Post GDV complications....acid reflux/gas?

[JenRose]

So very worried about my girl. 4 year old Lab. Adopted from local pound in October 2010…she was hw+ and had a litter of pups. They were going to put momma down since pups were weaned. Breezed through heartworm treatment and has been healthy since Dec 2010. Always been a vigorous eater but no more so than my other rescue Lab. Was eating 2 cups of Taste of the Wild dry food once per day.

She bloated after her normal supper and had an emergency GDV surgery with a pexy on November 4th (a bit over 2 weeks ago). This new behavior started on Saturday. Went to the emergency vet, xrays showed she was extra gassy. Appeared stomach was in place and pexy was holding. Sedated her and passed a tube to relieve gas. Put her back on Iams Veterinary Intestinal Diet gruel…we had worked up to 1/2 can of wet and 1 cup dry food twice daily.

Video taken last night here… If you crank up the volume you can hear the noises she makes.

This poor dog is MISERABLE!!! Anyone have any similar experience after a GDV repair? Any advice?? As of Saturday she is back on Metronitazole (sp?? it is an antibiotic) and we started prilosec and sucralfate. She is also epileptic but thankfully it is well controlled on phenobarb and hasn’t had any seizures despite the added stress of the GI issues.

[Horsegal984]

I would talk to your vet about adding in some Simethicone for anti-gas. TOTE has soooo much less grain I wouldnt be suprised if the grain in the Iams is just making her extra gassy.

At two weeks out all the GDV’s I’ve worked with had been back on their regualr diet, so I would talk to them about feeding small amount of TOTW, Simethicone, and maybe changing to Zantac as opposed to Prilosec since Zantac has a SLIGHT affect on increasing GI mibility and may help the gas move through.

Katherine
Vet Tech

[SquishTheBunny]

Just have to say, your dog is ADORABLE!!! Love her!

Show your vet this video. They may want to play around with some different antacids.

Is there any chance this could be unrelated to the GDV? Im not suggesting it isnt, but those symptons look awful familliar to a dog we just had in for an esophogeal foreign body (which passed, but causes some esophagitis).

Poor girl, I really hope you can figure out how to make her better,she looks so sad

[Houndhill]

Years ago when I had a wolfhound with GDV who had surgery at Cornell, they had me feed him only canned dog food for the rest of his life. He did well on that diet for years and eventually died of something else…Perhaps your dog could more easily digest canned food? You can get grain free canned nowadays.

That Purdue bloat study found that the greater the percentage of dry dog food in the diet, the greater the chances of bloat. It didn’t matter if the dry food was moistened or soaked. The greater the percentage of canned food or other food in the diet, the less the risk of bloat.

That study had other conclusions that are controversial or that seem counterintuitive, and I do still feed some dry dog food to my guys. Don’t have the reference offhand, but L. Glickman was one of the authors.

GDV is so scary! Glad your girl pulled through.

[Houndhill]

Forgot to say too, perhaps splitting the feedings and feeding her two or three smaller meals might be easier to digest? They had me feed my guy three times a day, and I do feed our adults twice a day, that was also in the Glickman study.

[Houndhill]

JenRose, how is she doing?

Hope things are better…just occurred to me, the surgery back then was different, hence the food rec might be different. I think they enlarged the opening from his pyloric valve to stomach, and somehow anchored the stomach, or tried to, but it was not the pexy that is done now.

Also, just want to clarify, the recommendation to feed less dry dog food vs canned or other sources to lessen bloat chances, applies to dogs who might be prone to bloat for other reasons, genetic or conformational. I have no doubt most dogs would do fine in a diet of only dry dog food, if they had no factors that might otherwise predispose them to bloat.

[JenRose]

Still not doing good. Since my first post, she has started vomitting along with the gagging/belching/stretching behavior. She is throwing up at least 3 times per day. My vet is wanting to refer us to LSU vet school for more tests (4 hours away) if we don’t see improvement soon. Stopped metronitazole because I thought she was vomitting after her dose of that but not after her small portion of food + sucralfate. Vet ok’d it but my theory was proven wrong this afternoon. I started her back on canned TOTW instead of the Iams but am not seeing an improvement. Trying to not completely freak and give meds time to work. Took her to the vet this afternoon hoping she would have an episode while we were there (fed her up there) but she didn’t. Has thrown up twice since being home. Trying to limit water and exercise to help keep food down. I am going to take her to the vet in the morning and ask them to observe her all day with the multiple small feedings, giving meds, etc.

I need ulcer meds too at this point…:no:

[SquishTheBunny]

Awww Im so sorry Sounds like you are a great mom. Its probably worth the drive to LSU, at least they have all the diagnostic tools there.

Between the episodes,is she normal?

[JenRose]

Thanks Squish. Yes, 100% normal between episodes. Big momma is a trooper that is for sure…when I rushed her to the vet after her bloat, the vets were amazed that the dog wagging her tail and licking their hands as they palpated her stomach was the same dog with the insane xrays that showed she needed emergency surgery.

[cowboymom]

I hope she improves soon-you’re doing a good job by her.

[Houndhill]

Oh I am So sorry she is having such a hard time of it…please keep us posted as you can.

I know that GDV can take such a toll on the stomach and whole GI tract as far as function and motility.

Fingers crossed! I know it rips your guts out too!!

[JenRose]

Thanks everyone. She is back at the local vet today for a barium study and obervation. Not really keeping anything down. Insanely thirsty…have been offering small amounts of water but she will try to sneak off and gulp water from the toilet (if inside) or horse trough (if outside) then throw it all back up. They are going to give her fluids too as I feel like she is dehydrated.

[hitchinmygetalong]

So sorry to hear your pup is having such troubles. I don’t have anything to add other than best wishes that they figure out what the problem is and she’s back home healthy and happy soon!

[SquishTheBunny]

Poor girl. Please keep us posted on how she does, Im jingling as hard as I can for her!!

[JenRose]

Thanks for the jingles…please keep them coming for my big girl.

They decided to an exploratory surgery after the barium study on Wednesday. Found a couple of small pieces of 2 toys (like not even as big as a quarter) and some grass. I personally didn’t think that was the problem but the vets were hopeful. I was to give her IV fluids only Wed pm and Thurs and start introducing small amounts of water Friday pm. She immediately started throwing up again after getting the water. Took her back to the vet on Saturday and she has been there since on an IV pump that delivers her meds and fluids round the clock at a steady rate. Did really good Saturday and they fed her small amounts several times. But she vomitted in the night and has been vomitting today. A few more tests tomorrow and then possibly a feeding tube and visit to a specialist if the test don’t show anything.

[JenRose]

Another update…

They did another barium study this morning with a focus on the esophagus and it showed she has megaesophagus. :(:(

The barium is not even making it into her stomach (but it did during the barium study done the day before Thanksgiving). Nevertheless, they are putting in a temporary feeding tube (in her side) today. Doing tests for Myasthenia Gravis, Addison’s and thyroid issues today and calling vet schools to go over her case. The owner of the clinic (senior vet) is concerned that this somehow may have to do with the pexy that was put in during her GDV surgery. The other vets feel like the megaesophagus caused the bloat. Just hope to have a working treatment plan soon.

My good girl is an all star patient and was giving out barium flavored kisses this morning as she lay on the xray table for over an hour. She loves being at the clinic and everyone loves her. Gotta love that Lab personality!

[Houndhill]

Hmm, wonder if the GDV caused the mega, the mega the GDV, or something else caused both?

Seems kind of an odd age to develop megaesophagus… I’ve had it congenital in puppies, and acquired in a ten year old, but a four year old?! Seems odd.

Mine have done variably…they will tell you to feed a gruel, but some dogs actually do better with a raw diet, you will just have to experiment. They must sometimes be fed on a counter or stairs, and be elevated after they eat so gravity helps the food go down. Reglan helped too. But regurgitation became a way of life, just had to manage it and try to keep the dogs weight up and watch for aspiration pneumonia.

I’m sorry for this diagnosis, it is not good news…you might also have to either keep her on antibiotics, or watch carefully for signs of aspiration pneumonia and be prepared with antibiotics on hand to treat immediately. Know the signs…fever, inappetance, standing with head hyperextended…you’ve got to jump on it.

Some dogs do well with this and live for many years, others do not.

I’ve done the tests for myasthenia gravis too, never had one come up with that.

Yes I wonder what is really going on with your girl…I mean, where did this come from as it does seem strange?

[SquishTheBunny]

Im so sorry!!!

Megaesophagus can be a contributing factor to a GDV. I have a lab x that had megaesophagus diagnosed at age 5. She actually did ok on ranitadine and metaclopramide and eventually she somehow just learned to deal with it. She regurgitates frequently (especially with water, she does better with big kibble chunks), but doesnt actually vomit (which to my understanding isnt a symptom of megaesphagus, but regurgitating is).

We elevate her food, and when she is having a rough week I hold her “standing up” for 15 minutes after her meal. She is taught to lay still (on a couch or bed) for another 30 min or so after her meal.

We also routinely see a golden retriever that has a horrible megaesophagus. He has a PEG tube, and has to wear a muzzle because even a drink of water causes him to regurgitate and aspirate. I hope your pup isnt this bad

MG is horrible, please test for this- I have seen a few + dogs and it can happen at any age.

I would find it very strange for her to be “vomiting” hours after a meal if her only issue was megaesophagus…that just seems unconventional. But, sounds like she is getting great vet care. I’d still seek out the specialist.

Good luck with her!!!

[JenRose]

The peg tube is a godsend! It was put in Monday pm…tone of stomach, intestines all looked great during the surgery. She recovered well and I got to take her home Monday night. Brought her back to the clinc yesterday am for fluids and observation. We started using the feeding tube yesterday afternoon and she has now had 6 - 60ml “meals” and is doing fabulously!!

We did get her thyroid test back today and she IS hypothyroid (so am I…:o). Still waiting on the MG test and a few others.

Starting liquid thyroid meds and phenobarbitol (has been epileptic but well controlled with oral meds for 6+ months) via the tube today.

Hoping that in the coming weeks, the peg tube will come out as we learn to manage the MegaE. At this point I have more hope than I have had in weeks. Am in complete awe of my happy Labby girl who bounces into the clinic each day and has been a total champ through this whole process.

@Squish - I think that was my mistake calling it vomitting when it was regurg. Just didn’t realize food, etc could sit in esophagus for several hours before coming back up. Does the golden have a permanent peg tube?

Am I right in that once a dog has MegaE it will not get better??? They are hoping that she has a combo of esophagitis from surgeries, etc and megaesophagus and with time the megaE will be manageable. But she didn’t respond to normal esophagitis meds…sucralfate, omeprazole, metoclopramide.

[Houndhill]

Jenrose, I’ve known dogs megaE dogs who have improved, especially when their owners figure out what exact combination of management techniques works for their particular dog. With your girl, I would think there is even more reason to hope for improvement, as she heals from all the surgical “insult”, which can take some time. Now that the peg tube is in and she isn’t constantly regurgitating, perhaps things will heal, and the thyroid meeds may help too.

You can’t help but root for such a brave and optimistic soul! The MegaE dogs that I knew seemed to have a good quality of life and some lived for years. Mine never seemed to mind regurgitating, it did not seem to be uncomfortable for them to do so and, sorry if this grosses people out, they usually happily and immediately re-injested things, you know how dogs are! I think they enjoyed the extra attention they got.