gave us a scare ...

Preston has been regurgitating his food for the past week and a half. At our regular vet clinic he had an x-ray done which showed a strange pouch above the heart, just below his neck. The vet seemed to think that the food was getting stuck there and never getting to his stomach. He sent the x-ray off to an internal/cardiac specialist who then set up an appointment with me for Preston. He first wanted to do a CT scan ($1500) to confirm his suspicions, and if that failed, an endoscopy ($1500) to check out another suspicion.


He did a barium x-ray before the CT scan just to make sure that the pouch was still there. Strangely, it had disappeared. But Preston had been regurgitating way more often than the past few days, so something was definitely wrong. He also had lost 0.4lbs in a week, and a puppy of 7 months should be gaining weight, not losing it. The specialist, Dr. de Madron, said if he didn't get this fixed he would either die of malnutrition or of pneumonia. Obviously, the costs are secondary to his health, so we forged ahead to find the real problem.

A barium scope told the tale. His esophagus had all reddening around the sphincter joining the esophagus and the stomach, which was caused from the fluids in the belly leaking back into the esophagus. The sphincter, which normally is closed, was open, so that was the problem.

The vet decided he has esophagitis, derived from vomiting due to gastric reflux. He gave us a bunch of medications to take for a month ... So we'll see how that goes.

Generally, in the car, Preston does not relax. He's always having a look at passing cars, pedestrians, or licking the window. Tonight, though, on the way home, he lay on the seat and whimpered softly. My poor little man!