As noted in the posts below, Lilly is a dog with a condition called megaesophagus. That means she has a modified feeding regimen that we must adhere to....every single day. She eats three meals a day, prepared in a particular way to make them easy to eat. Our Vet instructed us on this, giving us a procedure with medicines and food preparation that has been highly successful. Lilly spits up much less than she did when we first got her, and as far as we can tell she is getting all her nutrients. Her condition also seems to be getting better; she now makes audible gulping sounds when she eats (which she never did before), and she spits up fairly rarely at this stage. Goodness, what a relief! She is happy and healthy and a normal dog right now.
Below is a photo essay of her daily feeding procedure.
Due to the amount of time Lilly spends doing this, she is always hungry. No surprise for a puppy.
So here's how it goes. First thing in the morning, we draw 2ml of a medicine called Sucralfate. This is given to Lilly once a day, one hour before breakfast. This is to help with the irritation in her esophogas that stomach acid and food can cause. We are going to discontinue this medicine for a while, as our Vet says it probably isn't necessary at this stage.
To help the Sucralfate go down, I typically draw an extra 2ml of water into the syringe.
And down the hatch. Lilly is really good about taking these medicines, she never balks or tries to avoid them.
Here's all the equipment needed to make a 2 day batch of food for Lilly. 5 cans of Natural Choice Lamb and Rice puppy food, a big giant bowl, and the electric mixer with beaters. You will also need 6 reusable containers (we use the 1 3/4 cups size), a serving spoon and a ladle. The amounts of food and measurements are particular to Lilly's age and size (36lbs.). Owners will need to adjust the amounts to fit their particular dog's needs.
Open up those cans and dump the food into the bowl.
Next, mash that stuff up with a big serving spoon.
Then dump in two cans of water. This is to thin out the food and get it to a pea-soup consistency. That's important for getting it to slide down into her tummy. Mix up the food and water a little bit before proceeding to the blending step.
After a little mixing with the serving spoon, then we blend it up with the mixer. Keeping it on the lowest setting works best, any higher and you will decorate your kitchen with dog food. Trust me.
Once its nice and smooth, grab a ladle and start putting it into the containers.
The 1 3/4 cup reusable containers are perfect for Lilly, as the amount of food for her size works out perfectly in this size. Your mileage may vary, larger dogs will need larger containers, smaller dogs won't require ones this large, etc.
All done! Food is in the containers, ready to go into the 'fridge for future use.
Next up is 1ml of a medicine called Cisapride. This is a medicine that has shown benefits in increasing the motility of the esophagus......enabling it to work better in its already compromised state. We need to have this specially made by a local pharmacy, and they flavor it with beef. Lilly loves it. God bless her.
Hey, this is a dog that will eat matchsticks, dirt, cat poo and pine needles all day long if we let her. This beef flavored medicine juice is like French Onion soup compared to all that, so she gulps it right down every time. We give her this medicine 15 minutes before she eats every meal.
If the food has been in the 'fridge, it needs warming up. Marilyn discovered that if its too cold, it congeals and Lilly spits it up much more frequently. Warming it up eliminates this. 40 seconds on high, stir, then another 20 seconds.
Hurry up, moron. I'm hungry.
Here's the warmed up meal, ready to go. Notice in the bowl on the left there is a small pill in the food. This is a 10mg Pepsid antacid pill, to help keep her stomach irritation down. Also, its on the left side for a reason; that's the exact spot where Lilly begins eating, every single time.
Yum! Feeding commences. Lilly laps it up in no time flat, as you can imagine. We hold the bowl up for her to keep her elevated as you can see in the picture, and she stands on a step stool to help elevate her body further. This is a crucial factor in getting her to eat properly. Notice the food on her nose.....
Yes, this is Lilly's favorite time of day. The pleasure and sheer focus in clearly evident.
Once she is done its time to lick the cabinet wall to make sure any food that splattered there gets attended to.
Same thing with the floor.....
And the step ladder.There we go! At first this whole procedure seemed like a lot of work, now we barely notice it. Making a bunch of food in advance makes a huge difference, we used to do it one meal at a time and that was a pain in the butt. Advance preparation makes all the difference.
Next time: TRAINING.
