The esophagus thing - Page 1

What is the esophagus problem in GSD's?

What is the problem?

What are the signs and symptoms and how is it diagnosed?

Thanks

It is called mesoesaphagus. It usually shows up quickly in pups. They cannot hold food down. It is genetic.

It's a defect seen in some GSD bloodline strains (and other dog breeds) and has a number of clinical signs from failure to maintain proper weight, acid reflux, regurgitation, water gulping, and plenty others.  It's often called Mega-E for short. And it is one of the 20 recognized inherited gastro-intestinal disorders amongst dogs.

Here are some links that can better explain it:
http://www.gsdhelpline.com/gut1.htm

http://www.caninemegaesophagus.org/What_is_MegaEsophagus.html

In a nutshell, it's where the esophagus is enlarged and seems to lack the normal waves of muscular contractions that aid in proper swallowing. It causes food to stay in the esophagus rather than being the transportation from the mouth to the stomach. It is usually but not always progressive in nature (meaning, it gets worse as the dog ages). Typically is found via signs at 12wks of age.

Yes, it's genetic just like everything else.  But it varies in degree.  Some cases are very severe, and others are manageable.  Diagnosis is usually apparent once puppies are weaned.  While puppies are still nursing, the breeder might notice a  puppy not putting on weight like the others and spitting up more often.  After they go on solid food, it becomes much more evident.  They cannot keep down the solid and will frequently vomit up their food--actually from what I understand, the esophagus has not formed sufficiently to ensure food stays in the stomach.  If the case is not severe, the dog can live a fairly normal life but will always have to be fed using an elevated feeder.  With puppies, it is difficult to avoid pneumonia.  It's one of those problems that is obvious to a breeder who spends a lot of time with the puppies and does daily weighing.  

I have had one pup with Mega-E.  Very very sad and I knew the symptoms when I first saw them, although I didn't want to believe it.  The pup was so hungry but just couldn't hold food down, she'd eat and then vomit it up. I did everything I could for her, tried elevating her after eating, during eating, etc...gave her a pillow to lay on so the food would gravitate down, and still it did no good. The poor baby was starving to death.  I made the difficult decision to put her to sleep.  Very sad....

Peggy

Does anyone here know which bloodline carries the mesoesaphagus gene?

lots of them do... have seen and had it in American show lines, German show lines and working lines.. it is pretty common.

I've caught 2 pups right around 3 weeks.. milk around their nose and mouth is the sign, one already had pneumonia.. the most recent is going on 2 and doing great... seems to be not so problematic with a raw diet.. since it is already less clumpy than kibble and goes down easier.  She has been successfully spayed and is very active and doing agility.

A lot of dogs with mega-e do have problems thru life with pneumonia due to aspiration and I know of one who has problems with hot weather  .. some live long, some don't 

I had a beautiful solid black boy pup, that I thought had that, so I had my vet check him out, what they do
is feed the pup some contrast stuff so it can be seen in x-rays going down it's throat towards it's stomach.

She had him a good part of the day, she then told me he was fine & didn't have that.

Then he went home with his new family, and started doing his little thing again, right after he ate,
he would look like he was about to throw his food up, but then nothing would come up and he would
stop.

So I told the family to meet me at my other vet that has many, many years experience under his belt,
and get a second opinion, it was sort of funny, but not really.....the vet. told them if this pup has mega-
esophagus he would have to be put to sleep, the vet. being this old fashioned farmer type tell it like it is,
failed to notice the 2 small children in the room, oops) at the time, then he hastily said, get the kids
outta here,  things ended up fine with pup, it seemed he just had a strange habit that eventually went away
after time, that was a relief!

So far, haven't had any pups with it, but it's good to know the symptoms.

Another thing that causes similar symptoms is Persistant Right Aortic Arch (PRAA) I had a pup that had this, basically a vessel that is supposed to close off in utero never does and as the pup grows it starts to constrict the esophogus and makes the pup regurgitate anything that is not a liquid consistancy.  Surgery can correct this problem, but it involves cracking the chest.  Needless to say I now have a very expensive pet....One of the reasons I no longer breed, I am too soft.  The pup was sold for $1200, refunded the buyer after I found out the problem and then paid $3k to have the surgery done, lol.  Couldn't live with myself for putting down a otherwise healthy pup for a treatable condition.

This is just too weird, I was just asking a friend about this condition last nite. I have had one adult female diagnosed with megaesophagus and it's not something I would like to deal with again. However my daughter just adopted a beautiful  9 month old chocolate cocker and everytime she drinks water she will throw it back up. She does fine with the kibble, but not with water. She seems to gulp it like she has not had it in days, then she can take a few steps and throw it up. Well she called me and the megaesophagus came to mind, but I have never dealt with it being the liquids being thrown up. I first thought it was because she drinks to fast and then runs around and plays, so they started watching her when she drinks so she does not drink alot, and also crating her right after she drinks to see if this helps, but if she has to walk from the water bowl to the crate she will still throw it up. I am stumpped but I am thinking it's mega. I did read online last nite that throwing up the liquid is the beginning with food regurgitating to follow.   I am going to call my vet this morning since he is the one that diagnosed my girl a few years ago.

Thanks

Debbie