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Case study 1
Our experience of megaesophagus was in a litter we bred, up till weaning the 6 puppies were all healthy and of average size.
At weaning them onto a mix of puppy porridge and milk I noticed one of the Puppies always seemed to have milk coming down his nose after feeding at the time I put it down to him being greedy as he otherwise looked in excellent condition.
5 weeks of age : The puppy was often to be seen sneezing or with milk draining from his nose during feeding time otherwise behaviors and body condition were normal.
6 weeks of age: The puppy would regurgitate food immediately after feeding the re eat it, body condition was still normal.
7 weeks of age: The puppy continues to regurgitate food at regular intervals the decision was taken not to allow her to be rehomed but to investigate further.
At the initial veterinary consultation we were advised she may well grow out of it so to do nothing
8 weeks of age: Having searched the net I began to raise food bowl and feed the puppy smaller meals , unfortunately this had no effect the puppies body weight was fine but her coat has started to look dull.
9 weeks of age: The puppy began to become very distressed and cry after eating then she would regurgitate her food it was decide to take her back to the vet.
10 weeks of age: The puppy was taken to the vet and was x-rayed under GA this finally gave us a diagnoses of megaesophagus, The condition was quite severe and it was deemed by all concerned that the kindest course of action was to put the puppy to sleep.
To anyone who has been through this it is a awful decision to euthanize what is a happy playful puppy who was otherwise ok , but for this puppy there was no future she would not get better and surgery to correct it was not an option.
I hope this helps others understand what to look for in a puppy during those early days.
Anonymous
bravenet.com