Cause of random regurgitation
 

I did a search and couldn’t find anything on this topic, so I’m sorry if this is repetitive.

My 1 year old Yorkie goes through bouts of regurgitation. This time it’s been going on for 2 days. Sometimes she’ll go weeks without regurgitating, so I’m not sure what’s causing this. She has IBD and is on Primal freeze dried. She eats 3 meals per day, 3 different proteins. She’s not on any meds and doesn’t get any treats (super sensitivity stomach). Nothing new has been introduced to her diet, and she hasn’t ingested anything she shouldn’t have. Her bowel movements are normal. We use a slow feeder bowl.

Any thoughts on what could be causing these bouts of regurgitation? TIA! :aimeeyork

Does she have a diagnosed case of IBD? If so, my guess would be diet.

Yes, it was DXd via endoscopy. The food she’s on now is what helped her to overcome her symptoms. She almost died last year from the food & medicine she was on. There are weeks when she’s completely fine. I just don’t know what the trigger is.

My yorkie Thumper will sometimes regurgitate or burp water. He loves to drinks lots of water at one time and will regurgitate it when he drinks to fast or much in one sitting.

Additionally, both Thumper and Bella will look like they are gasping for air with their head high when they eat too much too fast.

Not sure if that is the same as your baby. Usually I try and pick up the water for a little bit if they are drinking too much and put it back about a minute later.

Ok, thank you! I’ll try that with her food & see if that helps.

Can you just confirm that your pup is regurgitating and not vomiting. I’m not questioning you, but some people do use the terms interchangeably when they’re actually different, so I want to make sure we’re all “on the same page” here.

The only time I’ve experienced a dog with a regurgitation (vs vomiting) problem was when I had a foster with megaesophagus.

I thought same thing but since it is so random I kind of figured it was vomiting. Never know though.
I would definitely like that answer to that.....and whether or not this is an actual diagnosed case of IBD. If it is, I doubt that is a great diet for her. My IBD pup was on hydrolyzed diet. I have another who is on hydrolyzed but she also requires prednisone daily.

Yes, it’s definitely regurgitation. She doesn’t posture & its i digested food. She does not have megaesophagus. The ER vet confirmed that she didn’t have that when she did her endoscopy.

It is a DXd case of IBD - confirmed via biopsy during endoscopy. I answered yesterday, but all of my responses are being held pending moderator approval.

Sorry, typo... it’s undigested food that’s coming up; no posturing. It’s regurgitation, not vomiting.

Just in case the poster doesn’t know:

Vomiting means expelling stomach contents. It might be fairly soon after eating or long after eating. Depending on the timing, there might be partially digested food and/or yellow liquidy bile and usually smells sour. Since it’s being expelled all the way from the stomach, there is generally retching involved.

Regurgitation means expelling recently eaten food from the esophagus. It usually comes up without any retching or apparent effort and usually has no sour smell. A dog will often want to eat the regurgitated food, because he/she is hungry and it smells like food.

There are many causes of vomiting (sometimes a cause can’t even be found). LadyJane is likely correct that, if this really is vomiting, it’s related to diet and IBD if that’s been diagnosed.

I’m not sure, but I think there are fewer possible causes of frequent regurgitation. The only one I have experience with is megaesophagus, which is a nasty condition.

We were posting at the same time.

What has your vet said about the regurgitation?

I’m not completely sure on this, but I think a chest x-ray is needed to rule out megaesophagus. Also, while megaesophagus can be congenital, it can also develop more slowly in response to other digestive conditions. So while you’re searching for a cause of the regurgitation, you might at least want to discuss it with your vet to be sure it’s properly ruled out. If it’s developing secondary to the IBD, it is much more treatable if caught early.

Ok, perfect. Thank you! The vet said that regurgitation is a normal part of the digestive process, but with it happening randomly it does have me concerned. It is def regurgitation because it just comes right up with no struggle, is undigested food & she eats it. She has vomited in the past (when she was sick for a different reason), so I know how to tell the difference now. She has a check up in early Feb. so I’ll discuss getting a chest X-ray.

I had a pup who regurgitated water all the time.....they did a flouroscopy on him to rule out megaesophagus. He did have motility issues but it was some kind of issue with the nervous system....food was "seen" and the esophagus worked; but water was not "seen". He was put on numerous meds and did improve over time.
His chest rads didn't show anything....

Back to the diet. If IBD was diagnosed, I am quite surprised the vet didn't change that diet. You don't always see symptoms on a daily basis with IBD.... and food, specifically proteins, can definitely cause issues. You are giving three proteins....if you are giving them at different times, you might want to take note if perhaps one of them is causing these issues.

Another thing to consider. Has she had bile acid testing done? I had a pup who had occasional issues with regurgitation of his food after he ate.....it took some time before he was diagnosed but he had a liver shunt! He was an adult ... sometimes they don't have the typical symptoms of a shunt and it is entirely possible for them to have them into adulthood. He had surgery to correct the shunt ... he did also have IBD so was put on a hydrolyzed diet. He was about 8 at the time and lived to be 15.

I have never heard of regurgitation being a normal part of digestion. I need to look into that one.

One of the meds the one pup was put on was Cisapride. It helps with motility.

I’m sorry I wasn’t clear about that. Her diet was changed. This is the 4th brand of food that she’s been on, and the only one that has stopped the diarrhea she had. The proteins she is on are the lowest three protein flavors offered by this brand.

She has not had bile acid testing done. I’ll ask her vet about that, too. The ER vet mentioned liver shunt last year, but I think (if I remember correctly) that was ruled out based on symptoms & labs. I could be wrong though.

Here’s a good general article on regurgitation in dogs.

https://wagwalking.com/condition/regurgitation

If your dog is generally acting normal (active and alert with no signs of pain) and isn’t losing weight, I would guess that the cause is benign (eating too fast, a mild hernia, etc) vs dangerous (cancer, megaesophagus, etc), but it’s still a good idea to investigate it fully, just in case.

A lot of vets think there should be symptoms and elevated liver enzymes for there to be a shunt.....not true.
Here is a link about my Teddy who I mentioned above. The size of the shunt is what is crucial...if it is a smaller shunt then some of the blood still goes through the liver and is filtered.

https://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/si...ver-shunt.html

Teddy never had ANY elevated enzymes and was tested yearly prior to being diagnosed with a shunt.

Bluebells, she is acting totally normal otherwise... playful, sleeps well, normal weight. Hopefully it’s just eating too fast and not something more serious. She didn’t regurgitate her dinner or her breakfast (since posting this).

ladyjane , thank you, I’ll read Teddy’s story. Thank you for all of your help.

There used to be a great article on this on the University of TN's website. It was a brochure written by Dr. Tobias. Apparently it has been taken down...I was trying to find it to share with you.

I found this playing around on Google. Is it similar to what you’re looking for?

https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/view...t=utk_smalpubs

Yes, that is it. I called UT and they said they are updating their website...that it just started today. So, it will be there again.
Thank you! It is a great brochure.

It has been forever, so I’m trying to remember...but my Yorkie did this. She had the whole list of GI problems. She would regurgitate randomly, including water. We used Reglan to get the stuff on her stomach faster. Whatever was irritating her either stopped or the Reglan gave her esophagus a break. No idea really. I do remember she was on a powdered med once and it made the regurg terrible. I had to manually fill capsules so the powder didn’t touch her esophagus. 🤦*♀️