My life is chaotic at times, but I embrace it. Sometimes I even love it. Other times I think I’m pretty darn crazy for bringing things into my life which increase the chaos ten-fold. Things weren’t supposed to have increased the chaos quite so much with getting a puppy, but in August 2018 when my new puppy got sick, life has been chaos at high capacity ever since.
Introducing Hazel, the Cricopharyngeal Achalasia pup. She was a rescue from a litter whose names were all characters from the TV show, Friends. She was Rachel, but my heart said to name her myself and Hazel felt completely perfect for her. Hazel was completely perfect. A cozy little fun puppy who took to housetraining quickly. We were completely in love with her the moment we met her.
Not long after we had her she was drinking water in gulps and choking on it. One day she choked on her food and just fell over in front of everyone. She was having issues swallowing her food and water. Her esophageal sphincter is unable to relax and open which makes it extremely difficult to pass food through the muscle. Hazel will choke and her throat becomes very tight. It’s very dangerous due to the frequency of aspiration pneumonia, which is an infection caused by inhaling food or liquids into the lungs. Another problem is malnutrition. The inability to swallow enough food to sustain a growing and active puppy with this disorder is extremely difficult.
Hazel was only 14 weeks old at diagnosis. We had gone away on a cruise and while she was boarding at our veterinarians office she presented with pneumonia symptoms.Upon returning, we took her immediately to a specialist vet, Northstar VETS in Robbinsville, NJ and she was diagnosed with this terrifying diagnosis after a battery of tests. Options were to put her down, or try a surgery which may or may not help. We were given the statistics, and the estimate and after a little time we decided that we would go ahead with the surgery because putting down this happy, loving otherwise healthy seeming puppy was just too hard to take.
Surgery did not correct the condition, although in some ways it has improved her swallowing. Hazel sneezes out food all over our home after eating. We hand feed her Hill’s Prescription Diet Urgent Care food slowly, and thankfully she seems to be gaining again after losing weight recently. We tried the Bailey Chair for feedings but she is too stubborn to stay put while feeding. Otherwise, she’s a well behaved, fun, loving, sweet dog who is living beyond her expected life span. She’s really an amazing fighter. We don’t know if she will live 2 days, 2 months or 2 years so every day with her is precious.
Cleaning up after Hazel is crazy difficult because of her condition. She regularly sneezes mucus, food bits and coughs up food that didn’t make it through to her belly. Recently I ordered a beautiful, durable, low pile area rug from www.ezrugny.com and I was nervous about how well it would clean up when she splatters. I purposely ordered a low pile, easy to clean and patterned rug just in case I missed spots when she spits/sneezes up. I used (and recommend) Scotch Guard as soon as I received my rug. It applied fine and the area rug was ready for Hazel. Well, good thing I used Scotch Guard, because not to be outdone by his sister, My Jack Russell Terrier decided to pee on the rug. Shortly after the rug was down it was put to the test by Hazel Splatter. I use and recommend Woolite pet stain and odor remover plus oxy. It is gentle on carpet and works well to deal with Hazel’s splatter! Being that some of the splatter includes stomach acid at time, I’m really impressed with the rug we ordered.
I also recommend the Libman Wonder Mop for splatter messes. I was using Swiffer products but when it comes down to it, a real mop cannot be beat for big messes such as hers. I love that the mop heads are easy to detach and wash.
If there is anyone who is dealing with a dog with this disorder, I would love to hear from you. I know that it is extremely rare, but I’d love to connect! Enter your email below!
To find out more about this rare disorder, here are some links to help you learn about Cricopharyngeal Achalasia and other swallowing disorders.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I may earn a commission. Keep in mind that I link these companies and their products because of their quality and not because of the commission I receive from your purchases. The decision is yours, and whether or not you decide to buy something is completely up to you.
