Annalises is the sweetest, most loving girl and has had a really rough time. Her story starts off with being confiscated by police with 2 other dogs in her home and taken to the Wichita Animal Shelter because her owners were taken to jail. She was evaluated to be adopted through Kansas Humane Society and did wonderfully until she was heard coughing which caused her to not be adoptable due to the concerns of kennel cough. Beauties and Beast tagged her and I went to pick her up on January 8th and over the next week she became more lethargic, coughed to the point of vomiting and had progressive difficulty breathing. We took her to Urgent Pet Care where she was diagnosed with an extensive pneumonia and given several medications. Over the next few days she started passively regurgitating saliva, food and liquids. A couple of more vet visits and x-rays and she was diagnosed with Megaesophagus.

Megaesophagus is the enlargement of and resultant pooling of saliva, food, and liquids in the esophagus which increases the risk of food going into the lungs causing aspiration pneumonia. It used to be that megaesophagus was a death sentence, but with time, knowledge and a community of vets and megaesophagus dog owners striving for better outcomes this is no longer always the case. Annalise is ecstatic to share that she gets fed 3-4 times per day, has her very own chair to eat in, has food that is jam packed full of all the good stuff, and her food is even pureed! Its like she has her own chef!

The Bailey chair will come with her at adoption and keeps her esophagus in a vertical/upright position utilizing gravity to move food into the stomach and protect her lungs from getting food in them and causing aspiration pneumonia.

Annalise will need an adopter who will love her because of her special needs and care for her accordingly. She will need to be fed 3-4 times per day life long and to sit upright for 20-30 minutes after each meal. We have taken her on a 10-hour drive, fed her on the road in the car and held her upright in our laps for the 30 minutes with no problems. Thank goodness she is a petite little girl! She doesnt drink much water as there is quite a bit of water and broth mixed into her food, but her water bowl will need to be elevated. She will have good days and bad days in regards to regurgitation, but we have found what (so far) works well for her and will continue to learn as we go.

She is absolutely precious and so grateful to be cared for! She will return your love 1000 fold!

Visit www.beautiesandbeasts.org for more details.