EPI & Reflux

[KarenC]

Hello everyone,

Posting this as I have read many of the EPI dogs seem to have reflux.. I do believe my boy, Luke has developed reflux since starting the enzymes. It has now been over a month since he was diagnosed.

Has anyone experienced reflux so bad that their pet starts to hack/cough/wretch? Maybe from irritation of both the reflux and or the enzymes. I give Luke unsalted broth after his meal to "wash away" any enzyme and I incubate his food for close to 30 mins.

Also, because of the liquid added to his food for the enzymes...I am wondering if he aspirated the liquid. Maybe I am using too much water? Maybe it's not the water and actually food.

He was just diagnosed with pneumonia yesterday which we believe is due to aspiration. Anyone had this happen after an EPI dx and starting enzymes?

My vet also prescribed sucralfate to help with the reflux and coat his system. She thought this was better than a straight dose of omeprazole right now. We have to crush the pill and mix with less than an ounce of water to make a slurry then get him to eat it 90 mins before meal time.

Thanks for any input/advice.

[jilbert57]

Hi Karen, on the Sucralfate you can drop the pill in the syringe with a little liquid and let it set a few minutes then shake it up. It will dissolve. I found it easier than trying to crush it. Also Mickey was great at sneezing a mouthful and getting chalk all over.
I am sure its possible to have acid reflux and aspirate it to get pneumonia. I hope the sucralfate helps.

Jill

[Olesia711]

Hi Karen,

regarding too much liquid in the food.... all you need to do is just use enough water to moisten the food.... giving the enzymes something to stick to... you do not need to use so much water that everything turns to mush........ Hope this helps!

You can also use slippery elm powder for our dogs' bile acid regurg.... sometimes this helps

If this continues long after you use sucralfate or slippery elm and or try one of the acid reflux meds..... then you can try reducing the amount of enzymes by a tiny pinch, although this is not something we suggest with newly diagnosed EPI dogs cause they often need more enzymes in the beginnig.

[Olesia711]

more:

regarding acid reflux. ALL dogs with EPI have malfunction with their secondary bile acids.... however.... we as pet owners don't do anything about it UNLESS they have any issues.... like acid reflux, upchucking, etc. If they do, omeprazole is highly recommended, or you can try pepcid AC ... but you can also chat with your vet about trying Cholestyramine which is also very effective with bile acid issues..

[KarenC]

Thanks to both of you, Jill and Olesia.

That is a good tip about putting the pill in the syringe. Will try that as soon as they arrive, which I hope is tomorrow. Right now I am crushing with 3ml of water and spoon feeding it to him. He took it like a champ this morning, probably because i was also getting his other food prep ready.

After this course of Sucralfate I hope to switch to something like omeprazole.

As for the liquid in his food...I think i may be using a tad too much water. His food is not mushy but maybe the broth after......I figure liquids or reflux are what were aspirated to cause the pneumonia. So I will make sure that I use just enough and hope he gets better soon.

[Olesia711]

hi Karen,

Sounds like you have a good plan in place.... i sure hope he gets better from the pneumonia soon..... i am sure that is kind of scary to deal with.........

[KarenC]

Thanks, Olesia!

I think the sucralfate is helping with reflux. It has only been a few days into using it and it is a bit hard to tell because of all the coughing but keeping fingers crossed.

[Olesia711]

thank goodness...... it is always such a relief when something finally helps!

[jilbert57]

Hope the sucralfate shows to work! It is nice when they are feeling better.

Jill

[emilier]

Hi everyone,
This is my first time posting here officially as a registered user (previously would browse here). Woo! But I want to start out saying I am SO grateful to have found this page/forum. In January of this year my 5 year old corgi Maxwell was diagnosed with EPI. It was very scary there for a minute but since he's been on his enzymes/B12 he's been very healthy and gained his weight back. Until...
A month ago he started vomiting/coughing up not food but just liquid/bile every now and then during the day. I decided to come back here and just see if maybe it was related to EPI. Ding ding! I went ahead and purchased the Wonderlabs slippery elm and yesterday was his first time having it with his dinner and again this morning. However, today it seems like he's puking MORE. So I have some experimenting to do....I'm wondering if I should be giving him the SE 30 min-1 hour before or after his meals? Yesterday/this morning after his food/enzymes incubation, I did 1/4 tsp of the SE and stirred it up and he ate it just fine. I also saw the comments about not needing to have much water mixed with the enzymes. How I've been doing it since diagnosis is his food isn't necessarily mushy but there is some water leftover that looks like it turned into a broth from the kibble/enzymes. So maybe I need to reevaluate how much water I use.

I'm thinking of trying just the SE with some water, either before/after his meal but not sure which one yet. What has worked best with everyone else? Should the SE work immediately to give Maxwell relief or does it take a few days for his body to get used to it? Thank you for any input/advice!