My dog has a hiatus hernia. How can I help her with regurgitation?

Poor girl. She may have a condition that is causing this such as megaesophagus. I am not sure if your vet has ran any tests yet, but I would recommend starting with thoracic radiographs and perhaps even a barium series will need to be done to detect a possible megaesophagus. Form there the vet will prescribe medication if this conditon is confirmed. The main concern with a pet that regurgitates is aspiration pneumonia. This is why they suggest to elevate the food bowl to allow gravity to help keep the food down. However most owners have to make a gruel (water mixed with food and then puréed) and also give pro-motility drugs (i.e. Metoclopramide) in addition to help manage this condition. Here is more information on megaesophagus if this is confirmed to be the cause of your pet regurgitation episodes. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=3480 I hope this helps you with Cozy’s regurgitation episodes. Best wishes and take care.

It is ok for Lily to remain on those antacids long term. I suspect there are reasons your vet considers the surgery to be risky (brachycephalic breed, senior age, complicated nature of the surgery, possible bloodwork issues). It is great that they have stopped the vomiting. Putting her on an intestinal diet that is easy of the GI tract such as Hills i/d dry and canned or Royal Canin GI dry and canned may help as well. Good luck!

Hello. I would not say your Lily is in overt pain, but this cannot be comfortable. She is probably vomiting intermittently, perhaps you are seeing a little blood, too in the vomitus. HHs can compromise esophageal function & the longer you let it go the more \pathology you can see & the greater the risk for aspiration pneumonia. If your vet has recommended surgery, do consider it, or at least follow all medical recommendations closely. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

onHi, I will try and cover all the questions about Hiatal Hernia (HH) you have: In most veterinary patients, hiatal herniA (HH) appears to be a congenital or birth defect. Brachycephalic dogs (those with a shortened nose such as English Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Pugs) are at an increased risk. Trauma can also cause a HH but much less likely. Diagnosis of HH is most commonly done via fluoroscopy (a moving x-ray study) using radiographic dye. Esophagoscopy and gastroscopy may also be performed. In general treatment options include conservative medical treatment and surgical repair. Medical treatment aims to control clinical signs with with medication, diet changes, and supplements. This will probably reduce the frequency of the clinical signs but may not alleviate the condition. In many cases medical management is attempted initially (around 30 days), but if non-responsive then surgical repair will be done. Bear in mind the information given is general without knowing the specifics of your individual case. Hope that's help.

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.

I would definitely be worried about this. It appears that you have managed this well over the years, but without treatment, this can lead to her choking. Considering this has been going on her whole life, it's likely due to some congenital deformity involving her esophagus. There are usually good treatment options for the various defects that can occur in the esophagus, so it's worth getting her specific condition diagnosed. For this, you will need to schedule an appointment with a veterinarian, who will likely want to do a few tests to find the cause of the regurgitation. I hope that helps and Olivia gets better soon.

Hi. Regurgitation differs from vomiting in that the expelled material almost always originates from the esophagus—the tube that moves food, water and saliva from the mouth down into the stomach. Vomiting is preceeded by retching noises, where as regurgitation is a passive event where you only hear a noise as the material comes up. The most common cause of regurgitation is megaesophagus. Megaesophagus is a generalized enlargement of the esophaguswith a decreased to absent motility which is required for moving food and liquid down to the stomach. It is diagnosed most commonly by a lateral x-ray of the chest where the esophagus goes from the beginning of chest area into the stomach. If it is vomiting, it is unfortunately a vague sign that can occur from many possibilitites.  It can be from a dietary indiscretion, a food sensitivity, a GI infection,  pancreatitis, metabolic and endocrine conditions, foreign bodies in the intestines, and more.   The best thing for vomiting would be to get blood work and abdominal x-rays done. Good luck