From An Article I found, written by Val Whitman
http://www.tollerhealth.com/Megaesophagus.html
Hope this helps.
What to do if your pup/dog has megaesophagus?
* The first thing to do is get a correct diagnosis. This is commonly done using a barium study. Your vet can perform this easily.
* There are no medications that really work, although there are a few which can aid in digestion for older dogs.
* Elevate dog's food and water. By elevate, I mean so their front feet are off the floor and resting up on the surface where the food/water is. A stool works well, or even using stairs can work. You will need to grow your platform as your pup gets bigger.
* Feed a watery slurry of dog food, or dry food. Most vets recommend a slurry as that seems to go down better. We initially had Wiley on dry, but we switched to liquid hoping that will move down easier. To prepare his food we put his serving of dry food in a cup and add enough water to cover it and a little more. Using a hand held blender we whip it up into a watery oatmeal type consistency. He slurps it down and thinks it is a tasty treat! This also is a good way for us to keep water down him - when mixed with his food it seems to stay down better.
* Hold them upright for at least 5 minutes after they eat and after they drink if water is a problem. Often Wiley will burp just like a baby. Your vet can tell you from doing the barium how severe your pup is, and that can help you determine how long you need to hold them upright. Try to keep them quiet for a period after eating as well.
* Crate training is a must, unless you want to clean up messes in the middle of the night. He doesn't often urp at night, but it can happen and changing towels from his crate is easier at 2 AM than the alternatives.
* Invest in paper towel companies!! Fortunately, we had installed hardwood floors not long before getting Wiley, so clean up is quick and easy. When he manages to hit the carpet, standard carpet cleaners seem to do the trick.
* Keep everything out of baby's mouth! Mega dogs seem to be constantly hungry and Wiley will put anything in his mouth (including his own poops - yuck!). All puppies tend to be mouthy, but he is worse and anything that goes down will undoubtedly come back up.
* Train for praise and love. Most training treats won't stay down, so you will need to train pup to do it for love! Koehler is one training method that does not use treats, but any method can be adapted to omit treats. Some dogs think a tennis ball is better than a treat anyway! I have found that the fake chocolate drop treats do stay in him - they are small and must just slip on down into his tummy.
* Give them LOTS of love and affection!
Prognosis?
Some dogs outgrow the condition when it is seen in puppies. Adult dogs that develop megaesophagus do not outgrow it. The real killers of mega are malnutrition in young dogs, and aspiration pneumonia. In advanced stages of the condition, some dogs are given a feeding tube so food is inserted directly into the stomach through the side of the dog. This is a fairly drastic approach, and other methods of keeping food down should be explored first. As noted above, aspiration pneumonia is cause by the regurgitation of food that gets inhaled into the lungs. This foreign matter irritates the lungs, causing fluid and the onset of pneumonia. Watch for coughing, elevated temperature and signs of labored breathing. When in doubt, get a chest x-ray! Some dogs can be sick without coughing or having a emperature.
