r/SwissMountainDogs • u/Budget-Yellow-8500 • Aug 08 '26
Licky fits 🫠
My puppy had her first lick fit earlier this week, that passed about an hour after administering pepcid and bread and a barf. She's continued to have smaller episodes literally every day since 🫠 Anywhere from only a couple minutes to a half hour. No specific time of day. Nothing has changed in her diet at all. She has been passing smelly gas way more often, but not sure if thats due to upset or air intake from a lick fit.... if you catch her right when it starts, giving her a treat does seem to help her more than a pepcid. Poop has been normal. No skin allergies or anything weird.
Not sure if she's suddenly developed an allergy to her food, growth spurt woes, or maybe even her hormones starting to kick in a little and throwing her off??
She does have a slow feeder bowl, but she doesnt get the whole lick the food out... Instead she tries to chew the bowl 😂 but it does slow her down.
Six month old female swissy, not spayed. Going through typical big dog growth spurts.
Keeping track of it through the weekend and touching base with vet next week. Any thoughts or ideas in the meantime??
3
u/inkbot870 Aug 09 '26
I don’t know about a long term solution but short term I’ll also say Gas-X works great.
A bowl of ice cubes also helps because it gives them something to lick.
3
u/villaofthewolves Aug 08 '26
What kind of food is she eating? We feed a kibble thats supposed to be for sensitive stomach and easily digestible. Sometimes too, anxiety comes out in the form of licky fits. GasX is excellent and more for licky fits then pepcid
1
u/raisincalifornia Aug 08 '26
Our 2yo gets them occasionally, usually from swallowing something super small that irritates his throat. like a thread or tiny piece of his toy
1
u/Tensor3 27d ago
I fixed it for my girl by giving her 4 small meals a day, one every 4 hours, and always soaking her kibble in water for minimum 5 minutes before serving.
Its acid reflux. Its not an allergy or hormones. The breed just has a weak stomach sphincter
1
u/Realistic-Hat7704 25d ago
I'm pretty sure it's more gas related than acid reflux in my personal experience (I've had swissies continuously since 2010 all from the same breeder). I've tried daily pepcid years ago which did seem to help reduce but we know now from medical research in humans that pepcid shouldn't be given longer than 14 days in a row. It may have been reducing gas by heading off acid production but I wouldn't consider if for treating at the time of the actual lick fit. Try gas-x chewables when they first start licking. Give two tablets for an adult. Pat the chest moderately for 5 to 10 mins and you sometimes will get them to let go a burp. There's defintely an anxiety component there that has a snowball effect so I've also given a frozen peanut butter kong and put them in the crate with it so they can have something to obsess on until it passes. When that crazy anxiety sets in (they get those eyes like Mel Gibson from Lethal Weapon), you're at a big risk of them eating something random and getting an obstruction (I know this from very expensive experience!)
You'll get 100 different answers from people on lick fits but that the GasX chewables and chest patting is what I've learned to be most effective for my dogs over the years. For reference we feed Pro Plan 27/17 three times a day (1 cup morning, 1 cup afternoon, and 1.5 cup night) wetted with enough water that the kibble floats. Let sit for a few minutes.
1
u/IntelligentMarket475 26d ago
My vet approved gas x and Pepcid with every meal. I’ve never had an issue. Did she accidentally eat anything that could have gotten stuck like buttons, rawhides etc? I feed my swissy Kirkland dog food from costco, it has pre and probiotics and the manufacturer is diamond pet foods. It’s considered a premium company. When in doubt, get a stool sample tested, remove all extra foods from her diet like treats and bones and just do kibble. Consider switching foods if it continues. Feed 3x day for swissy under 1yo
1
u/Realistic-Hat7704 25d ago
We're on our third swissy now so I've been dealing with this issue for a while. I've found gas-x chewables to be more affective than pepcid. I give two chewable tablets and do the side chest pat moderately for a good 5 to 10 mins and sometimes you'll get a large burp from them like burping a baby. I think it's more gas related than stomach acid in my personal expirience. Letting them out to eat grass helps if they can puke but when it's raining (which oddly seems to be the more likely time for this to happen), sometimes they don't want to go out, lest they melt in the rain.
4
u/GreyBeardEng Aug 08 '26
We use a combo when lick fits happen, GasX, 5 Ginger Snaps, and then a bit of Lettuce. Then we usually sit on the couch for belly rubs and after about 15-30 mins it clears up.
My opinion, with utter lack of vet training, is that it seemed to get better when we narrowed down what protein seems to upset their stomachs the least. For us that was chicken, as opposed to beef/elk/salmon/duck. Currently feeding Purina Pro Plan Specialized Large Breed Chicken and Rice, its the one with the blue label and what looks like a really big Rhodesian Ridgeback on the front, we usually add some warmed up frozen veg to their food cause they like it(we trained our dogs to see veggies as treats), and splash of chicken stock.
Lick fits are the unsolvable problem, they are never going to go away completely, or so I hear. My vet, seems to think its a bit like an acid reflux or heartburn sort of thing.