my dogs stomach is making noises

Question
we have a shelter dog that we adopted two weeks ago, beautiful little boy about 10 months old, Chesa. Bay Mix. we are giving him the same food that he had at the shelter, but do give him small amounts of "people food", last night his stomach noises were so loud it woke me up.  This morning his stomach is still making noises and he is passing gas (once). He did not have a bowel morning on his morning walk. He is a sweet boy and very loving, but seems a little 'mushy' today.  what do you think it is?

Answer
Hi JoAnn,

It sound like whatever people food you gave Chesa didn't agree with him.

The condition is called "Excessive Borborygmus", which just means the dog has loud stomach noises. What you hear is the rumbling noise produced by the passage of gas through the dog's intestinal tract.

You can try adding a little fiber to Chesa's diet, it will also help with his constipation. If you add fiber to your his diet, food will get faster to the intestines and gases will have less time to develop. Try adding about two teaspoons of canned pumpkin to your dog's meals ("pure" canned pumpkin, not the spiced pumpkin pie filling mix). It's best to start with smaller amounts, see how that goes, and then increase to whatever amount your dog will tolerate.

Anti-gas enzymes supplements such as Digel, Maalox and Mylanta might help. The liquid form of these over the counter drugs work better on dogs than the chewables. A dog has a shorter digestive track than a person, and a chewable tablets can be swallowed un-chewed, and pass right through the dog and not be absorbed. Give 5-30 ml by mouth every 12 to 24 hours. One tablespoon equals 15 ml, that's a safe middle dose to try.

If possible, walk Chesa within 30 minutes of his meals. This encourages defecation and elimination of intestinal gas.

I hope that helps,
Best of luck,

Patti