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I have a 27 year old Friesian with Megaesophagus. I have never had her scoped, but she has pretty classic symptoms: Drooling, choking, etc. I have been fortunate in that they think the esophagus failure may be higher up rather than close to the stomach as she has been pretty stable on grass hay and watered down senior feed. She can NOT eat alfalfa hay without choking. She gets Equioxx daily to help grease her joints. She has annual dentals, and they say her teeth are in good shape.
Apparently, Friesians with megaesophagus can also be susceptible to Equine Delayed Gastric Emptying (Gastroparesis) & Gastric Rupture
https://www.fenwayfoundation.com/gastroparesis-gastric-rupture
For the first time she coliced a few days ago. It was late at night, and we realized that she was off. First we thought she was having a choke experience, but then realized that she was displaying more colic symptoms. She layed down, then got up, passed some gas and a small amount of manure that was covered with mucous. She then got quiet and seemed to be over it.
Subsequently, she doesn’t want to finish her watered down concentrated feed which consists of LMF Senior plus Cool Calories (100% fat supplement). She was also VERY gassy, and you could hear gut sounds standing 3 feet away from her.
Over the following days, she seems to feel better. The loud gut sounds stopped. Fairly normal behavior with the exception that she eats some of her senior feed, but won’t finish it.
I have an appointment on 10/18 to have her scoped which hopefully will confirm the Megaesophagus diagnosis and also see what is going on in her gut.
In the meantime, I’m looking for suggestions for what I can do to make her more comfortable, and what changes I should make to her existing diet so I don’t make matters worse.
The ingredients in LMF Senior include an alfalfa base (below). I am now splitting it up and feeding in smaller portions throughout the day. I could add some soaked alfalfa pellets? I originally switched her from Grass/alfalfa hay 80/20 when she was choking to grass only. She dropped a lot of weight, and it has taken me a year to get it back on with more senior feed and fat supplement. Her top line isn’t great, but she isn’t ribby. Since this happened, I have tried to keep grass hay in front of her all of the time so she isn’t fasting. She has been on Equioxx for years now. It apparently can cause ulcers as a side effect. I hate to remove it as she does work to get off the ground at times.
Suggestions?
LMF Senior: (Sun Cured Alfalfa Meal, Oats, Corn, Soybean Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Ground Grass
Hay, Cane Molasses, Vegetable Oil, Calcite (sea based calcium), Monosodium Phosphate,
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Yeast Culture, Sodium Chloride, Glucosamine HCL, Mono-Dicalcium
Phosphate, DL Methionine, Sodium Sulfate, L Lysine, Dried Yeast Culture, d-alpha tocopherol (source of natural Vitamin E), Chromium Proprionate, Manganese Sulfate, Selenium Yeast, Choline Chloride Supplement, Manganese Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Natural and Artificial Flavorings, Copper Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, d-Biotin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid Supplement, Cobalt Sulfate, Potassium Iodide. -
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Hello Laurie,
I have no issues with the choice of feed and like that it is watered down, and the that you are feeding small amounts frequently. Wetter, smaller amounts, and increasing frequency can all be pursued. The scoping should help answer your questions about ulcers. Giving her the pill with her evening meal, or just after, would make sense. The only reason I see for replacing some of the LMF with alfalfa pellets would be to improve appetite.
DrO -
Nikki was scoped today. They did confirm that she has a mild case of megaesophagus higher up in the esophagus. “She was noted to have dilation of her esophagus at about 140-170cm consistent with megaesophagus.” The Vet did show me where the opening to the intestines also was not opening/closing as tight as it should be.
She had fasted for about 16 hours, so there was nothing in her system. Despite that, there was lots of foaming in the esophagus. So the drooling doesn’t appear to come from food that is blocking the saliva from going down.
She had a mild gas colic 3 weeks ago, so I decided to have her scoped. No ulcers. She was tentative with her slop after the colic for a few days, but she appears to be back to normal.
They showed me where she had some dysfunction while breathing. These folds where the arrows are pointing open and close as she breathes. On one side it doesn’t quite work right; it doesn’t open and close all of the way. She said that this is the “roaring” that I hear when she exercises. -
Response from the Fenway Friesian Foundation that is working on the genetics of Friesian Megaesophagus:
Laurie- that’s interesting. I believe this would make only the 3rd or 4th case of megaesophagus I’ve personally seen where the dilation is only in the cervical esophagus (not affecting only the thoracic portion or esophagus).
We see poor motility of the pylorus (the muscle that controls the exit of the stomach) in horses with gastroparesis and we see a fair number of horses that have both megaesophagus and gastroparesis.
The foam in the esophagus we see often too. I believe it is latherin, which is a protein in sweat and it’s also present on saliva in order to help lubricate the saliva during chewing.
Was the larynx paralyzed on only the left side? That is what you’d commonly see with roaring. We are growing curious about the larynx after seeing horses with megaesophagus have bilateral laryngeal paralysis, which is apparently quite rare vs. just having one side paralyzed. We can’t attribute the bilateral paralysis to anything else you’d typically be able to tie it to such as guttural pouch mycosis, EPM, or toxicity from exposure to chemicals like herbicides, pesticides or fertilizers. -
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