Hi All –

Gina Heitz here again with the puppy who started to regurgitate milk at 8 days old. We did a barium study this week and Quiz has a normally shaped esophagus, but mechanically he has a esophageal dysfunction of some sort. We may need to do more diagnostics as he grows but who knows if we will ever get a good dx, as these kinds of disorders are very tricky to diagnose. So anyway I am going to treat him as if he is a ME dog and I want to thank all of you for being here, I have gained a lot of information from the files, the digests, and personal contact from list members. That said I have also become painfully aware via the
general internet (not this list) that often puppies like Quiz and Tammy Long’s boy Niko who are symptomatic as neonates are not give the opportunity to move forward. With that I want to join Tammy in helping support others with neonatal esophageal dysfunction. I have created a blog for Quiz and will update it on as regular of a basis as I can, I am currently still tube feeding him (oral tube) around the clock and with all the other research I am trying to do energy is precious. Here is a link to the blog page: http://quiz62310.blogspot.com/

One tip I would like to pass on here as is it seems that some ME dogs have a hard time holding weight (understandably) and that some have trouble with high fat diets. I would like to offer the suggestion of adding Quinoa Flakes to the diet plan. Here is a link to what they are: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-quinoa-flakes.htm and also nutritional information: http://www.answerfitness.com/374/quinoa-flakes-ancient-harvest/ For dogs who can eat meat balls Quinoa flakes may help boost the diet. I personally make Quinoa balls for my family as an alternative to noodles in soups. It would be easy to adapt the recipe to add whole meat puree to the mix. Something like this:

2 cups Quinoa Flakes (may need to add more for consistency)
2 whole eggs
1/4 cup corn oil (high calorie oil) or some other oil like olive if corn
is an issue
1 13 oz can of whole meat dog food puree such as Evangers 100% meat

Form into balls refrigerate for 30 minutes, drop into boiling water or broth cook for 2 to 5 minutes.

For dog who need more of a soupy mix I think one could combine all the above omitting the meat with sufficient water or broth and microwave a couple of minutes to cook the eggs and quinoa add that to the canned dog food.

Another variation would be to add graded Parmesan cheese to increase calories but not too much fat and enhance flavor.Hope this helps!

Gina
Quiz – 17 days old Golden Retriever Puppy some sort of esophageal dysfunction
being tube fed
no meds at this time