Canine Megaesophagus - Success Stories

Success Stories....

EINSTEIN Einstein was brought into our rescue when he was only 6 weeks old. He was the runt of a litter of nine puppies. The family that turned him in said that he would throw up after every meal. When we took him to our vet, we were to discover Congenital Megaesophagus. Basically, he doesn't have muscles to push food to his stomach.	Einstein in his chair
	The vet did not give him a good prognosis, in fact, he suggested that we euthanize him immediately. Euthanasia was not an option for us. We decided that instead of putting him down, we would try to give him a chance. After a second vet check we found out that Einstein has generalized mega-e, rather than PRAA, a vascular ring anomaly. His esophagus was expanded all the way to the thoracic cavity and the chances of him growing out of it are very slim. But we decided that we would continue providing him with the needed care, and if the time comes that we cannot feed him upright anymore, he will have a surgery to insert a PEG tube. Essentially he will have to be fed through a tube, which will bypass the esophagus and deliver the food directly to his stomach.
Einstein's story was posted on Petfinder.com and before long we started receiving e-mails inquiring about our little boy. People from all over the US and as far as Spain, sent their blessings and donations to help with his care. After receiving and reviewing many adoption applications, we sent him to a new loving home in San Antonio.
His new family members changed his name from Austin to Einstein because he was a very smart puppy. They have taken great care of him. Continuing with liquid diet, Einstein continued growing.
He would sit in a special chair that held him upright, so food would go down to his stomach. Einstein became a very happy and playful puppy. His favorite thing is to go to Petsmart to pick out toys and special treats. While out and about, he likes to meet and greet everyone who comes across his path, and everyone who meets him falls in love with this special boy. Einstein is now 1 year old and currently weighs 105 pounds.

Update July 15 2008: Einstein is doing wonderful!! I just weighed him last week and he's up to 130 pounds. Einstein is as active as active can be, even more so than his 'brother', Picasso -- our second Great Dane who we adopted a year after Einstein! Einstein is almost 2.5 years old now. Here are some pix to share on the Success Stories page.