The picture below is of Little Man. I brought him to my home when he was 2 years old due to the fact that his original owner was no longer able to care for him. His weight was only 52 lbs. Not an average weight for a male german shepherd. After carefully evaluating him it was discovered that he had a eating problem and was no longer able to bark. This was in November 2007.
After being seen at the University of Missouri Columbia Veterinary Hospital it was known that Little Man had some real problems. He had Megaesophagus, Bilateral Laryngeal Paralysis, and a Vascular Ring Anomaly. Most people probably would of just put him down, but I really felt this Little Man needed a chance in life. He was so full of love and wanted so much to please you.
A plan was put in place and the first thing to do was put in a g-tube (feeding tube). After many challenges with this we now after 3 months have accomplished to get his weight up to 75 lbs. We needed the weight on him to get him ready for his next surgery which will be coming up in May 2008. At this time we will discuss whether to either address the Vascular Ring Anomaly or do a surgical procedure to tie back the flap of one side of his airway so he will be able to breathe a little better.
If we do the Vascular Ring Anomaly first chances of some swelling in the throat may occur which could block off the airway causing us to have to do a trach for a short time til the swelling goes down. If we tie back the flap first then we would have to carefully watch his eating/drinking so that he doesn't develope aspiration pneumonia. If anyone reading this article has had any experience with this please let me know how it turned out for you. The picture below is of Little Man when we first brought him back from spending 4 weeks in Columbia.
He's got such a sweet face and is so lucky to have found you. You truly have a kind heart.