Dear Mjo: >A pathologist at the Colorado State School of Veterinary Medicine >discovered it was a virus which was spread by contact with the feces. >The pathologist believed the disease is "out there" but was misdiagnosed >as something else in the past. The disease is called GER (gastro >esophagus rupture) or GIR (gastro intestinal rupture). Sorry, haven't heard of anything like that. The signs that you describe are consistent with a bleeding pyloric ulcer, which may be secondary to a number of diseases, even some viruses, but generally aren't thought to be caused by a virus. With kindest regards, Bruce Williams, dVM [Posted in FML issue 3288]