Great Dane - slipped disc

lisawood78

Just to say we had a fecally incomtinent Dane who lived til he was 13.
Very short on time right now but I will come back and recount his story later.
If that is the outcome then it is certainly copeable

lostinrates

Person_one wrote: »

Is 10 years a realistic expectation of the dog's lifespan? I've only googled very quickly, but the results mostly say 6-8 years is average for a Dane.

Not that it should be the deciding factor, but its an important consideration. Two months isn't much out of 5 years, but out of 1 year or 18 months its a big chunk, and that's assuming everything goes smoothly.

I think if it were me, I might be looking into more conservative ways to manage the pain, I think.

I don't know Danes. We have other giants with very similar life spans though, and some similar issues. We had one of the oldest on breed record, and we lost only one young. My mother always selected for health and longevity ( go figure, ....evil breeders, eh?) . Averages anecdotally are often higher because no one boasts about the dogs that die young in case it reflects poorly on them.

When I went in to a different group I spent years following results not just of dogs I liked but how many appeared in veteran classes. Its far from foolproof, but its a starting point.

bugslet

Person_one wrote: »

Is 10 years a realistic expectation of the dog's lifespan? I've only googled very quickly, but the results mostly say 6-8 years is average for a Dane.

Not that it should be the deciding factor, but its an important consideration. Two months isn't much out of 5 years, but out of 1 year or 18 months its a big chunk, and that's assuming everything goes smoothly.

I think if it were me, I might be looking into more conservative ways to manage the pain, I think.

That's the problem, 5 years is 'older' than a 5 year old spitz or schnauzer as I have. However, they can live to over ten and that's part of the hard work of coming to a decision, dealing with a complete unknowable.

As lir said, a lot of it is about the temperament of the dog and she has decided against the operation in favour of managing the condition. The painkillers and anti inflamms are helping the dog feel more comfortable at the moment, so things are steady at the moment.

lisawood78 wrote: »

Just to say we had a fecally incomtinent Dane who lived til he was 13.
Very short on time right now but I will come back and recount his story later.
If that is the outcome then it is certainly copeable

lisawood, thank you, I'll look forward to seeing your comments.

lostinrates

Bugs, IME of a different but not totally dissimilar situation keeping them lean is helpful, both for pain management, and for practicality. Our old dog who had spinal problems, and reached a very great age, was naturally slim, and when he had problems later with hind leg proprioception because he was lean and light we were easily able to lift and help him. I am certain were he a heavier dog he would not have made the age he did, because of the pressure this would have put on his back.


I wish your friends and their loved girl good luck. Its so hard, too hard, too soon. I love the giants I grew up with immeasurably, but, its with sadness but also relief that big girl is our last one. I love the breed and admire the good, devoted breeders I know so much and will always love the dogs.

lisawood78

Sorry of the delay in my post
I have posted Princes story on here before but I can't find it so will post it again.
Prince came to us as a rescue Dane at age 11 in a poor state. He had a huge (fist sized) lump on his back, wasted rear end, broken teeth and very very thin.
We took him on and started feeding him up slowly etc, figured we could give him a few months comfort and peace. The poor guy was handed in because he bit someone, but he bit someone because he jumped a fence in fear as he was locked out on bonfire night and they cornered him to get him back. Anyway, that's irrelevant.
We were told he was fecally incontinent and at first it was only occasionally, In his sleep or just when he got excited. He used to bounce up and down when he barked and sometimes a little bit would pop out. The lump on his back burst one day leaving a huge crater and he went in of surgery after the vet said he had the heart of a 5 year old. He came back with a massive 'zorro' scar on his back and many teeth lighter as many were split and broken. He slowly but surely seemed to get younger before our eyes, everything improved massively, he gained weight, he played and went for walks and loved life and loved the other 2 Danes (b*tches) that we had also. Only issue was his toiletting, it soon became clear that there was no cure for it (no medication helped) as it was just nerve degeneration in his back end. Undeterred we took a 2 stage approach. Swapped him to a BARF diet which meant his stools were generally solid and small and minimal and then found a company that made extra large washable dog pants. Don't laugh, it was a fabulous solution! Like a reusable nappy, with a mesh lining and absorbent too in case of any fluid, they had Velcro fastenings and a tail hole with draw string to stop anything escaping. We had 3 to rotate with washing. He very quickly got used to the idea and did not bat an eyelid. As soon as we were away that he had 'been' we would quickly whip the pants off, tip solids down the toilet and replace/wash. He would stand next to us and wait when we said 'come here let's change your pants' he would even stand on opposite side of me and my husband spending on who said it as we are left/right handed respectively. This solution worked incredibly well and was such minimal fuss. It got a bit tough if he had a bad tummy but this was only very rare. Of course you had to remember to take them off him when he went out for a wee or he would refuse to go out!
Prince went to Rainbow Bridge at age 13, 2 whole years after we rescued him for his final months. His back legs finally refused to support him any longer and our lovely vet helped him to the bridge.
Sorry for rambling on, I guess what I'm saying is being faced with the option of an incontinent dane isn't the end of the line and it is perfectly doable, and for us it was so incredibly worthwhile.

bugslet

Lisa, typing this from my phone, apologies for the brief reply. I will make sure my friend reads your post. I had to log on to say bless you for making him happy in his last couple of years.