Question Details
Reflux In A Dog
by cellohood - November 2, 2016    View Case Report
Time to go back to the drawing board with Patchy! She's now a 16 yr old GSHP mix, F/S with a history of ataxia, chronic kidney disease & pancreatitis & cutaneous mast cell tumors. Her kidney disease improved from Stage III to Stage II & her pancreatitis kept in check on a combination of Xiao Chai Hu Tang & Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang; we added San Ren Tang this past summer as well.
The current problem is suspected reflux or regurgitation; she's lost a pound in the last month even though her appetite is fairly good. She's on metoclopramide & sulcrate. She typically does better on herbs then conventional meds but I'm at a loss as what to turn to next. Her pulses are wiry, her tongue is pale pink. She has some traits of a blood deficiency but I think she's may have a Triple Heater obstruction. She had a syncopal episode last week. Her recent labs show her spec & alp are rising again but her kidney values remain stable. And, she's urinary incontinent to boot.
I sense that we are running out of Qi and I'm hoping there's a formula to keep her comfortable? As always, thanks for your help!
Replies
by naturevet
November 7, 2016
Hi there,

If it's just in the past month or so that liver enzymes are going up, you may be seeing Liver Blood deficiency becoming aggravated. The XCHT and SRT are quite drying and could potentially aggravate a Blood or Yin deficiency.

I'd wonder about trying Yi Guan Jian for her, and maybe nudging down the SRT and XCHT doses.. Either that or at least Xiao Yao San. YGJ is the better gastric remedy, though.

Steve
by cellohood
January 28, 2017
Hi,
I need to update Patchy's case. Unbelievably, she is still with us & just celebrated her 17th birthday! Her reflux to be well controlled, her azotemia stable & her liver values keep falling. The biggest issues now are urinary incontinence & mobility. She is losing muscle mass (esp. in temporal muscles) & her bark is becoming horse (I suspect laryngeal paralysis). Her tongue is pale pink, she has a fine dander & her pulses feel choppy. She's been on You Gui Wan for the last month & her incontinence seems to be improving but the family is wondering if we can add anything for generalized nerve degeneration?
Thanks as always! And look forward to seeing you in March when you are in Vancouver!!
by naturevet
February 2, 2017
Hi there,

If the temporal muscles in particular are shrinking, you may want to add in Bu Gan Tang to what you're doing. I've used it successfully in the past for that, and it fits the pulse and tongue you're seeing, as well as the dander.

Hope that helps!

Steve
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