Gizmo's Regurgitation Issue is back and he vomited bile this morning - could this really be a hiatal hernia

[Rebecca Dix]

Okay, so my little Frenchie man Gizmo is almost 9 months old and we’ve had him for almost 5 months. He is the happiest, sweetest, funniest little guy you’d ever care to meet but he’s definitely had some health issues that have been concerning me. I recently posted about the allergies I thought he was developing and didn't have a chance to post yet on his other health issues since he was doing better, but now, his issues seem to be back. When we got him he had a little bit of congestion (they said was a cold) and he was just finishing up his antibiotics. The breeder was up front about this and took us to her vet who assured us there was nothing going on there, no kennel cough or anything like that. He didn’t act in any way sick and since she was up front and we have the health guarantee we felt comfortable taking him home. In the mean time he started regurgitating - a lot. It was never food and it definitely wasn’t vomiting, it was always very passive and just basically fell out of his mouth. These regurgitation episodes have often followed drinking water and basically consist of slimy, slightly foamy water but sometimes he hadn’t recently just had water and it’s just a white frothy foam. We went to the breeder’s vet again because she wanted to pay to have him checked out in a follow up to see if everything was okay. We were later informed that after comparing this x-ray to the x-ray from a few weeks before that there was a mass and it looked like it was on his lung. Needless to say I was hysterical. Our breeder was saying she’d take him back and give us another puppy but that was out of the question, Gizmo had already been with us for too long, even 1 day would’ve been too long, he was our’s now and we just couldn’t do that so we said we wanted to get to the bottom of what was wrong and deal with it. They did an x-ray with contrast which made them think it was a foreign body and then they said they’d do an endoscope. We were feeling a lot of relief over this diagnosis until the endoscopy revealed nothing. We were told they did another x-ray when he was out from the endoscopy and because of the gas they used to see better in the endoscopy they were finally able to see that he actually has a hiatal hernia for which we’ve been told he needs surgery. My husband and I have our reservations about this because we’ve read that the recovery process for such a surgery is brutal and can be risky not to mention we’re not sure this is what’s causing his problems. The breeder has already paid a bunch in bills so she says for the surgery she’ll pay $600 which is fine because it’s not the money we’ll pay what we need to in order to fix Gizmo but at the same time we don’t want to waste money on an unnecessary surgery that may not help him and also could be dangerous. We’re wondering if all his problems may be caused by his nares and palate because he definitely seems to have breathing/snoring issues. Since all this happened during the 1st month that we had him, he continued to regurgitate several times a day for about a month or so and then it suddenly got better and he was doing really well and would only regurgitate occasionally. It definitely only seemed to happen when he drank too much water too fast. These issues have bothered him in the slightest because he will literally be running while simultaneously regurgitate and never even slow down!! We were happy that he was doing better and that we’d decided to hold off on the hernia surgery to see how he was doing since he was improving. Now, recently I’ve noticed that he may be developing allergies because he’s been chewing and licking his feet and rubbing his face. We decided to try to switch his food again since the breeder had him on Iams which we didn’t like but Natural Balance hadn’t worked out either so we’re trying him on Acana and we’ve just started mixing it in. He seems to love it, however, I’ve noticed that since we did that he’s just started regurgitating again. Yesterday it happened about 6 times after I got home from work and I’m worried it was triggered by the food but I don’t want to keep him on Iams. But after this morning’s episode I’m feeling pretty worried about him. We were all in bed sleeping and I noticed he was heaving which he doesn’t do, he never vomits - it’s always passive. I took him into the bathroom and his whole body was wretching and it seemed like he lost control of his limbs during this movement and all his legs splayed out and he collapsed to the ground. Granted, we have a tile floor so maybe it was hard to stand while he was heaving so hard but it was really scary to see. I helped him up and he finally produced what he was heaving which I believe was bile. It was yellow and a little foamy. After this he seemed fine and he was just as excited as ever to eat his breakfast.
Has anyone had any experience with this? Any thoughts if the food might’ve aggravated his condition? If so, should we take him off it? I just hate to leave him on Iams. Also, any thoughts as to if this really is a hiatal hernia or perhaps the palate and nares or something else entirely. We’ve gotten some recommendations for some good vets so as soon as I get the image showing the hernia from the breeder’s vet we were planning on getting a new consult for that but I wanted some advice first since if it is diet I know the vet won’t be much help.
Sorry for the long post it’s just a lot that’s been going on and I want the best for my little Gizmo and I’ve learned that the best advice comes from other Frenchie owners because these dogs really are unique.
Thanks for the help,
Rebecca

[Tatiana]

Rebecca - Am going to email you my phone number so that you can call me and discuss your concerns, and hopefully we'll be able to get to the bottom of some of Gizmo's problems, discuss how you're switching his foods and what you and the vet need to discuss... Cheers!

[hayey sparke]

Hello Rebecca,
We have a 4 mnth old frenchie,Horris.We have had the same problem since we got him 4 weks ago now.I took him along to the vets and they said that it was nothing to worry about and that it was down to his breathing problems due to his squashed up face!!
We find with Horris he is worse first thing on a morning when he has just woken up,and last thing at night when hes going to sleep..he vomits white slime with foam,but never brings his food back up.
Hope all turns out well with Gizmo,
Hayley.

[Rebecca Dix]

Thanks Hayley - it definitely sounds like a Frenchie thing which is what we're hoping but we're just worried about the finding of the hernia and if that's really causing his problems or something else. Gizmo sounds more congested in the morning like he has a harder time breathing but almost all of his regurgitation episodes are in the afternoon for some reason.
Something really strange happened on Friday that maybe someone can explain to me. I took up everyone's advice to spread Gizmo's meals out to prevent another bile vomit episode so when I got home from work I let GIzmo out of his crate. He had some water and took one step outside and regurgitated slimy water. He didn't have any more water and after about 10 minutes of keeping him calm I gave him a little mini meal with a tiny little piece of carrott at the end. At no time did he have any water before or after this. About 1 minute after eating he regurgitated but it wasn't his food he just ate, it was the slimy water but it also had the tiny piece of carrot. How is this possible? I'm worried where he's putting his food and it was very confusing. He really is a special little guy but as long as he's happy then it's fine with me!!

[fran and dari]

Rebecca,
Try not giving the carrot.. Dogs can not digest vegetables or fruit unless they are crushed or smashed.And instead of giving him water, try giving him an ice cube to lick. This will slow down the amount he is drinking.

I am not familiar with the food you are using, is it dry or wet? IMO, wet food seems cause less of a problem and a grain free food less yet..But as you mentioned, you need to find out if the hernia is the cause of these issues ...

[Rebecca Dix]

The carrott was a really really tiny piece, my husband minces the carrotts small enough to swallow as is so I don't think it was that but I don't really know. It was just strange that it came up with the slimy water and not the food! I think we'll definitely try the ice cubes because sometimes he really is hard to slow down sometimes with the water.
The Acana Grasslands is a dry grain free kibble and he seems to be doing well on it, he never vomits food, it's just strange that the regurgitation seems to have come back again after it stopped for a while right after changing the foods. We'll definitely be getting him to one of the vets that was recommended here after we get the film showing the hernia so we can find out what we're looking at.
Thanks to everyone for the help and advice.

[Pat Doohan]

Rebecca,
Try giving him some lemon water, in the summer especially this seems to cut down
on the amount of phlegm they produce for some reason our little guys or girls
need the lemon in the water . My girl did the same thing for a very long time, then
I read this suggestion on another frenchie site and tried it , now her regurgitation
issues have minimized although she still does when she gets excited chasing her
pack mates.
I only put 1tbls. of lemon juice per bowl of water. never really cold this also
can cause phlegm build up.