Info on mega esophogus - Page 1

I have now had this show up in my breedings.None of the dogs involved have this condition.   The first time it showed up was a new bredding, first time for bitch and sire. So we werenot sure what to think.The sencond time it was with a bitch that had produced 2 litters prior with no history of mega.it reared its ugly head again. In my conclusion I must say it is dominat recessive in this case involving the stud. We will have him neutered.(what a shame) Please do not breed dogs with this problem. A dog can bring nothing "to the table" that can out weigh this condition!

It is a recessive condition, both parents have to carry the gene unless it is adult onset which is usually caused by a medical condition....

Offspring each carry a 50% chance of having the gene and the only way to prove it conclusively is to breed to another dog you know that has produced it ... not too appealing to most, but breeding to a dog that you know has not produced it does make the chances a bit more favorable.......

I have seen it so much in all different lines and combinations.. just have to keep weeding out as you go....

First I'm sorry for all the misspellings on my first post.I was going too fast and I am not that great of a typist 

I do not believe( at this point) it takes "2 to tango". What I know is the sencond bitch did not throw Mega on either of the 2 proir breedings and I have both her parents whom had 6 litters and it never has shown up in them or any of their off spring.And I have her sister who has been bred 3 times and it hasnt shown up. Can you tell me where you have found this information.

DKiah is right.

Just because you breed two carriers does not mean that you will get this condition. It is the luck of the draw. You can breed two dogs together 5 times and the sixth time, you will have a mega. If genetics were that easy, we would only have healthy dogs with great temperament and beautiful structure. Recessives are what they are: recessives. Dominant traits are different.

I believe Malcolm Willis has a chapter on meaga esophogus in this book, "The Genetics of the German Shepherd Dog". If I remember I will check tonight at home.

Chris

I will still throw out the male!

From the breeding pool that is. Hes' a great Pet.

I am absolutely right and the bitch could have been bred the other times to males who did not carry the gene.. trust me - not only have I seen this more times than I care to admit but I have a friend who is a geneticist and a GSD person, which comes in very handy!!

And I've had the very situations I described happen to me...... it's no picnic all the time, this breeding thing

It certainly does suck when you run up against the likes of Mega... Not a darn thing you can do about it

I just got the diognosis of mega esophagus for a 3 month old puppy. The vet in the clinic told me it can have more reasons for this. It could be a genetic defect, plumbism, hormons or a constriction of the esophagus. They also told me that in very seldom cases it can go away again. Does anyone know more about mega esophagus? How long can a dog live with it? What can you do to make the dog's life easier? I already know that you should feed the dog little portions of food in a higher position and if possible train him to stay like this for some time after feeding. The sad thing is that these dogs mostly die of pneumonia. I would really appriciate to get some more infos about dogs with mega esophagus.

I had GSD who was diagnosed with mega when she was about 2mo. old (she was born with it). The vet told me that she wouldn't live past her 1st b-day. She lived to be almost 12 and she didn't die of mega. We had her on 2 different antibiotic her whole life. Baytril and chepaflexin (SP?), 10 days on one than the other for 10 days. Not cheap! But it bought her time. Even with the antibiotics she got aspriration pneumonia once in a while. She always ate from the kitchen table, her front legs on the chair, bowl on the table and we massaged her chest to help gravity.