I've been slimed!

It seems that I tend to add entries to this blog after Hobbes has had a bad night.  Maybe I am more inclined to write when I am half asleep.  Who knows.  Needless to say, Hobbes had a bad night last night.  We were up at 1:30 and 3:30--awakened by gagging and hacking.  Poor little guy.

One of his issues, which we can do very little about, is his acid reflux.  As I mentioned in a previous entry, Hobbes' sphincter between his stomach and his esophagus doesn't close.  When he lays around for an extended period, like at night, his stomach acid creeps back up into his esophagus, and sometimes right back out, in the form of a puddle of slime.  Most dogs with this condition are given an antacid of some kind.  We tried to give Hobbes Prilosec, but it made him sick, so we've stuck with good old-fashioned pepcid (which is also much cheaper!)  What pepcid doesn't do is heal the lining of the esophagus, which is damaged by the continuous acid assault.

Some people give their animals Nexium, still others use a drug called carafate.  When administered, carafate coats the esophagus and protects it from damage.  The challenge with using this medication is that it has to be given at least an hour before the dog eats, or two hours afterward.  Which means the dog has to be in their "box" when the medication is given, and for the 20 minutes or so afterward.  Tom and I just can't do it.  We both work--this would add an additional hour or so onto each feeding, which would mean a three hour lunch, and getting up at 4 a.m. to feed Hobbes breakfast.  Considering our lack fo sleep as it is, the latter just isn't an option!

Thanks to another Lappie owner who also has a dog with mega-e (but not MG--her condition is idiopathic, or of unknown origin), we have an alternative to carafate--slippery elm.  It sounds disgusting, and looks even worse, but Hobbes loves it, and it seems to help calm down his tummy.  Here is the recipe:

1 tsp powdered slippery elm, added to 1 cup boiling water.  Reduce heat and stir over low heat until mixture begins to congeal (this doesn't take very long, and it will thicken further as it cools.)  When cooled a little, add 1 tsp honey, and a few drops of molasses.  Give 2 tsps after dinner, or more frequently if needed.

I understand that slippery elm also has been suggested for people who have IBS and other gastro-intestinal issues.  I can't say it works every time for poor Hobbes, but it doesn't do any harm, he loves how it tastes, and seems to offer some relief.