Megaesophagus - Anyone got any experience?

[dancebaben]

As the title says really.

My Shire x gelding was diagnosed with this condition just under a year ago. At the time he was given a very poor prognosis however nearly a year later he is still with us.
We have had lots of complications along the way but he is finally turning a corner weight wise (i hope) after wintering without hay.

So... has anyone had a horse with this condition. If so, how long did they live with the condition and do you have any great feeding/management suggestions. He's 14 and whilst not currently in the best of shape did manage the best part of winter looking well.

We've managed to systematically work out what sets off a choke for him and avoid things like the plague but just wondered really if anyone else had managed this?

Thanks!

 

[Yertis]

My mare may be a lot milder than yours as it was mainly brought on with bucket feeds but it may help, we made a high corner manger so that she eats with her head up, i.e. top of manger is about mid neck height, and her hay is steamed and fed in hay net tied up high. Vet didn't say it was life limiting.

 

[dancebaben]

Thanks for that. His is quite substantial - he can't eat hay, chaff, haylage or long grass so we struggle with keeping his forage intake up which is what makes it potentially life limiting. I might try feeding him at a higher level and see if that makes things easier. His is also coupled with a partially paralysed larynx!

Is the steamed hay soft? Does that make it easier for her or does she struggle with eating it?

 

[Rueysmum]

One of my horses had a similar condition a few years back and it was a nightmare to manage (he even coughed his guts up on grass). I found that having his food in a corner manger helped and it would be really well soaked. His hay was also really well soaked in nets with tiny holes so that he wouldn't be able to get too much in his mouth at any one time and would only have to swallow a bit at a time.

He took 9 months to recover from his condition but I am still careful with him as he will always be prone to choke.

One thing which may help your horse is Badminton hay replacer cubes. I use these on my old TB and he loves them. Basically they are largish nuts consisting solely of hay which I soak a good few hours in advance until they are just mush. He also has Alfa Beet which are smallish green nuts which I also soak hours in advance and he is looking brilliant on these. He does have hay but will not eat any more than one net per night so I supplement it with the cubes.

Don't despair. There are products out there which will help.

 

[dancebaben]

Thanks Rueysmum.

He's not currently stabled but the overriding factor on here and internet searches is that raising the feed can help so I may well try that. He gets 2 - 3 feeds a day inclusive of high fibre nuts etc which I've been told should help with weight gain etc as well as being turned out on a large ungrazed paddock 24/7. It's just horrible If i've tried feeding him something (like a handful hay or adding a handful of chaff to his slop to give it more substance than soup) and seeing that he's choked on it.

Will definitely look at those hay replacer cubes. He's very good with hay i.e. if he's choking or thinks he's going to choke he walks away from it and leaves it he doesn't try to keep stuff his face. Very sad to watch though!

Hoping we can get our routine sorted over the summer and he'll have a good winter but with the way he's currently looking i'm not sure!

 

[Rueysmum]

Good luck, Dancebaben.

The condition my horse had was epiglottic entrapment combined with permanent soft palate displacement which meant that the mechanics of his throat had gone haywire and the food wasn't directed down the correct hole. He was at constant risk of aspirating food, but luckily he never got pneumonia. That year was the only year I have ever seen his ribs! I remember I used to give him lots of sunflower oil in his feed aswell, partly for weight gain but also to help the food slide down.

 

[dancebaben]

Thanks. I thought getting a native breed like a shire would mean they'd do well. Pfft. How wrong I was!!! He gets half a cup of vegetable oil in every feed for lubrication as well as calories.
Bisto has a partially paralysed larynx so his sometimes just doesn't allow him to swallow properly.

Ho hum!! We shall continue in the way we've been going and hope we can muddle our way through. Thanks for you help!

 

[ERH]

Hello, I know this is an old thread but I'm hoping past posters may see this.
I was wondering if there are any updates, I'm REALLY hoping for good outcomes.
My horse is going in for a scope in a couple of days as he's been struggling a bit with hay.

 

[windand rain]

We had a puppy born like that it was life limiting as he had to be held over your shoulder to prevent him vomitting his undigested food back up. he was growing but it became more and more difficult to keep him fed and hydrated as he couldn't get water into his stomach either. He was a GSD so got too big to have over your shoulder but ulimately it was kinder to let him go he made just passed his 1st birthday

 

[nutjob]

@ERH, my horse had megaoesophagus. The good news is that I kept him successfully for 7 years post diagnosis. He was pts at age 23 due to complications from the condition. Tim Brazil diagnosed mine, he is an expert in the condition. My horse was one of the subjects in a paper he wrote on it about 15 years ago now. If your horse is diagnosed let me know and I'll give you my advice about feeding.

 

[ERH]

@ERH, my horse had megaoesophagus. The good news is that I kept him successfully for 7 years post diagnosis. He was pts at age 23 due to complications from the condition. Tim Brazil diagnosed mine, he is an expert in the condition. My horse was one of the subjects in a paper he wrote on it about 15 years ago now. If your horse is diagnosed let me know and I'll give you my advice about feeding.

I am SO sorry! I never saw your reply and came across it whilst doing a search on feeding horses with megaesophagus. My horse was diagnosed with megaesophagus, does your offer of advice still stand?

 

[nutjob]

I'll drop you a pm later on.

 

[ERH]

I'll drop you a pm later on.

Got it. Thank you very much ?