megaesophagus?

[Acasper708]

So my buddy Garret has been puking on and off for a long time. We have been taking him to the vet to try and figure it out. So this is what he does. He eats fine (sometimes to fast) but we soak his food and elevate it. Sometimes he will be sleeping about a hr after he eats and will jump up out of no where and puke up his food. Also he eats grass like crazy and usually pukes after that but it's always just clear with a cple pieces of grass. Sometimes with specks of blood. The vet said the blood is cause he throws up so much. Also almost everyday he will puke in his cage when we are at work. He is still a very active dog and is at a good weight. 55lbs.
Also he eats his toys. He actually ate a rope tow and puked it up the next day. He eats rubber toys and swallows them. He also ate a nylon bone once. So he doesn't have many toys. We figured it's just something in his stomach that he can't puke up. But he got a X-ray today and no toys in his stomach. The doctor is thinking megaesophagus. He wants to do a barium test to find out. I did a little research and the only thing that makes me think the it's not it is cause he isn't loosing wheight. He acts likes he's perfectly healthy eats, poops, pees, and plays just fine. I'm thinking it could be a allergy. Any ideas? Or recommendations? I think I'm gonna go to a different vet.

[Misskiwi67]

Does he actively retch (with stomach contractions) before each vomiting episode, or does he just open his mouth and food comes out? It doesn't matter if he retches after the "vomit" but it does matter if he retches before.

X-rays don't necessarily show everything your dog eats. I've seen lots of dogs with problems that had something floating around in their stomachs for months before the problem was resolved. The barium is not only a good test for the esophagus problem, but it can also pick up things the original x-rays did not show.

Dogs with mega-esophagus only lose weight if they are not keeping enough food down and can't meet their caloric needs. A mild case will not lose weight, so healthy weight does not rule out megaesophagus.

I think your vet is doing a good job, I don't see any reason to go elsewhere unless you are otherwise unhappy.

Allergies does not usually cause these symptoms, so I really think you should continue with the GI work-up.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

I agree, my next step if it were my dog would be a barium series. Given that it's a known fact that your dog eats toys, I'd start with a foreign body as my main rule out before I considered mega-e.

[Acasper708]

He will retch or convulse for a bit before the food or what ever comes out.

[Acasper708]

Also the doc did say he could see food in his stomach but he hadn't eaten for 14 hrs.

[Misskiwi67]

He will retch or convulse for a bit before the food or what ever comes out.

That sounds like true vomiting, which is not associated with megaesophagus. I'd still go with a barium series at this point, I'd be VERY VERY suspicious there's something in there that shouldn't be...

[Acasper708]

That's what I've been thinking all this time. He has puked up a few things that he shouldn't of eatin. I forgot that he actually ate a CD once. Luckily it didnt cut up his insides. I saw pieces in his poop. I'm not a bad parent, he is very sneaky and stuff will just disappear. The least expected stuff that u would think he would eat. But he is good it's just once in a while. I made a contraption for him for eating I case it is megasaphagus but I still think he's just got something in his stomach that he can't puke up.

[Acasper708]

Well I figured I will give a update. Garret has been eatin his food from that step ladder thing I made for over a month now and has pretty much not puked since!! He has gained a little weight and starting to bulk up.