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Acid Reflux In A Dog

by CorinneC - January 23, 2025 View Case Report

Scruggs is a 10yo MN Jack Russell terrier who lives with 4 other JRs and his mom (who struggles with leaky gut and acid reflux + anxiety). For the last 2 years he has had several episodes of night time - early am lip-smacking and shivering. Earlier in the history when he was solely fed raw he would then have projectile vomiting of bile or undigested food. Recently I had switched him to a cooked diet and it seemed like we were on the right track but he had another episode this weekend. The O says his breathing seems off too, sounds like he can't catch his breath. What I see in the videos is a raspy breathing (I assume a bit of reflux is aspirating?). This last time he got off the bed and brought up bile and fluid. The episodes always end with coughing. Then +++ drooling. Afterward he eats and is usually BTN, jumping up and down for food, just a bit of drooling. He seems to have these occur every 2-3mth. I tried him on Halscion last March but O said it didn't help. Not sure she gave it a great try though as she gets easily flustered and tries several things at once like Pepcid (which def helps) and changes diet. My boss has run an ACTH stim - WNL, abd U/S and xrays (with barium as well NAF), bloodwork all come back WNL. He even went so far as to try Flovent but no change or aid. When I look back on his history he has had many bouts of colitis as well. He had one odd episode in Oct/24 where he was repeatedly bowing, stretching his abdomen, and had trembling front limbs - seemed to resolve on its own, bloodwork showed mild increase in ALT and tbili and that's when we did the U/S to no avail. He is a nervous little guy and can be very reactive with dogs. His tongue (lavender-pink, moist, normal size) and pulses toned. He's in great shape physically and very active.

Just curious on your thoughts with this? I thought about BZYQT but I'm afraid to try anything yet unless I have "backup" as they've been through a lot.

Thanks in advance,
Corinne

by naturevet

January 31, 2025

Hi Corinne,

Sorry for the delay! It's been a hectic start to the year! Regarding your case, the improvement on cooked real food (and thus the implied worsening on raw food) suggests Spleen Qi or Yang deficiency, perhaps causing Dampness which may in turn be instructing the descent of Qi. That puts me in mind of Wei Ling Tang, or even San Ren Tang (given the response to Pepcid, which has a cooling effect on the Stomach).

San Ren Tang is also a better choice given the coughing and the purplish tongue. Of all the anti-Damp formulas, it's the one that best fits a toned pulse and a lavender tongue. That is because it addresses Qi stagnation arising from the obstructing Dampness. Qi stagnation can also cause that bowing behaviour you observed which occurs when a dog is trying to stretch its abdomen (and the GI tract therein).

All told, then, it's how I'd start. If we need more warmth, we can add Wei Ling Tang, so keep that in mind. If there is more inflammation and colitis, we can add Si Miao San, though SRT can take care of that, too.

Hopefully this helps you out!

by CorinneC

February 4, 2025

I have to clarify on this because I am really confused now on why this would be a Dampness-type of case? He just seems so much more of a Liver Blood deficient, Qi Stagnant, Stomach Heat, Yin deficient case?!?! over Damp Heat? What in my description brings you to your conclusion? I have been treating many of these acid reflux types with Halscion or YGJ and sometimes it doesn't work so....

Thanks as always,
Corinne

by naturevet

February 9, 2025

Hi Corinne,

The thing I seized upon was the worsening on raw (cold) food but improvement on cooked food. To me that suggested Spleen deficiency, which to create reflux, must be leading to Dampness (and possibly mild Damp Heat)

If we tie it in with the current time of year (Yang Ming excess, Shao Yang excess) and tendency to colitis (which is often Shao Yang induced) then we can use Adoptrex first, since it harmonizes the Shao Yang yet warms the Spleen, strengthens digestion, and dries Damp. Wu Mei Wan is another option, but it doesn't do much for Dampness. Given the intolerance of cold food, and the lack of improvement on Halscion (which contains Yi Guan Jian), I would not use a lot of Blood tonics right now.

Hopefully this is enough of a clarification for you. Bottom line: maybe try Adoptrex first?

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