Wow on all of the information here so far. There's so much to know & learn with our dogs. I wish it was more simple of course [sigh] Kathy Partch ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sandra Kozub" <skozub@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2010 4:50 PM Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] Re: Megaesphagus....NOT hereditary? At 10:19 PM 6/26/2010 +0000, you wrote: >Having had this problem every now and again, a friend called me today and >stated all but one of her pups had been diagnosed ( barium ex-ray) with >the condition...I was always under the impression that the condition was >hereditary....well after reading about it , most of my reading sources >stated that it was congenital, and to be more specific, idiopathic >congenital....which basically means the reasons for acquiring the disease >are unknown!...well is this good or bad news?....if it's not genetic, it's >not predictable.....comments , answers , questions?...I'll tell you this >:every time I have a litter, and over the past few years I have had very >few, I'm always looking for pups throwing up food.....not a fun >disease...Ed >============================================================================ I have only had one dog with megaesphagus and he developed it at around 6 years of age. The vets at the Univ of Tenn. Vet. school took x-rays, etc. They said that usually but not always it is genetic, however what my boy had was called "acquired megaesphagus." They said that his was caused by a neck (throat) injury. Eventually it got so bad that we had to let him go - but he did live over a year after the diagnosis. As Ed says it is not a fun disease (problem). Sandy Sandra Kozub KcK Kennels http://iweb.tntech.edu/rkozub/kennel.htm ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2010. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================