Food for Acid Reflux

4WHLN

"Hit me baby one more time!"
Dec 4, 2011
351
27
Baton Rouge, La
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Mr. Dooley Bulldogs
Hello all! I come to you experts for some help/advice.
I am trying to find a new food for Dooley as he has developed Acid Reflux. We have already been to the vet for an initial consultation as he would randomly vomit, sometimes with food and frothy liquid and sometimes just some phlegm and bile. He also started drinking lots of water then he would make a hacking sound almost as if he were choking. The Vet suggested a Pepcid with his meals and possibly a food change to something with a little less fat/protein to see if that keeps the symptoms down before we go further with scoping and/or surgery. He is not over weight and has been on Fromm Beef Frittata his entire life.

He gets a 3/4 cup twice a day and a Pepcid with each meal. This seemed to help a little but I can tell he is still dealing with the reflux irritation. Some days seem to be worse than others. His vomiting seems quite random. He could go several weeks without and then he might vomit twice in two days. Sometimes its after he eats and sometimes it can be hours later. No real rhyme or reason that we can figure out.

So, is there anything you all have figured out food wise that seemed to help? I am not opposed to switching away from Fromm if need be.

Thanks for the help!
 

oscarmayer

Have Bulldog Will Travel
Staff member
Jan 20, 2016
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VA
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Lala, Chesty, Winky, Waggles, Moose, and rescue Peggy(soon to be placed)
Does he snore? If yes, has he been evaluated for soft palate reduction? The reason I ask is because the symptoms you describe are most often associated with an enlarged soft palate...not reflux. This is not to say that he does not have reflux. We have certainly had rescues come though with reflux but all of them responded favorably to Pepcid and you stated, "This seemed to help a little but..."
In our experience, bile is mostly associated with an empty stomach. Have you considered offering 3 smaller meals/day? That might be worth a try.
 
OP
4WHLN

4WHLN

"Hit me baby one more time!"
Dec 4, 2011
351
27
Baton Rouge, La
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Mr. Dooley Bulldogs
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
Does he snore? If yes, has he been evaluated for soft palate reduction? The reason I ask is because the symptoms you describe are most often associated with an enlarged soft palate...not reflux. This is not to say that he does not have reflux. We have certainly had rescues come though with reflux but all of them responded favorably to Pepcid and you stated, "This seemed to help a little but..."
In our experience, bile is mostly associated with an empty stomach. Have you considered offering 3 smaller meals/day? That might be worth a try.
Yes he snores. He has his whole life. His snoring has not changed any lately with this new issue. We have not tried the 3 meals a day as this is difficult with my wife and I both working away from the house. We wouldn't be able to keep up a routine with this to figure out if this would help any.
As for the soft palate issue, he has not been evaluated for that. The Vet wanted to see if we could control the reflux (if it is indeed this and not something else) with diet and pepcid first before going further and having to put him under anesthesia.
 

oscarmayer

Have Bulldog Will Travel
Staff member
Jan 20, 2016
4,433
1,684
VA
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Lala, Chesty, Winky, Waggles, Moose, and rescue Peggy(soon to be placed)
The Vet wanted to see if we could control the reflux (if it is indeed this and not something else) with diet and pepcid first before going further and having to put him under anesthesia.
Does he sound anything like what's in this video?
Enlarged soft palate
 
OP
4WHLN

4WHLN

"Hit me baby one more time!"
Dec 4, 2011
351
27
Baton Rouge, La
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Mr. Dooley Bulldogs
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
Does he sound anything like what's in this video?
Enlarged soft palate
Ehhh not really. Or at least I'd say not nearly that pronounced or loud. He has only had that gurgle sound while panting a handful of times and that was while we were traveling. He can get anxiety sometimes in the car and works himself up to the point he pants and sounds just like that in the video.
 

helsonwheels

Well-known member
Jan 10, 2016
13,066
2,370
Alberta
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Canada
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Nyala, Jake (R.I.P. Duke)
Something with a little less fat/protein?

No thatā€™s wrong. In the wild thereā€™s no pepcid. I know a domestic dog is a tad different. I would definitely check the grains in his kibbles. What is the brand you feed him, do you also feed him toast or things like that as a treat?

If itā€™s not the soft palate as Chip mentioned I would eyeball the food. Just like in humans, when you get use to any anti-reflux meds your body gets use to it n gets lazy. Anti-reflux is usually caused by acidity, sugars/grains/carbs & meds. I would go with a raw diet by thatā€™s me.
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
Staff member
Community Veteran
Jul 28, 2011
48,581
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Gilbertsville, PA
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Chelios (Frenchie), Nitschke (2004-2011) Banks (2005-2014) and Lambeau (2014-2024)
What food are you feeding? If not the palate it could an issue with the food. one of my guys was allergic to rice and would random throw up, our French had issue with tuna and once we identified that his vomiting stopped as well.
 

Cbrugs

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Community Veteran
Dec 9, 2016
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Seattle, WA
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King Louie, Jax (French Bulldog), Ella Mae and Darla Rae
I recently went to bouts of vomiting with Louie. He went to vet and had a million tests done, everything was normal and X-rays showed excessive gas in stomach and around esophagus. In January, started vomiting again. I did bland diet for a few days, got him a slow feed bowl and started splitting his meals into smaller, more frequent meals and adding in Pepcid. Heā€™s been okay and a few weeks ago I went back to two meals a day and am now feeding one protein at a time for 2 weeks to see if there is any relation.
 

Roccomama78

New member
Oct 13, 2021
17
18
Pennsylvania
Country
US
Bulldog(s) Names
Rocco
Hello all! I come to you experts for some help/advice.
I am trying to find a new food for Dooley as he has developed Acid Reflux. We have already been to the vet for an initial consultation as he would randomly vomit, sometimes with food and frothy liquid and sometimes just some phlegm and bile. He also started drinking lots of water then he would make a hacking sound almost as if he were choking. The Vet suggested a Pepcid with his meals and possibly a food change to something with a little less fat/protein to see if that keeps the symptoms down before we go further with scoping and/or surgery. He is not over weight and has been on Fromm Beef Frittata his entire life.

He gets a 3/4 cup twice a day and a Pepcid with each meal. This seemed to help a little but I can tell he is still dealing with the reflux irritation. Some days seem to be worse than others. His vomiting seems quite random. He could go several weeks without and then he might vomit twice in two days. Sometimes its after he eats and sometimes it can be hours later. No real rhyme or reason that we can figure out.

So, is there anything you all have figured out food wise that seemed to help? I am not opposed to switching away from Fromm if need be.

Thanks for the help!
I don't know how tall Dooley is and I would assume that he has slightly elevated feeding dishes already, to aid in digestion but I recently went even higher with our Rocco's dishes and he is basically face to face with the edge of his dish. It seems to help him eat less at a time because he's fuller faster and we switched from NULO to Solid Gold food which is gluten free and hypoallergenic. Amazingly he he has stopped whining for more food in the evening and his gas is practically non-existent. (Never thought that was possible ;) ) I may retrun to a mixture of the two foods but that is solely for skin issues that our boy struggles with. Now I know that these little buggers couldn't be more different from one to the other but when it comes to their quality of life i find myself willing to try just about anything... lol So good luck to you! I hope you find something that works for Dooley.
 

Oddy5

New member
Dec 15, 2015
3
0
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
Oddy; Peanut
Hello all! I come to you experts for some help/advice.
I am trying to find a new food for Dooley as he has developed Acid Reflux. We have already been to the vet for an initial consultation as he would randomly vomit, sometimes with food and frothy liquid and sometimes just some phlegm and bile. He also started drinking lots of water then he would make a hacking sound almost as if he were choking. The Vet suggested a Pepcid with his meals and possibly a food change to something with a little less fat/protein to see if that keeps the symptoms down before we go further with scoping and/or surgery. He is not over weight and has been on Fromm Beef Frittata his entire life.

He gets a 3/4 cup twice a day and a Pepcid with each meal. This seemed to help a little but I can tell he is still dealing with the reflux irritation. Some days seem to be worse than others. His vomiting seems quite random. He could go several weeks without and then he might vomit twice in two days. Sometimes its after he eats and sometimes it can be hours later. No real rhyme or reason that we can figure out.

So, is there anything you all have figured out food wise that seemed to help? I am not opposed to switching away from Fromm if need be.

Thanks for the help!
My bully Oddy has vomited from puppyhood. He had the shakes. His eyes rolled back and he was generally miserable for several hours. We took him to the vet. He was poked, prodded and x-rayed. Nothing wrong was found. Our regular Vet was great but his associates - now long gone - were not. They suggested severe measures.

Two things were initially suggested. One was Pecidac; the other was a meal before bed. Both were to reduce the amount of gas building up in his stomach - particularly overnight.

Oddy is now going on 8. His bouts have lessened. He is on food that is grain-free. He gets Pepcidac and forte flora occasionally. However, to settle his stomach, I now give him a small dash of ginger with his snack before bed - this snack with or without ginger or pepcidac is a must or he will have gas and throw up bile, phlegm and undigested food the following morning (more often than not). This is fairly recent, but it seems to work for him.
 

I love Emily

Member
Jun 22, 2016
77
20
Alberta, Canada
Country
Canada
Bulldog(s) Names
Emily
Something with a little less fat/protein?

No thatā€™s wrong. In the wild thereā€™s no pepcid. I know a domestic dog is a tad different. I would definitely check the grains in his kibbles. What is the brand you feed him, do you also feed him toast or things like that as a treat?

If itā€™s not the soft palate as Chip mentioned I would eyeball the food. Just like in humans, when you get use to any anti-reflux meds your body gets use to it n gets lazy. Anti-reflux is usually caused by acidity, sugars/grains/carbs & meds. I would go with a raw diet by thatā€™s me.
To add to what helsonwheels has said, you can try adding fennel seed to his food and use apple cider vinegar with the Mother in it.
 

JeannieCO

Queenie
Mar 11, 2011
12,680
873
Tip of the Mitt, Michigan
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Emma, Charlie, Milo, Peekaboo and Jack
I experienced this with one of my French Bulldogs from the day I got him until I switched his food a few months ago. I had him on ProPlan Sensitive Stomach & Skin and he was upchucking 1-4 times a day nearly 7 days a week. Most times it was just a little bit. I changed his food to Fromm Beef Fritatta (itā€™s a grain free) because I had a full bag of that. Heā€™s still on Fromm but their grain Pork & Applesauce. He quit regurgitating the day his food was changed. Iā€™d do a food change to see if itā€™s just the food.

What are you feeling him now?
 

Grammie

New member
Aug 4, 2019
2
1
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Dooley
We started giving our boys Coconut Oil in their food. It changed his skin, allergies and overall demeanor. He is off his allergy medicine. Not sure if he has reflux but he is so much better
 

upsfeeder88

New member
Dec 2, 2016
16
9
Country
United States
Bulldog(s) Names
Boomer
Hello all! I come to you experts for some help/advice.
I am trying to find a new food for Dooley as he has developed Acid Reflux. We have already been to the vet for an initial consultation as he would randomly vomit, sometimes with food and frothy liquid and sometimes just some phlegm and bile. He also started drinking lots of water then he would make a hacking sound almost as if he were choking. The Vet suggested a Pepcid with his meals and possibly a food change to something with a little less fat/protein to see if that keeps the symptoms down before we go further with scoping and/or surgery. He is not over weight and has been on Fromm Beef Frittata his entire life.

He gets a 3/4 cup twice a day and a Pepcid with each meal. This seemed to help a little but I can tell he is still dealing with the reflux irritation. Some days seem to be worse than others. His vomiting seems quite random. He could go several weeks without and then he might vomit twice in two days. Sometimes its after he eats and sometimes it can be hours later. No real rhyme or reason that we can figure out.

So, is there anything you all have figured out food wise that seemed to help? I am not opposed to switching away from Fromm if need be.

Thanks for the help!
Boomer just turned 11 and has been on Taste of the Wild for the past two or three years. He has recently developed an occasional gagging reflex a few times a day. It usually occurs when he is shifting positions while lying down. He gives two gagging reflex's, which look like a cat throwing up a hair ball, without the vomit phlegm or bile.

This past week I started him on Hill's Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Chicken Recipe Dry Dog Food, just to see if it helps. A little more expensive, but we won't know till we try. I will keep you posted. If it stays the same, we will monitor him with our vet and probably go back to Taste of the Wild.

Good luck with Dooley!
 

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