Megaeophagus

Tuffs Mommy · #1 02-08-2007, 05:06 PM

I have a 2 1/2 year old Boxer. We have always had trouble keeping weight on him. Recently he has been vomiting up his food, and water. I took him to the vet and she said that Boxers are known to have Megaeophagus.( A dilated esophagus.) I have read many threads on this site and never heard of Boxers having this trouble. She also said he had a cold and gave us an antibiotic to give him for a week. He coughs, has tons of foamy saliva, and is extremely skinny. She took x-rays and said everything looked normal. She said to treat Megaeophagus simply feed him level, and feed canned food. Any thoughts on this condition? Thank you for your help.

**gmacleod** · #2 02-08-2007, 05:20 PM

There have been a few cases on the board. You'd probably find several threads with a search. I certainly wouldn't go so far as to call it common though.

And yes, pureed or canned food (something near liquid) is required. Fed at least level, but very often actually from a height - many people have success by having the dog put his front feet up on a chair.

EAO76 · #3 02-08-2007, 09:19 PM

I remember reading a few other posts like this. Do a search in the health section and you'll find them.

ehayes21 · #4 02-09-2007, 11:19 AM

Definitely do a search - one thing I would like to comment on is that in an adult dog, diseases that cause nerve damage can lead to megaesophagus as well as a few other underlying problems; further testing would need to be done to see if there is a treatable cause. If you do a search, either here or on the internet, you can find out what those are and how to detect them. Did your vet give you any reasons why not to do further testing? Did she do a chest xray? The cough you mentioned made me wonder - Not to scare you but the "cold" she dx him with could be "aspiration pneumonia" from inhaling regurgitated food material. A chest xray would need to be done to be sure, but this would make the case much more serious as pneumonia can be a life-threatening condition. Just a thought - I am not a vet, but I have a friend whos dog is DX with megaesophagus and have done a good bit of learning about it - I tend to look at all the possibilities instead of just one. Good luck.

Tuffs Mommy · #5 02-12-2007, 08:03 PM

Hello Everyone,
Just to update all on my dog Tuff. I took him to a different vet on Saturday. We went back today and to make a very sad story short, he has cancer. He has a tumor in his esopghagus. It is blocking the food from going down his throat. Nothing can be done for him. We will have to put him down later this week. We had to come home and tell the children. NOT an easy thing to do. They are heartbroken of course. I want to thank everyone for their help on this matter,and REALLY wish it had a different ending.

ELubas · #6 02-13-2007, 10:51 AM

I am so so sorry to hear this about your Tuff-and so young

. I can not imagine how awful it was to tell your children. Know I am thinking of you and your family at this sad and difficult time. God bless

ehayes21 · #7 02-13-2007, 11:10 AM

Oh my...that is so heart-breaking. I am glad you got a second opinion, but I am so sorry to hear about the tumor - there's no alternative? They can't remove it?

boxerloverbp · #8 02-13-2007, 02:04 PM

I am so sorry about Tuffs. It is so heartbreaking when there is nothing we can do for them. We lost our Ali in November to a very similar thing. Her tumor was in her intestines and we didn't realize anything was wrong until she started vomiting her food up. Our vet thought saw it on the x-ray and thought it was a foreign object obstruction, so we didn't find out it was cancer until he started the surgery to remove the obstruction. He did agree to wake her up from anesthesia, so we could come say goodbye and be with her when she went to the bridge. She was heavily sedated at the time but she still perked up her ears when she heard my husband's voice.

Tuffs was so young. I am so sorry for your loss. It makes me cry just to think about it! I will keep you and your family in my thoughts!

Tuffs Mommy · #9 02-14-2007, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehayes21

Oh my...that is so heart-breaking. I am glad you got a second opinion, but I am so sorry to hear about the tumor - there's no alternative? They can't remove it?

The vet did say we could try an operation. We could have sent him to Texas A&M. The cost would have been 4 or 5 Thousand Dollars! He did offer to try it himself for his cost which would have been around 2 or 3 Hundred Dollars. The chance was very great that it would have grown back. He really did not think there was a good chance for a heathly life. We decided it was best for us and him for it to just come to an end. I Homeschool my children and they were just sitting around looking at Tuff and crying. We thought it best to not drag it out and still have a bad outcome. We went ahead and took that last step yesterday. It was a very hard day for us. We are already looking for a new baby. The house just feels so empty. He will be greatly missed by our whole family.

ScamperButt · #10 02-16-2007, 01:53 PM

I'm so sorry to hear about your sweet Tuff!!! I teared up reading your post, and I just want you to know that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Sending ((((((hugs))))))) and wiggles from Molly

-Kristen