Puppy diagnosed with megacolon 1 Attachment(s) My 11 week old Pixie was diagnosed with megacolon. I searched YT and cannot find any reference to it. There is just a little information on the internet about but I was hoping to hear if anyone else had dealt with this. This little girl has been through so much, I won't go into all the details but I am very concerned about her. Here is a link that explains megacolon: Severe Constipation in Dogs | PetMD Pixie (picture attached) is 11 1/2 weeks old and weighs 1.3 lbs. She strains a lot to poop but very little every comes out and what does come out is not hard but soft. The vet did give her a enema but I think that was a temporary fix. With megacolon the stomach muscles are to weak to push out the poop if I understand it correctly. The vet has put her on Propulsid tablets, 1/4 tablet every 8 hours. He really did not seem to know much about the medication and was not sure if it would help her. I really don't like what I have read about the medication so far. It was recalled for human use. I just really feel for this baby girl. She is so sweet. All her litter mates are normal size, 3 to 3/12 lbs right now. Also, I was trying to find the thread from a few months back with the video tape of the little dog trying to poop. Does anyone remember who that was that posted that. I would love to know how that little guy is doing. Also, the vet said to add canned pumpkin to her diet. Any input would be greatly appreciated. |
Oh how precious she is. I never heard of her diagnosis but pray that as she get's older her muscles get stronger in that area and she will live a happy and healthy life. Hope someone can give you some info. I remember reading the story on the other Yorkie and that was heartbreaking. |
This girl is so adorable! I very sorry she has this condition. I think this is the link for the thread you mentioned. I will keep this baby in my prayers. http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...-included.html |
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Your baby Your baby is precious. Good luck and you both are in my prayers. |
Is there a vet school near you? Maybe you could contact them. There may be a way to correct it now. |
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Good luck, I'm so glad he's doing better. We do not have a vet school close to us that I know of. |
I'm so sorry your little girl has this problem at such a young age. :( working as a surgery tech i did see this problem quite a bit, but it was mostly in cats. i believe the treatment and teh success rate of the treatment is very different in dogs then it is in cats. that medication you mentioned has been used in dogs but some say it does absolutely nothing or it can be harmful, others say it works... i know lactulose and metamucil works in cats. if the canned pumpkin doesn't help i guess you can try the metamucil. also i'd add some yogurt for good measure. the good bacteria will help the digestive system. there is a surgery that we performed on the cats called a subtotal colectomy, but i can't remember if this was something we did on dogs too. During this surgery the colon is basically removed. Diarrhea usualy ensues for a few months after surgery but it does get better with time. the poop will never be normal again but it will get close. I'm sorry your puppy has this. its definitely not something fun to deal with, and unfortunately her life will be effected. :( |
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have you done a diet change as well? |
What kind of diet do you recommend? She is not eating much on her own and I am feeding her with a dropper, diluted goats milk, baby rice cereal, baby food chicken and sweet potatoes and a little canned pumpkin. She also gets the nutri-drops. I think I might quit giving her the medicine the vet gave me. I read horrible things about it and it might be making her worse. |
i am sorry about your puppy. :( i don't know anything about it, but i just want to wish you and your puppy good luck! :aimeeyork |
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the medication your gonna stop, is that the cisapride? |
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Hi, I'm so sorry you're going through this. :( My first Yorkie turned out to have megaesophagus...sounds like the same thing in a different spot. This was in the 80's and I took her to Angel Memorial, which is a big deal animal hospital, here in Mass. Anyway, they told me nothing was to be done...she'd starve because the food would stay in her esophagus and never make it to her stomach. That they had kept large dogs alive using a centrifuge, but it wouldn't be practical at home. No kidding? Sheesh. Prognosis aside, I kept her going for 4 years, despite the naysayers. All I did was feed her, then pick her up...hold her vertically...then gently pound her back. I could feel the big bulge in her throat (where her food was just sitting)...then I'd hear this big kind of glopping sound, and down it would go. If I didn't do this, she'd eventually regurgitate the food. Her esophagus just wouldn't contract and do the job on it's own. All this rambling on is merely to make the point that maybe you could do a similar thing to encourage her colon? Possibly a firm rotation (in the proper direction...not sure what that is) with your hand, on her lower abdomen? The poop is there...just is not moving along, right? By the way...megaesophagus is not what killed my Josie. It was a combination of many other organ failures... Don't lose hope...maybe you can actually deal with this, with a little ingenuity. |
Hmmm. I just read that this is not necessarily a congenital condition like Josie's, as I had assumed. Maybe some kind of inflammation...at least a treatable condition? That sounds a bit more promising, huh? I sure wish you and your little Pixie well. |
i have never heard of it in pets but my older son was born with it. We fought with his bowel problems almost all his life. he is 44 now and has had a colostomy for about ten years. Only then did they find out it was a megacolon. |
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That is sad that your son had those problems all his life. I can only imagine what you went through. At least he finally found out what it was. Is he doing okay now with the colostomy? |
good luck and keep us updated, your story may help others later! |
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There is a medication for the bladder they makes it contract when animals are having trouble regaining control over their bladder after a serious injury (hit by car type stuff with smashed pelvises). I wonder if there is a drug that does this for the colon? a drug that helps the colon muscles contract to push poop along ya know? |
How about some Children's Vanilla Pedisure ~ This will help the Hypo and the not wanting to eat, while ensuring she is getting the needed nutrition... You may need to syringe force it :( I use BioPectin for bulk fiber with Roxy. You may also need to play around with the Lactulose dosing... |
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It was used on humans until they discovered it was causing heart problems. This is what I found about it that worried me: Quote:
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yeah that is worrying information and i don't blame you for being wary. This is a tough situation. If your uncomfortable with the meds, stop it and continue with the other things like the lactulose and metamucil. its hard to decide what to do since there isn't a lot of information out there on dogs with megacolon. maybe after trying those two things for a while, if not a lot of information is shown, try changing the diet as well. the pedialyte suggestion was good too. or adding some type of sugar to the drinking water. you said the hypoglycemia episdoes were related to the megacolon? how so? because she feels full and doesn't want to eat? |
Yes, it is hard to get her to eat. I think she does feel full. I force some food down her every few hours. I am giving her K-9 Blue Lite which is a electrolyte solution. |
I just wanted to say how sorry I am that your precious little one is going thru this. She is a cutie. I hope that there is something that can be done. Hugs to you and your little one. :) |
How is tiny Pixie doing? |
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