German Shepherd pup who has trouble eating?

[LifeWithGreta]

We are calling our vet today, but I had a question about Greta. She is 17 weeks old and when she eats, she lays down to eat 75% of the time and acts like she has some sort of trouble eating. She swallows VERY hard. I've had dogs before and have never noticed this. Any ideas?

We have had her home for 6 days now and she has not had ANY rawhide or things that could be stuck in her throat. Nothing.

Does anyone have any ideas on why she may be doing this?

She has thrown up twice since we got her, but generally she keeps her food down. She is certainly growing fast, so I know she is getting nutrients.

Thanks...

[Riley's Mom]

What are you feeding her? Please be specific.

Don't ever underestimate what a dog will chew on that may get stuck somewhere! Just because you didn't give it to her, doesn't mean she didn't eat it.

I've heard it's not unusual for a bigger dog to lay down and eat. That in itself would not worry me. You could always get a raised feeding dish.

Does she seem to be eating overly fast and/or not chewing things up so that she's got big chunks going down? Maybe the pieces are to big for her.

Throwing up 2x in 6 days I think I would be concerned and I hope you vet will get her in for a checkup very soon, like today would be nice.

[LifeWithGreta]

She is eating Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed puppy food, 2 1/2 cups, two times per day. She always has water available for her. She doesn't seem to chew her food a lot when she eats but she doesn't swallow it whole either and it is fairly small pieces of food. We give her an occasional Milk Bone if we want to get her to settle into her crate and she does chew those. She also LOVES to eat ice cubes - we're not sure why but we dropped one and she was so excited. Now she begs at the freezer when she hears the ice drop!

She does drink a lot of water - but she is a big puppy (or we think she is 41 lbs @ 17 wks) and we take her on 1-3 walks per day to get her exercise.

Our vet usually starts answering her phone at 9:00 AM - so we'll see what she has to say.

Is that a good food for her?

[MaggieRoseLee]

She may have a mild case of mega-esophagus. CALL THE BREEDER cause if this is true they don't want to do a repeat breeding. This is a 100% genetic conditions and CAN be fatal. But that's generally for the youngest puppies that can't keep food down when they are getting weaned.

Your pup is older, which means may be like my Elsa Rose who has the condition but is 10 years old (heck, that's her jumping thru the tire in my Avatar) and always done fine with management.

Maybe try a raised feeder? That works for me. And some pups do better on wetter food, some are drier, so play with the texture/moistness. Don't let them play for about an hour after eating.

Just read up and be aware of what aspiration pneumonia is, cause that's what can cause the problems and they need to get to the vet...

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/megaesophagus.html

http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB...00/PR00133.htm

IF this is the condition your pup has, don't freak out. Some sites are full of gloom and doom. It's not true. I know of quite a few dogs that have long healthy and fit lives with mega. The pups that havem problems are the ones that show issues WAY earlier, like I said around 4 -5 weeks when getting weaned. The older they are and healthier they are clearly shows the level they are afflicted is much less.

CALL THE BREEDER! No repeat breedings and probably should spay the bitch. This really is genetic and extremely common in our breed (cause irresponsible breeders keep breeding!!!!)

[LifeWithGreta]

The vet said our Greta does have mild congenital Mega-Esophagus, but it will likely not cause her life threatening problems. She said she needs an elevated feeder, and to either soak her food or add a canned food and water to her dry food, as she throws up food, not after she only has water. In short, I guess that means she tolerates liquid better than solid.

She has said she is a good, healthy size, good weight and has a beautiful shiny coat so she is not worried about her nutrition. Her x-ray showed that all of her food does not go to her stomach as it should but there are no underlying medical conditions otherwise.

The good news is that she will likely be just fine. They said they will watch her weight and if she starts vomiting more, etc to come back and they will reevaluate.

We did call the breeder and she cussed me out, told me we must have done something to cause Greta's condition and hung up on me. Right in line with the kind of person we believed her to be, so no shock there. The unfortunate thing is that she will likely continue to breed these puppies knowing their condition. Greta's litter started with 9 puppies, but as I understand it only 4 survived so perhaps this is why. She was selling off over 1/2 of her dogs, perhaps she knows about the issue.

I also wonder if someone took Greta back to the breeder after her diagnosis and that is why she still had her at 16 1/2 weeks?

Oh well...she's still our baby! :~)

[MaggieRoseLee]

Quote:but as I understand it only 4 survived so perhaps this is why.

There's a good chance that's EXACTLY why those puppies died. The ones severely afflicted rarely make it out of puppyhood.

As long as your pup is a healthy weight, she should grow up just fine cause you KNOW what to look out for and how to manage it. 3 out of 7 of my Elsa's siblings were diagnosed with the condition at 7 weeks (the other 4 puppies were absolutely normal). Of the 3 with the condition, ALL are now going on 10 years old and doing fine. Only one of them had aspiration pneumonia a few times but he lives on a farm with horses and was ALWAYS eating all the assorted poo/manure/crap found on the farm and apparently THAT should not be on the recommended diets for mega dogs. Even with that, the owner knew immediately what was happening and got him on the necessary antibiotics and he did just fine.

Quote: We did call the breeder and she cussed me out, told me we must have done something to cause Greta's condition and hung up on me.

And that's exactly why the condition is still so prevelant in the breed (but so many puppy owners never heard of it until they get home with a sick puppy)! SO FRUSTRATING with so many irresponsible breeders out there who have no cares for what they are creating, but just want the $$$$$$. Least you know to spay your pup, and that's something.

Good luck and nice to know I diagnosed your pup so well!

[BowWowMeow]

I had a foster pup with Mega-E. He is now 7 and doing great. When he was with me I made his food for him and he did great. He does fine on raw food or on homemade food. Why don't you start making food for your pup? It's not that difficult and will be much easier for her to eat. You could buy Monica Segal's books and/or contact her about designing a diet for your dog:

http://www.monicasegal.com/

[LifeWithGreta]

Greta is at a healthy weight. She is 41.8 pounds at 17 weeks and is growing. Compared to other Shepherds around the same age we have seen at the park, she is smaller but for her frame she is at a very healthy weight. Actually, our vet said that it would not hurt her to loose a pound given that you want them lean for stable hip development. She even has a "fat layer!"

Greta already has a spay appointment for 6 months. There will be no puppies for her! (Not that there would have been anyway!)

You did good with a diagnosis. Much thanks!

Hey...you gave me a chance to have a panic attack, google search it to death and come to grips with it before the vet even told me!

Greta is a happy girl and that is what matters. Actaully, she's not happy right now because it is pouring rain and she didn't get her morning walk, but that is another subject!

Does it make a healthier dog to make their food? Not to sound stupid, but do you make "kibble?" Isn't that very hard? How much time does it take and how much can you make/freeze/store in advance?

[MaggieRoseLee]

Quote: Hey...you gave me a chance to have a panic attack, google search it to death and come to grips with it before the vet even told me!

I told you not to panic!!! WHy I gave some links to some NOT quite so doom and gloom sites .

I'm thinking your vet was INCREDIABLY impressed by your vast knowledge when you went in to see him. I'd of loved to see his face. You may have even known stuff he didn't cause you had just looked it all up.

[LifeWithGreta]

She looked at me like I had 12 heads when I said I had spent the last 2 hours researching it so I knew all about it. I just wanted to know that she had a mild case and she said it is one of the mildest she has seen. Still there but very mild and that is likely why she only vomits every now and then. Adding in a wet food or water to her food will hopefully stop this all together. She goes - "Why did you even think of this?" and I told her about this site and how she was diagnosed before she was even evaluated!

She told me I had obviously received accurate information and that she probably didn't need to explain much to me. I think she was irritated that I didn't need an hour and a half explanation of it. I told her I had even used the little "feed the dog" graphic online!

I know you told me not to panic and your links were awesome. It was when I ventured into the dangerous world of google that I was driven to tears!

Greta is eating elevated and had a nice big breakfast of kibble with water for now. We're looking for a good canned food that hopefully won't give her diarrhea. It took her 6 days to regulate on her Nutro Natural Choice, so we don't want to upset her digestive system. Any suggestions?