Dog profile for Rody, a male Rhodesian Ridgeback

Rhodesian Ridgeback

Photo Comments

Home:FL

Age: 7 Years Sex: Male Weight: 51-100 lbs

Dogster stats for Rody


Stars:

Leave a bone for Rody

Nicknames:
Rodie-Polie-Olie, The Mega-Regurgitator, No! Bad Dog!

Doggie Dynamics:

Energy

sleepy		energetic

Intelligence

silly		genius

Friendliness

aggressive		affectionate

Playfulness

not playful		very playful

Disposition

anxious		calm

Quick Bio:

-purebred

-disabled

-dog rescue

Birthday:
February 9th 2005

Likes:
Eating

Pet-Peeves:
Regurgitating

Favorite Toy:
His Brother

Favorite Food:
Anything he can keep down

Favorite Walk:
To Work

Best Tricks:
Digesting his food

Arrival Story:
I first met Rody when he was 4wks old. He was brought in to the clinic where I work for a routine checkup with his 7 other brothers and sisters. Everything checked out a-ok. 2 weeks later he was brought back again, this time by himself. The breeder had found him sitting by a chewed up CD and was afraid he may have ingested something, since he had seemed to have a hard time keeping down his food. We took radiographs and found an extremely distended esophagus. The breeder followed up with the specialist. Over $1000 later Rody's diagnosis was Primary Ideopathic Megaesophagus. This means that for no apparent reason, his esophagus has decided to be about 10x its normal size. The peristalsis that carries his food to his stomach does not function. His breeder could not handle him along with the 9 other dogs at his house, and decided the most humane thing to do instead of to see him suffer was to have him euthanized. I had grown too attached to the little guy to see everyone just give up on him like that! So....I kept him. The first few months were very rough. He needed to be fed EVERY three hours, and held upright for 30 minutes afterwards. You try getting a squirmy 2 month old to sit still for that long! He did make it through, however. Now, at 18 months, he is a full grown 60lbs (though somewhat thin) and is fed ~4x a day. He stands straight up at the table so that gravity can pull the food down to his stomach. He needs to be fed Rx food (which costs $1.25 a can- times 8 a day, seven days a week...etc) but is doing quite well.

Bio:
Rody would like to be your friend! Visit him at www.myspace.com/megaesophagus

Forums Motto:
If it's edible- eat it! *or at least try

The Groups I'm In:
Rhodesian Ridgeback Lovers, Vets and Techs and Students

The Last Forum I Posted In:
WELCOME!

I've Been On Dogster Since:

September 19th 2006