We got a puppy! On October 18th I drove from Southlake to San Antonio and back again with the twins. It was 10 hours in the vehicle, but they were thrilled to have a puppy! We purchased a Cavapoo through a Breeder who has been in business for 40 years. I went to her property and saw all the dogs and was pleased to see how well kept and clean the facilities were on the property. Her whole family is involved in the operation and care of the dogs including her adult children and grandchildren.
I had searched for a rescue dog first, for many hours. I looked for a King Charles Cavelier first. The problem is my husband needs hypo allergenic. The cavapoo is the King Charles mixed with a miniature poodle and therefore is hypoallergenic. I found one cavapoo on the rescue pages, but he had been adopted recently by another family. Because we needed a dog that would be very good with kids (since we have 3 kids ages 5 and under) and we needed hypoallergenic the cavapoo seemed like the perfect breed for our family. They can be hard to find, as they are in high demand, so finding one ready now for adoption was amazing!
Unfortunely, the dog has been sick since we got him. What began as kennel cough, or so we (and the vet) thought, turned out to be megaespophagus. This means his esophagus does not work to push down food like it normally should. Food comes and he is regurgitating at least several times a day, especially during the night. Well, things got worse and on Monday he aspirated after he swallowed some fluid back into his lungs. He went into respiratory distress, so I rushed him to the vet.
After spending the entire day and plenty of money at the vet, we decided to bring him home and treat him with the antibiotics at home. The vet gave him a 50/50 chance of making it the next few days. Thankfully, he is eating and drinking and voluntarily taking the antibiotics orally without a single issue! Praise God for answering prayers!
Today he is acting like a puppy running around and playing! He wore himself out so he is back to resting now. He is eating and drinking very eagerly today. I am also using essential oils on him for his respiratory issues and it has seemed to really work!
I ordered a Bailey chair for him to eat in since essentially his esophagus is paralyzed and we need gravity to help the food enter into the stomach (otherwise it all comes back up). These are chairs that are specially made for dogs with this disorder. Unfortunately, they refunded my money because he isn’t big enough yet. She did suggest using a waste basket and tucking him in there with blankets for feeding time to keep him upright. Ingenious! We will be giving it a try. We can order the Bailey chair when he gets big enough.
A dog in his Bailey Chair- from the Bailey Chairs 4 Dogs website.
megaesophagus can be uncomplicated and the dog may just need this special chair for feeding. However, an underlying disorder such as neuromuscular disease may have caused this megaespohogus condition. I found some helpful info on the Bailey chairs website about the disorder and how to go about dealing with it: https://www.baileychairs4dogs.com
I will move forward with testing of some of the things mentioned in the list above. We will also start on some meds to help with reducing the acid in his stomach so it doesn’t damage his esophagus.
I have sent text messages to the Breeder over the past few days and have not gotten a response. Not sure what she could do at this point. Their policy is to replace the dog if they have a congenital condition that affects the dogs life span. Right now we don’t know everything about Max because he is so young and more testing needs to be done. We also really love the dog. We will take it one day at a time with him to meet his special needs. I am praying that the megaespohagus is not due to another condition. We can easily manage megaesophagus. Anything else at this point is unknown, so we can’t even begin to think that far. One day at a time..
Oh, and the good news is that some dogs actually outgrow the condition as their body grows! That would be a miracle if that could happen for Max! Praying for this to happen for our sweet puppy.
