Since yesterday everytime two of my puppies feed there is a gushing noise afterwards.  This only happens when they feed from their mum whos milk is quite dried up.  She has been reguritating?!? ( not sure on spelling) when she feeds them now.  

One of them was crying last night for two hours.  We were wondering if they were sucking in air as there is not much milk there.  Any suggestions?  They are well in themselves and eating fine and not being sick just sounds like a bowl of water sloshing around in their throats.

I am going to the vets tommorow but she said it didnt sound life threatening as they wer noisey

Hi Thomas...sometimes that happens if they have megaeophagus because they water retains in the pouch formed by the enlarged esophagus..

I thought that but neither have been sick and both are gaining normal weight.  I do have experience of a suspected one before which turned out to be a weak one but these two are nothing like he was. 

They are both 6 weeks so I would have thought any difference in size would have been apparant.

Hi Thomas...it usually doesn;t become apparant until they are fully weaned and start  upchucking food though sometimes the other puppies gobble it up before you notice often times you can see the heartbeat from the front of the chest if they have that...i don't know how common it is in your breed but i have had several GSD pups with it over the years..the sloshing was always a sign.mild cases can seem clinicly normal at first.lets hope thats not it they best way to confirm it if its suspected is barium X-rays its very easy to see that way...

Hi Kelly

Yes we had this done with one of our puppies from our last litter at 3 weeks and he was confirmed as having one then later it turned out when we had him re xrayed he had a weak one which because I fed him from a upright position from 3 weeks tightened up but he was so much smaller than the others and these two arent. He also did have long sausages of food coming out of his throat.  Again I have had them in my dining room and they havent done it there either.  They do seem  a lot better but I think I might pop them to the vet.

They are dalmatians which are not a normal breed you would associate with the problem but after snodles we found that there were a lot more people had it than we realised.

Karen

Hi Karen...hum,if it was the same mother that produced it before i might be suspicious..i'm not sure the mode of inheritence.let me know what happens..i'll keep my fingers crossed for you that its not that

No Kelly its not the same mum but they are full sisters from different litters.  I have never had it before these two instances but the dad to this litter has thrown them before both the girls are having maiden litters but with Snodles he had more apparant symptons namely sickness and milk through nose and as I said he was re xrayed at 3 months and no sign of it so it was assumed it was just a weak one.  He is now four months old and perfectly fine but these two really are  weird.  We spent yesterday afternoon shaking them up and down to see if we could hear and not a sound.  Unfortunately I dont think it is uncommon in dallies but I dont think people like to admit it although the more people you speak to the more you realise that I think it is becoming a problem.  I will take them to the vets on Friday and have the barium then so fingers crossed they are well as they are due to go to their new homes the end of next week.

Karen

Have you used the same sire or related to the sire in both litters?  I wouldn't again.  If they are totally unrelated unfortunately it may be something from your girls lines.  How sad.  I do know that this is a problem in a few breeds but as you say didn't know that it was in Dallies.  This is the problem if people hide things it's only the honest ones that will come out about it and by that time the heartache has already started!

HI Karen..its most obvious after they drink water..then sloshing or clicking in the throat when they are trotting.i.i will see if i can get any info on the mode of inheritance

The sires are from similiar lines but then the girls mother is from similiar lines and has never sired any puppies with any problems.  Their sisters have also both been mated and had no problems but the owners did out breed whereas I tend to line breed and in fact this litter the mating was very very close.  My boy doesnt have any problems in that direction either when siring. 

I agree about people hiding things.  It never ceases to amaze me how many people never have deaf puppies but we still manage to get around 18% with bad results ;)

Would really appreciate any info Kelly.

I got so worried I took them both to the vets today I couldnt wait until Friday.  They definately havent got Megaoesophagus but what they did have was a mild chest infection caused by the kennel cough we had a couple of weeks ago.  She said she thought the wooshing noise heard on Sunday was probably just wind caused by gutsing out!  My nerves are now in shatters but at least they will be going to their new homes safe and sound and was worth the £100 for piece of mind.

Karen

What brilliant news!  It's so scary isn't it?  I presume that they had x-rays as this is the only way to diagnose mega-oesophagus?

Hi Karen,...oh great news...better to find out than sit around worrying.at least you can get them on antibiotics.

They had xrays and barium meals which was no mean feat with two 6 week old puppies.  They were sulked all this morning and keep glaring at me.

Thank you for all the help anyway but to be honest I am slightly paranoid about it as my vet, friends and husband has pointed out.  The first puppy I was told to have PTS from the last litter and to then turn out there was nothing really wrong. 

Karen

HI Karen.......just thank goodness that wasn't what it was.and considering the father threw it before your  not being paranoid ,better safe than sorry.........i did find out some interesting info regarding inheritence  as follows.....quote'''. Congenital megaesophagus (present at a very young age) is inherited as an autosomal recessive in Wire Fox Terriers and an autosomal dominant in the Miniature Schnauzer.  The exact mode in other breeds is not known at this time.



Thank you for your inquiry.



G.G. Keller, D.V.M., MS

Diplomate ACVR

Chief of Veterinary Services