Labrador Friends like most rescues pulls dogs from all different shelters with the unknown health issue there could be. Most of the time the older ones have huge health issues. This time it is two little ones that are now 12 weeks old.
Blane and Duckie came into our vet as part of a litter of three lab mix puppies. They were 4-5 weeks old and just starting to eat solid food when they came.
After being at our for a few days we noted that Blane was regurgitating his food immediately after eating every time he ate. We radiographed Blane’s abdomen, thorax and neck and noted that Blane had a mega-esophagus in front of his heart all the way to his mouth.
When this condition is noted in young puppies it is almost always because they have a vascular ring anomaly. This is a congenital defect that occurs when a blood vessel that normally disappears as the puppies heart develops in utero. In this circumstance it remains and creates a restrictive band over the esophagus.
When the puppies are born they are usually able to develop normally when they are nursingbecause liquids can pass the compressed area. As they begin to eat solid food they will regurgitate immediately after eating because solid food cannot pass the compressed area and enter the stomach. These puppies frequently develop aspiration pneumonia as a result.
Blane has had surgery to correct this anomaly. In this surgery the thorax is entered between the ribs and the restrictive band is cut to relieve the stricture. Blane has improved markedly since the surgery, but still struggles with the mega-esophagus that remains post surgically. He needs to be feed small meals frequently in an upright position to allow food to pass to his stomach. Hopefully Blane’s esophagus will remodel and function will improve, but he will undoubtedly need long term care and potentially life long care to help him with this. Duckie got pneumonia and has a mild case of megaesohagus so he will need surgery to fix it. He will be getting it over the next few days. Since he is finally getting over his pneumonia.
With all this being said there have been some huge expenses. Blane is up 5,000.00 and will need another surgery that will be around 2,500.00. Duckie’s estimate is 2,400.00. Both are putting a huge hit on Labrador Friends. Any donations would be wonderful. Every dollar counts. If you are able to donate we would love to thank you ahead of time now. They are the cutest two little guys.