Chick Is Not Well

[phall]

My 11 year old girl, Chick, was diagnosed today with megaesophagus caused by a mass in her chest. She's scheduled for a fine needle aspirate and additional bloodwork has been sent out to let us know what the mass is. In the meantime, I'm dealing with her megaesophagus and am looking for some advice:

 

My vet said that in order for Chick to keep her food and water down, she needs to sit upright (in a sitting position or with her front feet elevated) for 30 minutes when she eats and drinks. This isn't going to happen - I've tried it and Chick will have nothing to do with eating or drinking in that position. What worked over the weekend for me was to give her 3-4 small meals each day rather than two large meals, and to give her small drinks of water regularly - every hour or so. I'm going to stick to that and see if it continues to work. But Chick always seems thirsty - she's a dog that never refuses water - she's always been that way, so it's hard to tell when she's actually had enough. How much water does she need on a daily basis to keep her from getting dehydrated? At her full weight, she's at 58 pounds.

 

Has anyone dealt with megaesophagus and have recommendations to keep food and water down, besides what I've noted above?

 

Any good links on information on megaesophagus?

 

Also - I live in Ayer, MA - I'd love to have my vet talk with a vet that is experienced in this. My vet is great and I have a lot of trust in her, but she even told me tonight that it's been a long time since she's had a case like this and never on a greyhound. I don't want to switch vets, but I'd love to find someone greyhound savy to talk with her.

 

Thanks for any advice.

 

Pat

[Guest SoulsMom]

Pat, I'm so sorry to hear this . . . if I recall correctly there was a thread on here about a dog that needed to be upright to eat and there was a special chair made for him. I'll do a search and see if I can find it . . .

 

ETA found it, the Baily chair:

http://petprojectblog.com/archives/dogs/me...e-bailey-chair/

 

Another link:

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php?showto...hl=Bailey+chair

 

 

Edited December 1, 2009 by SoulsMom

[Finnsliz]

Pat I am sorry your Chick is sick.

I have no advice only good wishes for recovery.

 

The "Chick" name rang a bell with me and her age. Is she JG Quickchick by any chance? If so she and Wink are half sisters sharing the same Dam. I looked Quickchick up on GD and noticed a great similarity.

 

Wishing you the best....

 

Liz

[gazehund]

Pat I am sorry to hear about Chick as well. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

[Guest Energy11]

Sorry to hear about this. I have no experience with this condition.

 

I would say, do what you have to do, to get food and water into her. The smaller meals and smaller water times, sound good. How much water depends. My boys don't drink a lot, because they eat twice daily, with lots of water added to their food.

 

Hope they can get to the bottom of the mass soon, too. Love, hugs and prayers to you from us!

[3greys2cats]

Sending prayers for Chick, sorry to hear that she is not well.

[phall]

Thanks for this, Amber. I'm going to think about it and maybe talk with people about it - I'm not sure if Chick would handle that, though, given her personality. But it's definitely worth me looking into.

 

Pat

 

 

Pat, I'm so sorry to hear this . . . if I recall correctly there was a thread on here about a dog that needed to be upright to eat and there was a special chair made for him. I'll do a search and see if I can find it . . .

 

ETA found it, the Baily chair:

http://petprojectblog.com/archives/dogs/me...e-bailey-chair/

 

Another link:

http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php?showto...hl=Bailey+chair

 

 

Hi Liz,

 

Chick's registered name is KD Rich Chick with her Dam being Bad Mood and her sire being My Rooster.

 

Thanks for your good wishes. I appreciate it.

 

Pat

 

Pat I am sorry your Chick is sick.

I have no advice only good wishes for recovery.

 

The "Chick" name rang a bell with me and her age. Is she JG Quickchick by any chance? If so she and Wink are half sisters sharing the same Dam. I looked Quickchick up on GD and noticed a great similarity.

 

Wishing you the best....

 

Liz

[Beckylpa]

I am sorry Chick is not doing well. I had a 6 year old male diagnosed with megaesophagus a few years ago. I do not recall my vet suggesting any particular position to eat or drink. What did work was giving 3 to 4 small meals a day, keeping him calm after eating, and having him remain standing for a short time after finishing eating. My vet also prescribed sucralfate every 8 hours to act as a protector from the acid/food coming back up.

 

Best wishes for your little pup.

[zimsmom]

Pat sorry to read this. It might be worth a call to Sutton Animal Hospital. Dr Jill is gone now but her associate seems excellent also. They see a lot of greyhounds there.

Patty

[Guest MorganKonaAlex]

Pat, I'm sorry to hear about Chick. Poor girl.

[Devotion]

I have no personal experience with any of my greys but I do have a very good friend who's grey, Heaven, has megaesophagus. He lives in Taos New Mexico and I have a house there so see him several times a year and he simply feeds her 4-5 small meals a day. She does fantastic!!!! She was thought unadoptable but not for him. Heaven has thrived. He tried the sitting positions, chairs etc but Heaven wouldn't eat. So in desperation he took what she eats in a day and divided it in to 4-5 meals. Yes, Heaven, eats slower than usual but she gets the needed nutrition. He does wet her food with water to make sure she gets the necessary water she needs. I'm pray Chick will be like Heaven. Good luck to you both!

[Guest lynne893]

sending my best thoughts and love for Chick!!

[robinw]

There is (was?) a hound named Soda who had the same thing and ate in a special chair. Last I heard he was doing well.

[Guest IrskasMom]

 

 

Sending Prayers and good Wishes

[phall]

thanks so much for sharing this info - it helps me so much. This is what I'm doing now with Chick and so far we're having good luck with it. I do give her small quanitities of water every hour or so and make her drink slowly (taking her mouth out for a couple of seconds while she drinks so that she isn't gulping it). I'm very lucky in that my husband is home right now and can make sure Chick gets her small meals and bits of water while I"m at work.

 

Thanks again - I appreciate it.

 

Pat

 

I have no personal experience with any of my greys but I do have a very good friend who's grey, Heaven, has megaesophagus. He lives in Taos New Mexico and I have a house there so see him several times a year and he simply feeds her 4-5 small meals a day. She does fantastic!!!! She was thought unadoptable but not for him. Heaven has thrived. He tried the sitting positions, chairs etc but Heaven wouldn't eat. So in desperation he took what she eats in a day and divided it in to 4-5 meals. Yes, Heaven, eats slower than usual but she gets the needed nutrition. He does wet her food with water to make sure she gets the necessary water she needs. I'm pray Chick will be like Heaven. Good luck to you both!

 

[GreyWrangler]

No advice here Pat, but we are thinking of you.

[Batmom]

What are you feeding? It might be of help to feed pureed wet food -- no chunks or lumps. If you're feeding wet food, you may need to feed 3-4 meals a day rather than the standard 2 as wet food takes up more room in the tummy (and may cause dog to have to go outside a bit more often).

[phall]

Thanks, Batmom. I've eliminated dry food and have switched Chick to canned food with some yogurt and a bit of cooked hamburg (crushed small). I add a bit of warm water to it to really mush it up for her. I have, too, started her on a regime of 4 small meals a day rather than two - so far she's doing pretty well. Everything is staying down. Please keep your fingers crossed that we continue to do well.

 

We've been giving her about a half cup of water to drink every hour and a half or so, and that's working well too. The last time we offered her the water, she declined it and she's not constantly hunting for water any more.

 

I'm feeling a bit better, but very worried about Monday. Thanks to everyone for your well wishes and your concern.

 

Pat

 

What are you feeding? It might be of help to feed pureed wet food -- no chunks or lumps. If you're feeding wet food, you may need to feed 3-4 meals a day rather than the standard 2 as wet food takes up more room in the tummy (and may cause dog to have to go outside a bit more often).

 

[ripley488]

 

 

My Ben has a similar condition called a Vascular Anomaly. Basically he has a constricted esophagus, so no solid foods will go down. He regurgitates food if it gets lodged in his esophagus - which is often.

 

He has been on pureed food since he was diagnosed. The vet also recommended him sitting up while he ate - but Ben would have nothing to do with that.

 

He gets 3 meals a day & I just hold his bowl in my lap while he eats. Then, if his esophagus is enlarged (above the constriction) we dance. It just means I pickup his front feet & put them on my shoulders & then I burp him with my right hand (the esophagus is on his left side) to try to get the food to move down the pipe. We move around (like dancing) and I talk to him. We have made it fun over the years and time for just me & Ben. I don't do this with any of the other dogs - just him. We usually only do this for a few minutes - until he has had enough. Either the food goes down or it doesn't. If it doesn't I try to pick it up as soon as it comes out or he will continue to re-feed on it. Not good as it will continue to come out in his case.

 

 

[phall]

Someone else suggested this type of "dancing". Chick may go for that as she loves special attention and trick-type things. I'm going to give it a try. Thanks so much.

 

Pat

 

My Ben has a similar condition called a Vascular Anomaly. Basically he has a constricted esophagus, so no solid foods will go down. He regurgitates food if it gets lodged in his esophagus - which is often.

 

He has been on pureed food since he was diagnosed. The vet also recommended him sitting up while he ate - but Ben would have nothing to do with that.

 

He gets 3 meals a day & I just hold his bowl in my lap while he eats. Then, if his esophagus is enlarged (above the constriction) we dance. It just means I pickup his front feet & put them on my shoulders & then I burp him with my right hand (the esophagus is on his left side) to try to get the food to move down the pipe. We move around (like dancing) and I talk to him. We have made it fun over the years and time for just me & Ben. I don't do this with any of the other dogs - just him. We usually only do this for a few minutes - until he has had enough. Either the food goes down or it doesn't. If it doesn't I try to pick it up as soon as it comes out or he will continue to re-feed on it. Not good as it will continue to come out in his case.

 

[Guest SoulsMom]

Someone else suggested this type of "dancing". Chick may go for that as she loves special attention and trick-type things. I'm going to give it a try. Thanks so much.

 

Pat

 

My Ben has a similar condition called a Vascular Anomaly. Basically he has a constricted esophagus, so no solid foods will go down. He regurgitates food if it gets lodged in his esophagus - which is often.

 

He has been on pureed food since he was diagnosed. The vet also recommended him sitting up while he ate - but Ben would have nothing to do with that.

 

He gets 3 meals a day & I just hold his bowl in my lap while he eats. Then, if his esophagus is enlarged (above the constriction) we dance. It just means I pickup his front feet & put them on my shoulders & then I burp him with my right hand (the esophagus is on his left side) to try to get the food to move down the pipe. We move around (like dancing) and I talk to him. We have made it fun over the years and time for just me & Ben. I don't do this with any of the other dogs - just him. We usually only do this for a few minutes - until he has had enough. Either the food goes down or it doesn't. If it doesn't I try to pick it up as soon as it comes out or he will continue to re-feed on it. Not good as it will continue to come out in his case.

 

Awww, I love this!

 

[RobinM]

So sorry you and Chick are going through this. Many prayers.

[duncan41]

I am so sorry about this dx, but it sounds like you're on the right track with her! I know what you mean about personalities - I have 2 that would probably do OK with that chair, but the third one? No way! Anyway, have you thought about contacting OSU about Chick? Or maybe someone out in GT land can help with a grey savvy Vet that would consult?

Good luck and keep up the great work that you're doing with your girl! Update when you can about the test results.

[EllenEveBaz]

Hello to you and the Chick.

How much water does she need on a daily basis to keep her from getting dehydrated?

I just looked this up online, since I've always been kind of curious about this, too. Of course, it varies from dog to dog, and also on how active the dog is, the temperature, and the kind of food the dog eats.

 

Several sites said 2.5x the mass of food (example: 20 oz. of dry food x 2.5 = 45 oz. water) but the examples were all dry food, none provided a wet food example. I did find one vet site that suggested 1 oz. per pound that the dog weighs, so at 58 lbs., Chick's water amount would be 58 oz. = about 7 cups. However, I don't think my dogs drink near that amount of water in a day. Maybe someone else can set this straight.

 

Although I'm not being much help on the "how much" front, I wonder if a crate water bottle -- the kind that only dispense a little at a time, might be useful for Chick.

[phall]

I hadn't thought of this - the crate water bottle! That may work - I think I'll give it a try.

 

We have reached a point where she's not always hunting for water - we must have finally gotten enough into her that she's not feeling thirsty all the time. At one point last night, when we offered her a drink, she didn't want it. Never thought I'd be relieved about something like that, but I am.

 

I've read in some places that 7-8 cups of water a day is what dogs should get, but my other two don't drink nearly that much either. With the drinks that we give her and with the water mixed in with her food, I'd say she probably gets about 4-5 cups a day. It seems to be enough for her.

 

The food continues to stay down, so the 4 small meals a day seems to be working with her.

 

Thanks, everyone, for all your help.

 

Pat

 

 

 

Although I'm not being much help on the "how much" front, I wonder if a crate water bottle -- the kind that only dispense a little at a time, might be useful for Chick.