1. Feed your dog from a raised bowl. The normal feeding posture for a dog is standing on all fours with his head down in a bowl on the floor – this won't work for a dog with this ailment. The simplest remedy is to get gravity to work for the dog by feeding him from a raised up bowl. The optimum angle is to have the dog's backbone and neck running at a 45-90° angle to the ground.[1]
- To achieve this, place the food bowl on a chair or low table, depending on the size of the dog. Thus for a Labrador putting the food on a surface elevated two to three feet from the ground is desirable. At this height the dog is may need to put his front paws on the surface in order to reach the food, and this is an advantage because it elevates all the forequarters, and the stomach will lie in a lower position.
- In anatomical terms, when eating "normally," the food he swallows passes uphill from his mouth to his stomach. A dog with megaesophagus lacks the muscular contractions necessary to milk the food upwards against gravity and push it through the gastric sphincter guarding the entrance to the stomach.
2. Elevate his paws and head after eating. In addition, after finishing a meal, the dog should rest in a similar position with his paws and head elevated. Food does not pass instantly into the stomach; by maintaining this posture for a ten to twenty minutes after eating, it gives gravity a chance to help.
- To do this, get your dog situated on a couple of pillows or blankets. In time, you can train him to sit like this after eating so he'll do it even when you're not around.
3. Consider giving him a liquid diet. A dog with a vascular ring anomaly often has a narrow, but patent, lumen in the gullet and can often drink fluids and keep them down. This is because liquid can pass through the narrow lumen but food gets stuck and dams back. If surgery is not feasible for whatever reason, these dogs should be fed from a raised up bowl (see above) and be given a liquid diet.
- Special high calorie, prescription diets are available which are pate-like in the tin, but when mashed with a fork (and without the addition of water) become liquid. This is an effective way of providing a balanced diet that the dog can cope with.
- Another option is to feed him a regular diet but put it through a blender prior to serving, so that the food is a gruel-like, or porridge type, consistency.
4. Experiment with different food textures. Apart from a liquid diet, it is worth experimenting with different textures of food from dry to kibble, to bulky wet food, to a gruel or porridge like consistency. There are no set rules as to what texture a mega esophagus can best handle. Sometimes fluids slip down well, other times giving the muscles of the gullet something to grip on, such as a bulky food, can maximizes whatever contractility is present.
- What seems to work for some dogs is preparing "meatballs" made of dry biscuit kibble and tinned food, rolled into a ball. These are then hand fed, one at a time, to the dog. Perhaps the round shape gives the gullet something to grip on, or maybe it is because the animal is hand fed and eats more slowly, but for some dogs this recipe does seem to help.
5. Pay attention to your dog's weight. As well as regurgitating undigested food, a dog with megaesophagus may lose weight because he is not getting his full daily caloric requirement. If you've changed your dog's diet and means of intake and your dog is still underweight or losing weight, contact your vet immediately. Adequate nutrition is essential to your dog's health.
- The key to caring for a dog with megaesophagus is to feed him in such a way that it maximizes the chance of food passing successfully into the stomach. If that doesn't work, you may have to explore your medical options.
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