Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue, Inc.

Chopper came from a very nice family in Montana who loved him very much, but they were unable to afford to get him the medical attention he desperately needed! Their vet diagnosed him with mild to moderate Hip Displaysia and initially did not feel that surgery was necessary. However, his situation has worsened and he is now mostly non-weight baring on one of his back legs, which is why they contacted the rescue for assistance. They knew that he needed more help than they could give him and did not want him to be put down, so they lovingly sent him with a car packed full of dog beds, toys, food, feeder, and pain meds so that he could have a chance at a pain free future!

July 16, 2007

He was transported all the way to Denver late last night and was a very scared boy! His tail was tucked between his legs and his eyes were huge with confusion. He spent the night at my house due to the late hour of his arrival and was taken to the vet first thing this morning.

VCA Wingate took x-rays of his hips and they are in rough shape. Chances are that he may need surgery. He also has something strange going on with his knees. We have an appointment scheduled later in the week with an Orthopedic surgeon and we will find out more then in regards to an exact diagnosis and plan for treatment.

Chopper is settling into his foster home and starting to get more comfortable by the minute! His foster mom is a vet, so he couldn't be in better hands.

July 19, 2007

Chopper visited with Dr. Stubbs, an orthopedic surgeon, at Alameda East today.

After reviewing the initial set of x-rays taken, Dr. Stubbs felt that the knees were the bigger problem. They were both filled with excessive fluid and there were floating chips of bone (OCD lesions) in both knees, but the right one is worse. The knee is apparently the worst joint to have OCD and the most difficult to fix, especially with Danes. The lesions tend to be more widespread, bigger, and irregular.

He decided he needed a focused AP view of his stifles (front to back view) in order to properly diagnose. He also felt that the hip x-rays needed to be redone so that he could get a straight VD pelvis shot. They had to sedate Chopper to do so and as you can see in the photos, he was not feeling much pain and was rather loopy afterward!

As Dr. Stubbs suspected, the previous films made his displaysia look worse than it really was. He still has displaysia, but only a mild case in both hips and nothing that would require immediate surgical attention. They may or may not get worse as he ages, but it is highly likely this particular issue can be controlled with pain management rather than surgery.

His plan for Chopper's treatment is arthroscopic surgery on both knees first. This will allow him to scope around to see what is really going on in there and clean up the joint. He would need to do a separate procedure and actually open him up in order to perform a cartilage transplant if the lesions are ones that he can plug(up to a centimeter big).

We have asked another orthopedic surgeon to take a look at the x-rays on Monday for a second opinion and we'll get another estimate from him before scheduling the procedure. His surgery will be very expensive, so donations would be greatly appreciated!

July 23, 2007

Chopper saw Dr. Dave today and he reviewed the x-rays. He found that the fluid in his knees has essentially disappeared thanks to the Rimadyl he has been on the last week. However, he agrees that he definitely has some problems in the area and knee surgery may be necessary still despite the encouraging recent changes. His right one is pretty crunchy and the left one has something weird going on in the x-ray.

He couldn't say for sure if it was OCD lesions, so he wanted to have a board certified radiologist review the films as well for another opinion. He would not recommend doing a cartilage transplant on him, even if he does have them, because there has been very little success with giant breeds and it is still a relatively new procedure. Scoping could prove helpful, however, and would give us a better idea of what we are dealing with.

Dr Dave feels that most of the pain he is currently in is from his hip, which very well may resolve with time since he is still a puppy and growing.

Chopper has some confirmational abnormalities and will never be a normal dog with a normal gait. He is currently walking, running, playing and jumping and doing much better with conservative pain management. He know he has limits, but he plays and runs for short periods and it doesn't seem to hurt him too much.

Dr. Dave suggested we give it another 2 weeks for observation and we can see how he progresses and reassess the situation then.

July 25, 2007

Dr. Gandhi, the radiologist who works with Dr. Mathieson, reviewed the x-rays today and she thinks that Chopper is dealing with old ACL injuries.

Due to the fact that we have received conflicting opinions, we have decided to take Chopper to see Dr. Devitt at VRCC for one final opinion before deciding on the best plan of action. He has an appointment on Tuesday morning and after that he will have seen 3 of the best surgeons in town and hopefully we can come to some sort of consensus!

July 31, 2007

We met with Dr. Devitt from VRCC today regarding Chopper. He took a look at the x-rays and did a full orthopedic exam as well as observed him walking outside.

He said that he definitely has some pain in his hip, but his muscles are so atrophied that he is fairly confident that his hip will tighten up with time and exercise. He does not think that he will require any surgery at this point in time.

As far as his knees go, he said that clinical signs are not consistent with OCD lesions. He has improved dramatically on the Rimadyl in regards to the swelling and mobility and if he did have OCD, this would not be the case. He believes that his symptoms are more consistent with very early on ACL disease, which means that he may have the beginnings of a partial tear. He does not feel that surgery is the answer for his knees either. Instead, he has recommended Hydro-therapy at Alameda East to help him strengthen his muscles.

Dr. Brad was very generous and donated the exam and said he is happy to help anytime with rescues!

We have already spoken to Caroline (Carrie) Adamson Adrian, MSPT, CCRP, Director, Rehabilitation Service at the Animal Lodge at AEVH and she has agreed to start working with Chopper next week!

August 6, 2007

Chopper had his first session of hydro-therapy today. Carrie feels that he needs some massage therapy as well because he is reluctant to even put his left foot down. He is pretty scared of the water and tried to jump out, but we are going to take is real slow and only do 7 minutes at a time and we'll work him up to longer periods of time when he is ready. We are very optimistic that this will all help him, but it is going to be a slow process. He continues to do very well in his foster home and is receiving lots of TLC!

August 15, 2007

Chopper had his second session of hydrotherapy yesterday in the underwater treadmill. He was a very good boy in the car on the way to his appointment, but was not especially thrilled when he realized the reason for the car ride was another trip to the "torture chamber" at the Animal Lodge!

Carrie feels that his legs are still pretty bad and the left side continues to be more painful than the right. She would like Chopper to have hydrotherapy at least twice a week to help expand his range of motion. She also requested that his foster mom, Dr. Winton, continue with the body massage therapy at home.

Chopper did a little dance when he returned home and was excited to see all of his friends and take a nap after a hard day's work!

August 21, 2007

Chopper had another session of PT at Alameda East yesterday is getting along a little better every day! He met his new therapist Tammy and she was very informative. She took things very gently and calmly and Chopper slowly started responding to her touch. He is very guarded around his back end due to his joint dysfunctions so she worked steadily on his core and loosening his front end. By the end of the session he was wagging his tail and stretching out his back legs. He hopped up and walked out much easier. Tammy gave his foster mom lots of encouragement and some ideas for home care and they will continue to meet once a week.

September 11, 2007

Chopper went to see Dr. Cudden at Alameda East yesterday because we have been suspicious from early on that he has some sort of neuro problem as well. Dr. Cudden did a thorough neurological exam and has diagnosed him with Wobbler's. As the next step, he would like to do a CT scan to see how bad the problem is, and then we can discuss whether
or not surgery is an option in his case. Even a CT scan alone is quite expensive. Don't forget that you can Sponsor a Dane and help us pay for their medical expenses!

October 2, 2007

Dr. Cudden evaluated Chopper's CT scan and spinal fluid analysis and he feels that the compression on the spinal cord is minimal. He also thinks that because Chopper has reached his full growth, he may have "grown into" the defect and have some atrophy of the spinal cord that is causing his neurological signs, but is not causing him any pain.

He has been on a trial of Prednisone to see if it makes a difference, and, so far, it hasn't. Dr. Cudden suggested increasing the dose slightly, giving it two weeks to either help or not, and if er see no improvement, we will taper him off of prednisone and focus on his knees and hips.

Chopper will be going back to physical therapy(which we had put on hold pending word from Dr. Cudden) and we will work on strengthening and conditioning.

Dr. Cudden did not feel that Chopper would benefit from Wobbler's surgery, so the goal will be to make him as comfortable as possible through physical therapy and pain management.

November 4, 2007

Chopper continues to improve with physical therapy and is currently on NO medications. He does take Cosequin, a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement, in hopes of promoting good joint health, but he is moving so much better that he is off of all pain medications and plays with the other dogs in his foster home with reckless abandon. His gait is not entirely normal, and may never be, but it doesn't cause him any problems. He is a little unsteady, but not in any pain, and he loves to go for walks, and can tolerate 30 to 40 minute walks with no ill effects. He is developing muscle in his rear legs, which hopefully will help to stabilize his mildly dysplastic hip, and he is getting a more normal range of motion in all his joints through his work in Physical Therapy. He has become a bit of a chow hound since he is feeling better, which makes him very treat motivated and easy to train. He is a sweet boy with a wonderful spirit, and he never lets anything get him down!

November 6, 2007

Chopper had his usual PT appointment yesterday and his therapist, Tammy, was so pleased with Chopper's progress that we are going to cut back to every other week on his therapy after next week. He's building muscle and gaining flexibility!