Blaze: Genius 3 month old megasophagus puppy

[Christine]

Another dream doggie just needing a little extra care. I am in love with Blaze reading about how cooperative and smart he is at this young age. With the right family, he will never skip a beat
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Blaze is 12 weeks old, has been neutered, is up to date on his shots (rabies too), and is free of worms. He is very sweet and smart. We house broke him in just 3 days. He already obeys "no", "come" and "stop". Blaze is a black lab mix and, like most labs, loves to play. He gets along very well with our other dog and is great with kids. He loves to cuddle on the floor (not allowed on furniture) with us on his breaks from wrestling with our 4 year old lab. They recently discovered tug of war.

Blaze was born with megaesophagus. It is a large esophagus and as a result, he needs to be fed upright and keep that way for 10-15 min after eating. He needs 5 small feedings a day. once he matures, the vet said the feedings, can be less frequent but he will always need to be upright. The kids will be returning to school soon so nobody will be home to feed him. We will not be able to meet his needs.

If he's fed correctly, there is no retching. If not fed correctly, he will vomit, possibly aspirate, and get pneumonia. We got him 3 weeks ago and he weighed 7.5 pounds. He is now 18 lbs! He sometimes wants down when we are holding him up ... esp when he thinks he's missing something happening in the house. However, we just tell him "be still" and he heaves a great sigh, looks at you with those puppy eyes, and sits still until the timer goes off. He will be easy to train to stay upright on his own.

Can you help us find him a home?

Dawn

dawn5270@bellsouth.net

770-443-5270

[Christine]

I have moved this thread to Urgent Rescue as Blaze has less than two weeks before his family will not be able to give him the required 5 feedings a day. (It has been suggested that 3 feedings a day can work, but not with Blaze - see the last communication from Dawn when one of the crossposters was checking on Blaze's status.)

No, we have not rehomed the pup yet. The surgeon we saw did a barium study and discovered it is not operable. I have a copy of the films. She said the problem is managable but you have to be careful of aspiration pneumonia. That is what usually finishes these dogs. We have tried to cut his feedings to 3 a day so we could keep him. However, at 4 feedings he starts to wet burp. He does ok with 5 feedings.
We have another 1.5 weeks before he's going to be missing 1-2 feedings a day.

From Doggie Harmony who is trying to help:

Folks, this family is not being selfish -- they are honest and scared that in 1.5 wks they will no longer be able to feed this guy the 5x's a day he needs to keep him from starving.

We've suggested they pull together financial sponsors in the event a rescue can take this guy and give him the care he needs. If you would like to pledge to sponsor him (funds would go to qualified rescue willing to take him), please let Debbie know -- deb923@bellsouth.net. If you know someone that's home all day and would foster/adopt and care for him as he needs, please also contact Debbie. She would like so badly to save him! He's just a cute little lab pup that doesn't know why his needs are so special. :-/

This family's heart is breaking at the thought of possibly doing the kindest thing rather than letting Blaze suffer the consequences improper care.

Please, please, crosspost, share and suggest.