Hi,
I have a 1 year old GSD bitch out of west German show lines. I have recently notices that she reguritates frequently after eating (sometimes 3 or 4 times per meal). She inhales her food and then a few minutes later she just opens her mouth, makes this gross noise and produces her meal. She then eats it again immediately. She does eventually keep it down, but like I said, sometimes this happens 2, 3 or even 4 times before it stays down.
Could this be megaesophagus? Or is she just eating too fast?
Elisabeth

I have a couple of questions does his throat swell while he is eating. Do you have his food dish on the floor. Have you been to the Vet and had him checked. my pup has this and I have have to be carefull as he can get pnumonia if the food goes into the lungs. I have his dish up at the hieght of his throat so the head is at the bowl without bending, so the path to the stomach is straight, I also have him sit all the while he is eating. I feed smaller portions more times a day and add water to his Kibble let it swell up then place in a blender to blend giving small portions. if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

I am not sure if her throat swells. I feed all my dogs on the floor (though for her I've been thinking about raising the dish to see if it helps her) to reduce chance of bloat.

I've been having so much trouble with this dog. She has hip displaysia and is a poor keeper. She eats 4-5 cups of dog food a day (divided into 2 meals/50 pound dog) and she is too thin. She is not emaciated, but she is thin. This also makes me think there is something wrong.

She has frequent, mild diarrhea (2-4 movements per day, about 1/3 are pudding). She has been wormed, but beyond parasites and hips has not yet been checked by a vet. I am planning on bringing her in soon, but wanted to see what advice (beyond bring her to vet <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) I would get from board members.

I'm so afraid that she is going to have another problem. I hate to see her suffer the way she does at times. I don't know if I can deal with another problem that causes her more discomfert <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> .

Try adding slippery elm to her food. It won't cure the problem but will help her firm up and be more comfortable. I use one capsule per meal but you can use two if needed. Do you have a place where you could buy a low allergen puppy food (Caloforina natural, sensible choice) and see if it is a food sensitivity? Auster is sensitive to gluten (in every grain but rice) and beef and pork.

Has she had a TLI test to check for pancreatic problems?

Try holder her food dish high or put it on something (stairs, books, low chair, coffee table maybe) where she doesn't have to lean down. After the meal pick up her front two feet and "dance" around a little with her. This will help clear the food in the esophagus. If this works then you might have found the problem. I've also heard of using a short ladder to feed the dog and help the food go down.

I spoke with my vet today, they at this point don't think it is necessary for me to bring her in (which is weird, usually anything to make money...). I just hope they are right.
Just wanted to run their suggestions by you people and see what you thought. I was told to put a tennis ball in her food bowl so she has to push it around to get the food. This is supposed to slow down her inhalation of her food (it takes her less than a minute to eat 3 cups of food)
Also giving her a little at a time...give her 1/2 a cup of food, let her eat that and let it sit for about 5-10 minutes, then give her another 1/2 a cup until her entire meal is fed.
I think I will try this as well as elevating her food bowl. If this does not work for her, then I will try supplements and possibly going to 3 or 4 feedings per day, rather than two.
Any further suggestions, warnings, or encouragements would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Elisabeth

Oh yeah,

I forgot to ask...where can I get slippery elm?

I tried Cal Nat for awhile and really liked it, but can't afford it right now unfortunately (I have 6 dogs and go through almost 1 1/2 bags a week @ $36 a bag ...just can't afford that right now). I would love to get into feeding raw, but that is not practical for me right now either. Hopefully I'll get into raw feeding next summer if all goes well.

I fed the Cal Nat for about a month, and I didn't notice much difference (except in the feed bill). Is the pancreatic test an in clinic test? or is it sent out to a lab?
I know someone who would draw blood for me free if I knew where to send it.

It is sent out to a lab. Dr. Dodds will do TLI testing even though it isn't listed on the usual form. http://www.itsfortheanimals.com has a form and you can call Hemopet to see how much a TLI would be. They usually charge the same price or less that your vet would pay for the test and any donation beyond that helps the greyhounds they rescue. TLI is short for trypsin like immunity.

My vet's first reaction when Auster was having problems was to do a TLI test. It turn out that the water was causing Auster's problems (not that the vet helped figure it out), but most vets like to rule out the easy stuff with bloodwork first.

Auster's bacterial imbalance has been helped greatly by a combination of FOS/probiotics, with a course of metronidazole first to get rid of the harmful bacteria. If there's an alternative vet in the area it might be worth a visit since my experience has been that most vets know very little about encouraging proper digestion. If they push Science diet what can I expect?

I asked my vet about test for EPI and they said "testing for what???" Guess it's time for a new vet. They wouldn't even tell me what they charge for a blood draw...said I would have to come in for an office call and go from there (called 3 different vets).

I've been thinking about water...funny that you should mention it. Our water is not the greatest (we don't drink it). I am considering reverse osmosis. I am going to try that and see if it helps.

Last night I fed Malika by hand (to slow her down) and in a sitting position so she was elevated. There was no regurgitation. Only problem is I don't know if the slowing her down helped, or the elevation, or both. Now I've just got to figure that out and we should be set on that issue I hope.

My regular vet doesn't push science diet (they sell it, of course). But when I asked for his opinion on Cal Nat he had never heard of it. He said to never feed the less common brands because you don't know anything about them. Then the best part...He recommended that I feed Purina Dog Chow!! I couldn't believe it! I wouldn't feed dog chow if it were the last kibble left! I guess I would just have to switch to raw <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Well, I'm going to experiment some more with elevation and slowing her down and I'm going to try reverse osmosis water and have her tested for parasites again just to make sure we aren't missing anything. I'll let you all know if I get things figured out. If anyone has any more ideas or advice, I would love to hear it. I am open to just about anything at this point.

Thanks for all the help thus far.

Elisabeth