Megaoesophagus.

[Astrid Landsaat]

After months of vomiting/regurgitating, last Thursday the chest x-rays made it clear that my Ginger does have MO. It is not caused by the drugs she is taking for her epilepsy, but it is the heritable form. Now I now that she has MO I can deal with it, the vomiting stopped now I know what caused it. With loads of antibiotics she is recovering remarkably well from her inhalation pneumonia. I found out that I can live with MO, just like her epilepsy. The only difficult thing is the combination. Today she had four seizures and they made her very hungry. Because of the MO she is only allowed to eat and drink in sitting position. After that she has to stay for 15 minutes in a more or less vertical position. Even today I could deal with the situation. I was wandering, are there more owners with dogs that has both diseases? If yes, how do you deal with it?

[eva ciechonska]

So sorry to hear about Ginger now being diagnosed with MO at her age. I had a bitch in the early 80s who was diagnosed with the same condition at the same age but it was not the inherited form, and I don't think yours is either. When my bitch was 5 years old she swallowed a large stone and was x-rayed to locate it. There was no sign of MO at that time. When she was diagnosed with it 18 months later the specialist found ulceration in the upper part of her stomach and concluded that it was the aquired form though the cause was not clear but a bacterialogical infection was assumed. Putting her onto a course of antibiotics reduced the ulcers sufficiently for the condition to disappear. However as she got older the periods between medication became shorter and shorter until the condition overtook her and she was put to sleep. The inherited form of MO would have shown up when she was a youngster. There is a possibility that your Ginger could have something similar or that the drugs could indeed be the reason for her MO. Speak to your vet, maybe she needs to be scoped or a biopsy taken to determine the cause. I wish you luck.

[Susan Stone]

I am very sorry to hear your news, Astrid. I know you are coping well with the epilepsy but as you say, having an additional problem to cope with is not easy.
I know many litters in NL are x-rayed for MO before going to their new owners. I assume Ginger was not x-rayed as a pup?
There seem to be cases that are not obvious to the breeder during the rearing of the litter - but do show up on the xray with barium. I know there is a site (I think Yahoo groups) that deals with dogs with MO.

[eva ciechonska]

Many breeders in the UK x-ray their litters with barium too at about 5 or 6 weeks, I do it myself because I was caught out once. The puppy didn't show signs of MO until she was about 11 months old.
I have not heard of dogs who are born with MO being diagnosed past the age of 14-16 months, but I have heard of puppies who have been diagnosed in the nest being re-xrayed at 6 months who have successfully grown out of the condition.
Interesting to know that there is a site that deals with dogs with MO. Good luck with this and please keep us informed.

[Astrid Landsaat]

Thanks for your replies! I don't think that Ginger was x-rayed as a puppy. The breeder said she was, but she can't show any paper work to proof this.
Eva, Ginger does have the inherited form. I took her to our specialist in Wageningen for the x-ray. He said that it was very clear that it wasn't caused by drugs.

[eva ciechonska]

Astrid, I will try and find out because, to my knowledge, it is almost impossible for an IS born with MO to get to such an age before presenting with any symptoms. Maybe there is another cause. Could anyone else offer an explaination My bitch was refered to Cambridge and was seen by a visiting specialist from the USA - unfortunately it was a long time ago and I cannot remember his name. It is not uncommon for a dog to aquire MO. Cats have been known to get it too. I think I will Google it.

[Astrid Landsaat]

Eva, the symptoms where there for almost 2 years. Since February this year it was getting worse.

[eva ciechonska]

Astrid, MO diagnosed in puppies/young dogs is assumed to have a genetic predisposition and is believed to be congenital. Cases in puppies usually come to light by the time the pup is about 12 weeks old though mild cases may not be diagnosed until the dog is around 1 year old. In older dogs the condition is either idiopathic or can be aquired and occurs in dogs from about 5 years old onwards but it hasn't been found to have a genetic influence.
There are drugs that control MO and of course there is the feeding regime both of which your vet has already advised you on, but I am sure you have researched all this.
Let's hope it works out well for Ginger and for you.

[Margaret Sierakowski]

Sometimes one can spot MO as early as three weeks, or as soon as the puppies are being weaned. Once they are on more solid food as well as milk, one will hear an affected puppy making snuffling noises as they eat and drink. Some of the food or milk doesnt go down the right way, and they may bring some it up again through the nose.

[Astrid Landsaat]

Vivian,

No, I have never seen a Bailey chair, so I am very curious. Not that I have problems with Ginger. The word "sit" is enough to let her eat and drink in that position. :-)

[Astrid Landsaat]

Thanks for the link, Vivian. It looks very odd, the dogs in the video's. I think I am going to build one myself. It might be very useful at those days she is fitting.

[Helen Moore]

I had a litter of whippet puppies a few years ago. They will be 3 in february. in the litter of 10 one pup a bitch was doing fine until she was 6 weeks. We noticed she wasn't doing as well as the others. We took her to the vets as she was regurgitating her food. She was diagnosed as having MO. She could only eat baby food it was all she could keep down she was tiny much smaller than her sister Angel. She weighed 1kg wereas Angel was over 3 and not a big bitch. Sadly Dinky was too small to make it and she went to sleep on my knee on april 1st 2007 never to wake up again. With her it was a birth deffect rather than hereditory it is unheard of in whippets but is common in greyhounds.

A friend has a greyhound who suffers with it. She has taught him to eat with his front feet on the bottom the stairs and he does well. He stands like that for a while after he has eaten but he aalso has quite a few small meals during the day.

[Sue and Cash]

I didn't have to deal with that Astrid, but I do know that it was one of the things I was warned to watch for when on Kbr. But since yours is genetic, I guess that isn't the case. I just wanted to wish you and Ginger well.