Corn causing reflux????

LucyGoosy · 01-26-2009, 08:22 AM

I have an 8 month old Australian Shepherd puppy that has had several bouts of a gagging cough with spitting up white mucus type slime. When she gets like this, it lasts for several days on and off, worse during the night when she is sleeping. Meals don't seem to affect her--she seems to handle her regular food just fine. It just happens out of no where suddenly, worse at night.

The vet has put her on Pepcid and Sulcrafate, as a trial to see if it's reflux. The first day on these meds, she was greatly improved. Just a couple of gaggy/coughing episodes over the course of 24 hours.

Then, I gave her a Kong stuffed with a little peanut butter and a handful of liver/corn meal home baked dog treats, not thinking that this could be the cause. Within an hour after eating that, she started a LOT of gagging/coughing/spitting up and had a rough night last night too.

Before this, I never connected the liver/corn treats with her problems. I don't think it's the peanut butter because she's been getting peanut butter in her kong since she was young without any problems. Her food is Innova with no corn or wheat. The only corn is in the home baked treats, which she loves so much. She doesn't get these treats all the time, which could explain the sporadic nature of her problem. I started baking them about a couple of months ago and give her a couple here and there, with quite a bit more on the days I take her and my other dog to the state land trails about once a week. I use them for recall because the dogs love them so much; it keeps them running back to me when I call consistently. Prior to that, I can't think of really anything she ate that had corn in it.

At this point, I'm just speculating about the corn/reflux connection, but it does make sense to me, since I've heard that corn is hard for some dogs to digest. My other dog doesn't have a problem with the liver/corn treats.

I'm curious to know if anyone else has had this problem, what caused it, what they did about it, etc.

Thanks.

agility collie mom · 01-26-2009, 08:38 AM

if they really love the liver treats why not just dehydrate the liver in your oven? This way you can eliminate the corn.

LucyGoosy · 01-26-2009, 03:41 PM

Thanks! I can try to do that with the liver. I've had problems with it being slimy, but I'll try again. Maybe I just need to leave it in the oven longer.

I also saw a recipe the other day for a grain free liver treat that may be similar taste and texture as the corn/liver treats for the dogs without the corn. It was pureed liver mixed with a pound of pureed frozen (thawed) peas, and 2 cups of dry mashed potato flakes. I might try that too. I like the drier treats and it's nice if the liver goes a long ways because of the cost. Liver around here sells for almost $2/pound. I can go through a lot of treats during a training session or a hike.

Any other info about the corn allergy/sensitivty issue? I'm still not sure if that's it, but it makes sense to me and I'm curious to know if anyone else has gone through this kind of thing.