[Dailydrool] Esophageal paralysis

[bonnie bowman]

I had a mixed breed dog, Jake, with esophageal paralysis.  It is a mechanical condition where the muscles of the esophagus are paralyzed and can't open it up.  Really distressing because there are episodes where the dog can't catch his breath! 

The recommendation to us was to have one of the muscles tied back surgically.  We did this and it was very helpful.  We were told that aspiration would be a big worry, but that was an easily managed scenario to slow down his eating.  Jake was an old dog with many other health issues so we spent over a year in various vet offices as they blamed his breathing on his heart, his liver, his nutrition, and probably me.  An internist can scope this out and let you know what the best path is for this old guy.  An emergency room vet suggested that if I add up the cost of multiple emergency room visits when he can't breathe, the surgery and consult might fall into a more affordable perspective.  At that time maybe 3 e-room visits would have broken us even and we had none after the surgery.

Jake is gone now, but breathing wasn't a issue when he went - his kidneys shut down.  I have never regretted giving him the chance to breathe so he could live out the rest of the life allotted to him without this distress.


Bonnie



On Jan 10, 2011, at 12:00 AM, dailydrool-request at lists.dailydrool.org wrote:

> Has anyone had a problem with esophageal Paralysis? Western Missouri Basset 
> Rescue has an older dog that has developed this conditon. I am calling the 
> vet tomorrow to find out what we need to do have tried a few medications but 
> nothing is helping.