Tomorrow I will get a quote from her current vet about a tonsillectomy.  I don't think Chloe is at that 'critical' point where it is a 'you must do this or your dog will be suffering' since she is otherwise fine. I think I am just a paranoid pawrent and just want her to not be in any discomfort.

She is currently seeing an internal medicine specialist and when I called the vet office, I found that her internship time there is up and she will be leaving that practice soon. I think I will keep Chloe on the prilosec and honey regime for a week (that is what the vet specialist recommended as her last 'medication tapering' since she was on so many different kinds), and then if things change or get worse, call another vet and set up a consultation with their internal medicine specialist.  No matter what, she will be seeing a different specialist since her current one is leaving.  

Part of me wants to stay with the current vet practice since they all 'work together', but they are more expensive and don't have low income help. And like you said if I get another opinion and they say the same thing, then that's what I will have to do.  

Overall as long as her gulping doesnt interfere with critical functions like eating and breathing, I'm not too concerned, but  it will always be something in the back of my mind. And I wonder that if I go through with more diagnosics and procedures whether or not this 'gulping' is a side effect from having acid reflux and therefore affecting the tonsils or if it is just the tonsils and removing them removes the problem.  I would hate to have it 'remove' a side effect but not solve the problem. Too many circular arguments in my head!

-Nicole

In response to Rene, I just bought the kindle version, and will read it later today thanks for the tip!  You certainly always have a good tip up your sleeve no matter how many times I come back to the forums...

Update: I got an estimate from the surgeon today, the tonsillectomy would be anywhere from $1500-2500.  It would depend on 'how she looks' to determine the actual cost (if anything unexpected arose). Even though my estimate was right on, I feel better knowing that cost range rather than perpetually 'wondering'.

The only other potential diagnostic tests her specialist and I discussed months ago would be a $1500 MRI (to see if there is an obstruction outside the esophagus or trachea causing the gulping) or an ultrasound (cheaper than MRI) followed by potential removal surgery if anything was found. Or possibly another upper tract endoscopy to see if things have changed (another $2000ish). More anaesthetic procedures are of concern to me since she is 11.5 yrs old... I'd rather keep trying non invasive route as long as possible.

Funny thing is that she has been gulping less harshly in the last 36hrs, but some days seem to be better than others, so I don't want to jinx it! I've also tried looking up youtube videos to see if other dogs in the world had any similar symptoms, but I couldn't find anything exact. Other dogs with acid reflux problems seem to have kind of similar symptoms (which was her preliminary diagnosis), so maybe her body is just taking a long time to heal internally.

Like I said, this is her last week of prilosec (different than just pepcid) and on Friday I will call to give her specialist the weekly update. Since she is leaving the practice soon, I have prepared a whole lot of questions for Friday (like what if situations). 

My rambling thoughts: I keep going back and forth with trying to explain her behavior based on my limited knowledge and numerous vet visits (an online 'research'). My current line of logic (which tends to change with my mood it seems) is that she might have had some tummy issues in May, ate grass (and poo to get worms), then got the foxtail stuck under the tongue and in tonsils, which led to an endoscopy that revealed internal inflammation (possibly due to both acid/tummy issues and foxtail ingestion), and finally leading to a long recovery time for healing the inflammation and getting the tummy issues under control.  All of her other biopsy tests indicated no cancer or disease so I have no reason to believe otherwise.

I thought maybe her food was an issue, but she has been on this grain free food for almost 2 years (no recalls) and it doesn't have lots of fat or the controversial 'too high of protein' aka. too rich for older dogs (no idea what to believe on that front, but her food only has 25% protein thing rather than some foods that have almost 35%). I like that her food is salmon based so she gets the beneficial omegas etc... And the dog food advisor gives it 5 stars. To help mitigate large acid quantities produced in her stomach I recently started giving her 3 small meals a day with a little bit of mushy kibble, fat free chicken and brown rice.  Might add some canned pumpkin. I don't want to do an overhaul on her food just yet (aka switch) because I don't know if it really is her food or her age (and therefore would have acid issues on any other kibble). I also give her the same treats she has been given for over a year (trader joe's organic grain free chicken and rice sticks) and never give her table scraps.

I seem to write long essay posts...more for me to 'get out' my feelings than anything else. I know I have a blog for that too..sometimes this is just easier.

-Nicole