From:
Julie Fossa
Date: 2002-09-03 03:55:37 UTC
Subject: Megaesophagus
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-ID: <20020903035537.54651.qmail@web13402.mail.yahoo.com>
We had a 2-3 year old male, Sammy, come into the
shelter in June. He was nearly bald, and painfully
thin at 1 pound, 13 ounces. Despite unlimited,
quality food, he continued to loose weight. On
occasion, I would see splatters of broken up food in a
puddle of water or slightly more processed piles of
food. I never caught him in the act. Just cleaned it
up, and attributed it to a hairball in his stomach,
which would be taken care of when he went in for
adrenal surgery. He lost 2 ounces during the next 3
weeks. He was leaving deposits in the litterbox, so I
knew some was getting through.
Sammy stopped breathing twice during his adrenal
surgery. No hairball or other obstruction was found.
After surgery, Sammy stopped eating. I had to start
him on soft food. Sammy ate this Chicken Gravy like
he was starving, which he literally WAS. However, he
was making sounds which reminded me of a child sucking
on a straw after the milkshake is gone. Also made
squirting sounds, as the food entered the stomach. I
found that if I kept his head elevated enough, and the
food thinned enough, the air could escape, making a
gurgling sound, allowing his soup to run into his
stomach better. (We started out with him eating,
standing on his back legs.) He occasionally would
'back-up' and we would have to massage his throat and
neck to help him swallow, let him run around a bit,
then try again. (keep him relaxed.)
I found a few excellent websites and followed the
information there. Sammy was started on Zantac and
Propulsid. I somewhat follow the recipe for a diet
listed, since the bananas seem to make the food much
more appealing to Sammy.
Two weeks after Sammy's surgery, his weight was up to
3 pounds, 2 ounces. I've now dropped the Dyne out of
his food, and he is maintaining 3 pounds. He is
active and athletic. Still looks thin but is
muscular. He is spending about half of his time in a
foster home, now. If all goes well, he will be
spending most of his time there, and only return to
the shelter when his family is away.
We have not run any tests on Sammy to validate a
diagnosis of Megaesophagus, but I believe that is what
this little guy's problem is.
He is a beautiful, robust little male now, growing in
a silky new coat.
Does anyone know if Mega-E is progressive or, if it is
caught and dealt with, it's progression can be halted?
Does anyone know what might be the cause of this
condition to develop?
Julie
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