My dog dry heaves at night but seems fine. Is it acid reflux?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If you mean gagging or regurgitating this can happen more often at night when the stomach is most empty and stomach acid is at its highest. Since it is so infrequent and Novi is otherwise happy and eating well, I’m not panicked. Consider trying famotidine (Pepcid AC). Ask your vet about dosing and if it’s safe to try. Best of luck to you and Novi.

Hello. Acid reflux can result from several things, not just the production of acid in response to food in the stomach. Esophageal disease/motility disorders, diet, over-secretion of pepsin & non-specific inflammation can all contribute to the problem. It may be as simple as switching to a sensitive skin/stomach formulation of dog food, or an actual GI diet or one geared toward allergies such as Prescription Diet z/d. Adding an acid reflux medication such as famotidine or omeprazole is often a pretty safe option to try. Talk to your vet about what might be the best option for Gemma. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Blood work is always a good idea. He may have gastric reflux in which case it is best to feed him multiple small meals throughout the day to keep his stomach from being empty too long. You can also try a trial of Pepcid (famotidine), 5mg once a day in the evening before bed (so 1/2 of a 10mg tablet). Do this for 7-14 days and then see what happens. If no improvement I think you and your vet should do more testing to figure out what may be going on. If this does help, I suggest you consult with your vet about what you did and see what their recommendations are from there. It is not usually a good idea to keep them on famotidine daily forever as it will shut down the stomach's ability to produce any gastric acid which is not a good idea. As a side note, ground beef and steak are really high in fat (even the lean varieties) so I would stop feeding that. High fat diets can cause pancreatitis and vomiting. Boiled chicken or turkey would be better. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Hypothetically speaking , yes. However, I don't think we see if that often. If you are concerned your dog has gastric reflux, talk to your vet about a trial on famotidine. (Pepcid AC). See here for dosing information: (click on the chart for full view of drugs and dosages) https://www.merckvetmanual.com/pharmacology/systemic-pharmacotherapeutics-of-the-digestive-system/therapy-of-gastrointestinal-ulcers-monogastric

Hi and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Sky may need some diagnostic testing to find out what the problem is. He may have an esophageal foreign body, ulcers of stomach or esophagus or just acid reflex. I would discuss with Sky's vet if radiographs might help determine what is wrong. If the pepcid seemed to help, it may be that he needs to be on an acid reducer long term. There are other medications that may used longer term than the pepcid. I hope Sky is back to normal soon.

It may not be that Louie is hungry but that the stomach acid has built up overnight. You were doing the right thing by feeding him right before bed. My advice would be to try a different food and see if that helps to decrease the acid production. Try Royal Canin labrador retriever diet. If that does not help you might talk to his veterinarian about starting an anti acid at bed time. Probiotics can sometimes help these guys as well. I recommend Forti Flora. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

A complete workup from your vet is best to rule out anything more serious such as food allergies, GI problems, etc that could be underlying and are being masked by the medication if the problems are persisting. In some cases, reflux and vomiting bile can happen if your dog has an empty stomach for too long. Feeding smaller meals more frequently, or feeding a treat right before bed/waking up first thing can help keep enough in the stomach to keep your dog from vomiting. However, I would still let your vet know the vomiting is continuing when off the meds and schedule a vet visit to rule out any issues anyway.