Megaesophagus and Water

So I took my buddy Sidney to the dog park today because it was really nice out for a January day. As always, he had so much fun and as always, there is water in bowls out at the park. Since Sidney has MegaE and cannot drink water like non-MegaE dogs or risk Aspration Pneumonia, it is always a concern. This is the case for us anyways, not necessarily the horizontal drinking of water which is a No-NO for all MegaE dogs, but for us it doesn't even work well in his Bailey Chair (so we give him water in the form of Knox Blox - recipe is in a below post). I always make sure to give Sid extra Knox Blox before we go and I just feel lucky that he really has no interest in drinking water from a bowl. I assume since he was born with MegaE, that it is so much easier for us to manage this because he has only known how not to drink water from a bowl. I say this because he ignores the water bowls - see the above photo.

Anyways, what I love is that Sidney is allowed to be a normal dog. He can have fun playing with other dogs and it really makes me happy to let him be normal and happy. YES, I watch him closely, but we really have our system down and we have a happy and normal dog. Does he have MegaE? Yup. Does he care? Nope!! That's all that matters to me. So if you get the diagnosis and wonder what your fur kid's life will be like. It will be great. Just get your system down and let your dog be a dog and enjoy having fun. It has worked for us. And I am so much happier, living though Sidney's happiness.

FOLLOW UP: I was curious about Prilosec OTC longtime use in my previous post. From what I have found, it isn't an issue and for us, we will continue with this every night for Sidney!!

Shedding, Prilosec OTC and Regurgitation

Sidney is wore out from partying on New Year's Eve!!
So, Sidney has been shedding A LOT lately. He is a Lab, that's the deal, I get it. And also lately, he has had some late-night regurgitation issues or late-night issues where he woke up at 3am and just looked uncomfortable. Some afternoon episodes too, but those are rare. His recent regurgitation looked basically like it was from him ingesting his shedding hair. He licks his paws a ton and somehow ate a bunch of his shedded hair. I am hoping that his recent episodes are just that. EPISODES. I feel like they were isolated because he seems super fine outside of this. He played with my friend's Black Lab Cisco on New Year's Eve for the ENTIRE night and could not have been more energetic or more happy. I cannot stress how HAPPY he was. He loves playing with other dogs so much. Once his favorite dog park Bow Wow Beach opens back up next year, we will be there every week!! So basically, Sidney is doing great, I just always worry about him when he has a bad day. Way over protective I know. But I have to be. It's my obligation to my favorite buddy in the world.
On another note, I have been curious about long-term Prilosec OTC usage and the effects. Only because I have seen commercials that state to only use for 14 days at a time and a cycle of 14 days every 4 months (in the fine print). Sidney has been on it for 2 years straight. I will do some research online. However, since it has helped with significantly decreasing regurgitation and the potential for Aspiration Pneumonia (which can KILL him fast), the risks are most likely worth the reward of his life being extended for around 13 more years. I'm no expert, but want to make sure what we do for Sidney is always the best for him. So I am going to ask the vet and my actual people doctor about it to be sure. I just do not want to potentially create a new health problem for Sidney since he obviously already has a stupid MegaE problem.
Happy New Year. Sidney has already had more than he was predicted to and will have many more. Megaesophagus is NOT A DEATH SENTENCE!!!!!!!!!