was done. ALT was a tiny bit above normal and Calcium was also a tiny bit above normal. During all this, I’ve always asked the vets to sedate Oscar to properly look in his mouth. FYI, he turns in Cujo at the vet office.
Bile acid and PTH/ionized calcium were done. Bile acid was over the high normal range. He’s now on Zentonil for the liver. We asked if we caught it early enough and was told yes, very early. The PTH/ionized calcium were elevated. PTH (normal 0.5-5.8) is 3.98 and Ionized calcium (normal 1.25-1.45) is 1.47. He has been diagnosed with mild hypercalcemia. If the ionized calcium elevates the diagnosis will be primary hyperparathyroidism. Will be rechecking in August. The next step would be ultrasound and surgery to remove the parathyroid gland/s.
Oscar was still gulping/smacking/swallowing more and more and having funky breath. A prior vet insisted I do an endoscopy as she was certain it had to do with his GI. I was positive it was his teeth because of the symptoms. She said she looked at them and they were fine. Oscar was muzzled for the vet to examine him. Yeah, right she could examine his teeth properly.
I made an appt. to have his teeth looked at with our current vet. Yup, that’s the problem. He had 4 teeth removed as they were fractured at the root. This also happened last August and he had 4 teeth removed then (by another vet but didn’t do x-rays). We just thought it was from chewing on a knuckle bone. Our current vet has a dental x-ray machine and showed me his poor little teeth. It’s because of the hypercalcemia.
He has his teeth extracted on Wednesday and his gulping thing has disappeared by 98%. He used to hack a lot to, even after drinking water or getting excited. That’s gone too.
I look forward to the future and enjoying many years with my wonderful Poochie.
Thank you for your advice and help. 🙂
I will update you after the next round of blood work is done.

[Michelle P]

Thank You Susan. I hope everything will work out with Patch. Hubby and I didn’t have children. Everyone knows Oscar is my furbaby and means the world to me. People get a chuckle when I call him Son. I’m glad I met you on here. Your information about all of this has been very helpful knowing I’m not mad thinking my poochie is sick. I paid $55 for a 30 day supply of Nexium 20mg, which I cut in half. That I had to go to a pharmacy for. Here, they charge a dispensing fee as well. So, the meds were only $45. The 10 day supply of the Baytril and Metronidazole came to $33 together. I hope by Sunday I will see a big enough change.

[Michelle P]

Anon101,
I’m not sure where you are reading that I’ve been giving my dog OTC meds without the advice of my Vet? The only OTC med I gave WITH my vet’s recommendation was the Zantac. The other 3 medications he’s currently on (nexium, baytril and metronidazole) can only be prescribed by a vet. Not sure where you live but in Canada, prescriptions are needed for the 3 meds he’s currently on. As of right now, he’s reacting fine to the meds. I am with him 24/7 and will know if something isn’t right. Trust me, I’ve asked the vet and watched Youtube about the pill thing. If you knew my dog, you’d understand why I might ask others for advice.
Thanks

[Michelle P]

I will phone the vet on Monday when he’s back in and let him know I’d prefer a 21 days of the meds. He said he should be feeling better by Sunday. I will continue with the Nexium too. I will see the vet on Thursday for a follow up. I totally forgot about asking about the omeprazole but will when I talk to him on Monday. I already see a difference in Oscar. Last night was a good night compared to previous nights. What time of the day do you give Patch the omeprazole? The 1st day I gave it to him was 1pm (after I got the prescription) and noticed come 3am he was gulping/swallowing. The next day I gave it to him at dinner time and noticed the gulps didn’t start till about 7am. Last night he only gave a couple hacks (11:40pm & 5:30am) and a gulp/swallow at 9am.
Let’s hope today/night is better.

[Michelle P]

Hi Susan,
The vet put him on Metronidazole and Baytril for 10 days. He said I should see an improvement on the weekend. How do you manage to give your boy the metronidazole? I try everything and once Mr. Fancy pants of mine gets a tiny taste of it, he won’t take it.
It says it has 1.2% fat on the 14oz can of Weruva Funky Chunky. Oscar has a pillow he sleeps on and the head area is higher and if he’s not on that, he actually sleeps like a human with his head on the pillow. LOL. I will update the end of the weekend with what’s going on. Your help has been wonderful.

[Michelle P]

Thank You All for your advice. I have never self medicated my dog. Only what the vet recommends. The vet said the Nexium brand was better (and much more expensive) than a generic for this situation. I take him in this afternoon and will be bring my journal and questions I have. This morning, the diaherra is back. I will be taking a urine and feces sample with me.
I demanded May 2, x-rays to be done as he was originally diagnosed with Congestive Heart Disease and a Grade III Heart Murmur March 30 without x-rays. He’s negative for that but was told he had mild collapsing trachea. Upper airway irritation or infection as an exacerbating problem may be considered. An esophogram was done at the same time and was good. Was prescribed hycodan for cough and clavaseptin. I didn’t see a difference. 5 years ago, xrays were done as Oscar was hacking back then. Vet prescribed cephalexin and it went away but of course has come back.
I just bought Weruva Funky Chunky wet food. I will be giving that to him for his next meal. I’ll be mixing some rice and boiled chicken with it, or should I just give the Funky Chunky? I may stop to buy the other Weruva flavours you mentioned.
Like I mentioned in my prior post, Oscar only starts this gulping/swallowing/hacking when he’s laying down or during the night when he’s sleeping. This morning (3:30am) he did a hack and then leaned his head over the bed. Not sure if that makes him feel better.
I’ll do what I can to make sure my baby lives the rest of his life comfortably. Since May 2, he has lost .6lbs. He weighed 18.6 and now he weighs 17.8 which I think is a great weight for him.
Fingers crossed I’ll be getting to the bottom of this…..SOON. 🙂

[Michelle P]

I have a 13yr old Shih Tzu X, Oscar. Up until 1.5 years ago, he was full of vinegar and acted like he was 2. He is white/biscuit colour and never had dark eye staining or staining on his muzzle. He also started the gulping/swallowing/hacking around the same time. The vets never thought there was anything wrong. I just wasn’t convinced that the staining was natural if he never had it before. I put him on Merrick Limited Ingredient kibble and wet food. It helped the staining a bit but not the gulping.
In January, the vet recommended to put him on RC Hypoallergenic Kibble. No change, I think it made it worse. We put him back on Merrick. Since mid April, his gulping/swallowing/hacking is happening more and more often. May 18, we took him to a vet (ours wasn’t available) and suggested we give him Zantac 10mg 2X daily. By May 21, the diaherra was horrible. It was pure liquid. So, we rush him to the vet on the Sunday (same clinic that suggested to give him Zantac, but different vet) and he gives us Metronidazole 250mg every 12hrs and Hills Prescription ID Chicken Stew. After a couple days he was getting better and the gulping thing was happening less. Oscar was sleeping better throughout the night. May 25, we took him to our vet for a check to make sure all is going well. He told us to stop giving him the meds as his poop had firmed up and told us to feed Oscar RC Gastrointestinal kibble. I have it to him for dinner with the ID wet stew. 2 hours later the gulping/swallowing/hacking returns to how it was prior to the metronidazole. I stopped giving him the kibble. I took Oscar back and told the vet and showed many videos of what he does. He thinks it’s acid reflux and prescribes Nexium 20mg, giving 1/2 pill daily. Last night and during the night was awful. Every 2-2.5hrs he was having the gulping thing. It only happens when he’s laying down or sleeping. He has never vomited, until this morning. It was a foamy, very pale yellow bile.
I called the vet this morning and have to take him back tomorrow afternoon. So, I’m thinking now he may have IBD as the Metronidazole was starting to clear up his symptoms. I read it can take up to 5-7 days for the meds to totally kick in. I keep a journal and was reading back on my notes and thinking he should be back on the Metronidazole. I have been feeding him boiled chicken, rice with 1/4 can of the ID wet stew 2-3X daily. I prepare his food 3X a day but he doesn’t always eat but does 2X daily. He drinks water and has normal bowel movements.
Does anyone have some advice? Could I be on to something? If it is IBD, will the Nexium even help? Is there anything I can give him tonight to help with the gulping/swallowing/hacking?

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