I have a toy breed who has just turned 6 months old.
He’s fed Wolfworthy kibble, which he loves and has beautiful glossy fur with no scurf, little shedding etc, is full of beans and ‘generally’ has healthy poo. He has gained weight and size appropriately and is very healthy looking. I haven’t changed it because he seems to be thriving on it, other than this one issue (which was there on the kibble his breeder sent him home on as well). He has added probiotics every other day as well, which he gets as a paste on his lickimat.
The problem we’ve been having is that after every meal he shakes/trembles and seems to get reflux. His stomach makes boingy/gurgling noises and he kind of burps up, then chomps/licks then swallows down.
He’s never sick after eating, but he does bring water back if he drinks it quickly then runs around.
His poos are normally really healthy but, oddly, his second poo of the day is often either a bit softer or sometimes loose. The others are all fine though and it is always the second one of the day.
He was a devil for eating everything he could possibly find in the garden, sticks, leaves, berries etc, so we thought he may be upsetting his digestive system if he managed to scarf something he shouldn’t, but now he has a strong, leave and drop and has lost interest in eating everything in sight so I doubt it is that.
It definitely got worse when I moved him onto three meals a day, so he’s currently on four smaller meals. I also noticed it was worse if he ate from his bowl instead of his snuffle mat or treat ball, so we have stopped putting it in a bowl for him and I have ordered a green feeder and slow bowl to add to his feeding options. I think this might be because it slows him down, as he did tend to snaffle his bowlful down really quickly. Some days are definitely worse than others. After we ditched his bowl we didn’t see any reflux like symptoms for a week or two, but now it’s back, despite the slower feeding methods.
He did go onto white fish, brown rice and quinoa for a few days after he upset his stomach eating ‘garden treasure’ and we noticed that he didn’t get reflux or do the shaking thing while he was on it. The quantities were smaller than the kibble though, as he was on little and often - ie literally just a small spoonful of each several times a day.
Today has been dreadful, he’s only been fed from his treat ball and snuffle mat, but every meal has left him shaking and climbing on my knee for comfort. After his breakfast and lunch he climbed on my knee, sat there shaking, then fell asleep for two hours each time. And he has spent most of the day glued to my side, so he’s clearly not happy. This is out of character, as even on a bad day the reflux only lasts a short time before he’s off and full of beans again.
I have a vet appointment at the end of this week (earliest I could get an appointment) to discuss it, but was wondering if anyone else has experienced a dog with reflux and if they ever got to the bottom of it.
It does seem to be getting worse and my biggest worry is a possible hernia. He is very different than his siblings, who are much more confident and outgoing than he is. He’s quite an anxious little chap who needs very careful, sensitive handling. We always assumed that was just who he is, but now I can’t help wondering if it’s stomach pain that’s underlying some of that. I may be over-sympathising, as I currently have a stomach ulcer myself and I dread to think that he may have been in that sort of pain without us knowing.