Believe it or not, dogs can have this nasty problem, too. When a dog gets stomach reflux, vomiting is the most common symptom. You will want to take your dog to the vet, if he keeps vomiting. Vomiting is not only a sign of stomach reflux, but it can be a sign to many other stomach issues, as well. Dogs that suffer from stomach reflux are usually healthy otherwise.
It is very important to determine the source of vomiting if it continues. It could be associated with other disorders that need different treatments. For stomach reflux problems, chronic vomiting happens when the stomach is constantly inflamed and irritated.
Generally a dog will vomit yellowish, bile-stained fluid or foam early in the morning. The stomach is usually empty. This stomach disorder happens when the stomach lining is injured because of chronic reflux or back flush of things, such as bile and pancreatic enzymes.
Other symptoms include:
Appetite loss
Weight loss
Abdominal pain
A veterinarian will have to run tests to be sure your dog has reflux gastritis. A biopsy of the lining of the stomach will need to be performed. Sometimes a veterinarian will try symptomatic treatment first to see if the problem can be fixed without having to do surgical or endoscopic techniques.
Treating reflux gastritis is not difficult. Simply changing your dog's food to an all natural dog food that contains vitamins and minerals needed for health is a great first step. Flint River Ranch or Life's Abundance are good healthy dog foods to consider. They are packed full of all natural ingredients and vitamins and minerals.
If you are not already feeding your dog a healthy dog food, you will need to slowly introduce it to your dog. If you do not introduce it slowly, you take the chance of making your dog's stomach feel sicker. The next very important thing you can do is to feed your dog smaller meals throughout the day.
If you are a human that suffers from acid reflux, you have probably been told that you should not eat late at night. This is true for humans, but for a dog, it is actually helpful to your dog to feed him a small amount of food right before bed. This is because the food acts as a buffer and neutralizes the duodenal contents, such as bile and pancreatic enzymes.
