92 Dysphagia: A Hard Pill to Swallow – Instructor Guide
Dysphagia: A Hard Pill to Swallow
Instructional Guide
The purpose of this lecture is to discuss the anatomy involved in swallowing, what a swallowing disease can look like, and how we would treat the issue.
Intended Grade Level
This lesson is for students in the 9th- 12th grade. Students should be familiar with general anatomy of the GI system, such as the esophagus, stomach, intestines. Students should also be familiar with basic scientific terminology.
Learning objectives
- Describe the anatomy involved in swallowing
- Explain causes for dysphagia in canines and how to diagnose it
- Explain ways to treat dysphagia
- Identify when a dog is showing signs of dysphagia v. regurgitation v. vomiting
Lesson Format
This can be done in any size group. Materials need for this lesson include Orbeez, a plastic water bottle, a grocery store bag, Duck Tape, pretzel sticks and marshmallows.
- First students will read an introduction to the normal GI system, using a diagram to click and learn the normal flow of ingesta (8 minutes).
- Next, students will read a section on dysphagia, including its causes, the process of diagnosing and treating it. Students will also read how dysphagia is different then regurgitation and vomiting (20 minutes).
- Students will then choose one of two activities, which are detailed below, in order to demonstrate why dysphagia happens based on the physiology at play (15 minutes).
- The assessment is a short quiz to test their new learning (5 minutes).
Lesson Background
Dysphagia is the inability to properly swallow. There can be multiple causes, which will be discussed in detail, but the end result will be the same: the animal cannot swallow. This is distinct from regurgitation, when an animal’s food comes back out of its mouth before it has reached the stomach, and vomiting, in which an animal’s food has reached the stomach, then is expelled back out. So, if an animal is experiencing dysphagia, what comes out of its mouth will look very similar to the food it was just eating, as it has not experienced any kind of digestion. If an animal is regurgitating, the food will look more chewed and mushy, and they will appear to have slight effort getting the food up and out. If an animal is vomiting, their food will look like it has started the process of digestion, and they will have a lot of full body effort to get the food up and out.
Dysphagia can be caused by nerve issues, rabies, bad dental health, or a foreign body, which is when there is something stuck in the animal’s throat that they should not have eaten, like a toy.
When an animal is unable to swallow, this means that they are not able to consume any of the food they are attempting to eat. So, their body is not receiving any of the nutrients it needs and any of the nutrients that the food is providing.
Activities
Students can be split into two groups, or choose one of the two following activities, which represent different aspects of dysphagia.
Activity 1/Group 1: Damaged Nerves
Students should pack the plastic water bottle with Orbeez— don’t hold back! Then, while the water bottle is standing up, attach the plastic grocery store bag as a funnel to the top of the bottle. Securely attach this by applying duck tape around the rim and bag. Now, invert the water bottle. Only a couple should fall into the bag. Their hand simulates the “nerve” that triggers swallowing, also known as squeezing the bag. Their hand must be inactive (no squeezing!) for the first minute and thy should have to try other techniques to get the Orbeez into the bag. Then, after a minute, you may squeeze the bottle.
Activty 2/Group 2: Dental issues
Students should place two pretzel sticks along their gum-line. Then they should take a large marshmallow and start chewing. While doing this, note the feeling, whether awkward or painful. This should simulate the pain caused from sharp edges in teeth that can cause dysphagia.
After performing one of these activities, students should answer three reflective questions to connect back to the learning objectives.
Common misconceptions and challenge points
A potential challenge for students could be understanding the complexity of dysphagia and how different causes (nerve damage, rabies, dental issues, and foreign bodies) can lead to similar symptoms like drooling and difficulty swallowing. Since dysphagia is a relatively complex medical term, students might struggle with distinguishing between these causes, especially without direct observation of a cat or animal in distress. To address this, you can emphasize key differences in symptoms during the clue phase (e.g., rabies might show aggression, while a foreign body would cause drooling or gagging). Additionally, you can simplify the explanation of how nerve damage affects swallowing by describing it in terms of “signals” not getting to the muscles needed to swallow or how dental issues are directly related to pain while chewing.
Assessment
The assessment is a short, 4 question quiz using a variety of question types to test learner’s understanding of the topics covered throughout this lesson.
Further exploration
Other chapters within this book may be interesting and beneficial to learners, those may be found below:
Whiskers’s Swallowing Struggles: A Journey to a Purrfect Diagnosis
