A friend of mine's 4 yo mix-breed dog has the following symptoms:

1 - Difficulty eating. Seems like he has a hard time chewing...chews dry food slowly. Inhales wet food though. Used to inhale dry food until this started.
2 - Excess salivation, some foaming at times.
3 - Otherwise acts normal, energy level/behavior/etc

Dog went to the the vet yesterday (symptoms started Saturday) and they've done a full mouth exam which came back clean. They've also done an upper GI series (with barium) which came back clean as well. They suspect some sort of esophageal inflammation, maybe linked to acid reflux, and prescribed sucralfate (to be mixed with water and injected down throat) and a famotidine tablets to be given with the food.

Any ideas on what they might be missing, or what potential causes might be?

6/5/2012 5:47:02 PM

Rabies.

I would think if it were acid reflux the dog wouldn't want to eat anything. At least I don't want to eat anything when I have it. Is your friend thinking of getting a second opinion?

6/5/2012 6:08:00 PM

My shih tzu wouldnt eat, and it turned out his teeth were so bad they were hurting him. Seems like the vet would have caught that though.

6/5/2012 6:42:52 PM

just some random thoughts cuz i'm too tired to be terribly coherent:

how long has this been going on? acute or gradual onset? what kind of mixed breed (toy breed, large breed?)

they could try a fluoroscopic swallowing study....see if he has some sort of dysmotility issue.

does he stretch his neck out when he eats? does his face seem painful/does he guard it?

when they did his oral exam....was he sedated? because unless he's the most patient dog ever...i doubt they got a great look in his mouth and all the signs/symptoms you're describing sound teeth related.

can the dog open it's mouth fully? any history of facial trauma recently?

does the dog have a history of eating things it shouldnt?

how does his muscling on the face/neck appear? can he feel his face (sounds silly, but if it's nerve related could lose muscle mass/ability to prehend food)?

does he drop food when he eats?

does his tongue appear normal (symmetrical muscle?)?

ok...that's all ive got for now.....


oh...and is it up to date on rabies vaccination?

6/6/2012 12:16:27 AM

has the dry food changed recently? have they tried a different flavor/brand of dry food?

i ask bc one of my dogs will eat slowly & act like it's painful if it's food she doesn't like (she's really picky).

6/6/2012 7:30:31 AM

I would take my dog to the vet asap.

My wife's white lab did this when he had a bowel obstruction.

But anything else it might be... still isn't good.

My dog did something similar and it turns out she ate a frog that didn't sit well with her

6/6/2012 8:27:30 AM

any update on this pup?

6/11/2012 10:05:04 PM

They did another oral exam today but it was inconclusive. They put him under and did a more thorough oral exam while he was sedated and checked his nose i think (wasn't at the vet, heard from a friend).

It seems one salivary gland was larger than the other so they put him on antibiotics. If those don't work and the symptoms persist he will have to go see a vet neurologist.

Still couldn't eat hard food as of this weekend and was foaming at the mouth after he would consume water. He kept his mouth open during casual activity which is abnormal and snorted differently i guess.

Other than that his behavior was normal, very active, regular bowel movements, ate wet food very fast, played with other dogs etc...

He's a four year old plott hound mix looks exactly like this mug



[Edited on June 11, 2012 at 10:27 PM. Reason : yup]

6/11/2012 10:20:08 PM

hmm.....does he have a noticeable swelling in his neck region or under his tongue? if it's a pharyngeal salivary gland you may not see anything but a swollen salivary gland (salivary mucocele) could explain his issues....in which case surgical correction is needed (but is atleast an easy fix)...

[Edited on June 12, 2012 at 1:51 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on June 12, 2012 at 1:57 AM. Reason : ..]

6/12/2012 1:50:18 AM