Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue, Inc.

Sullivan is a handsome, 10 week old, Fawn, male Dane puppy with natural ears. He is a typical puppy who likes to explore. He has absolutely no manners at all, so his foster family will be working on potty training, crate training, and basic obedience. Sullivan is good with dogs, cats, and kids, and just wants to play! He is a very special boy and was the victim of poor breeding. Consequently, he has a horrible eye defect with several problems that will require constant care and more than likely several surgeries to fix.

February 18, 2007

This sweet little puppy came to us from a breeder in Kansas. He was one of two different puppies in the same litter who were born with the same eye problems. We are happy to report that the breeder has agreed to get their mama spayed immediately so that no other puppies like this will suffer!

He had no name when he arrived into rescue and was given the name Sullivan a.k.a. Sully after the big lovable monster in the movie Monsters Inc.

As you can see in the photos, his right eye has a big bulging red obtrusion. We have been told that there are numerous problems including entropion and his eye is too small for his socket. Sully will be seeing a specialist as soon as he arrives to Colorado this week to determine the best course of action!

February 22, 2007

Sullivan went to see Dr. Hammond and Dr. Graham at The Eye Clinic in Wheat Ridge today. All of the doctors and technicians gathered to take a look because no one had ever seen anything like it!

They did a thorough optical exam and concluded that Sully is actually suffering from a vascular problem. There may be a secondary cherry eye issue, but it was hard to determine without further diagnostics. What they did determine was that he has an abnormal blood vessel and a condition called "orbital varix". The vessel appears to inflate when his head tilts downward and deflates if he looks up for any extended period of time. You can actually see it balloon up within seconds and it sits under the eye so it pushes the eye up into the orbit when it does inflate.

They do not believe that he is in pain, which is wonderful news. The doctor did not detect any heart murmurs either. The vessel does fill up with blood though, so it is very important that we protect his eye as much as possible so that it doesn't get accidentally punctured and bleed out. Despite his protests, Sully gets to wear an e-collar for now!

According to the specialists, this condition is not something that most veterinarians have ever seen and suggested that we will need to do an angiogram and other tests to fully diagnose and determine treatment. They were not equipped to address Sully's issues at the clinic, but they were kind enough to do some research and took video and photos to send off to CSU and a few other possible facilities who we hope can help. We should know more in a couple days!

Unfortunately, while we were at the clinic, Sully also threw up about 6 times in an hour. His throw-up was a thick, mucousy, bile consistency, so we decided to take him from the ophthalmologist over to Alameda East to check on problem number two. While we were there, they tested him for parvo since we aren't sure about his vaccination history and he was negative. He got sick again and began throwing up while at the hospital, so they decided to give him some sub-cue fluids, anti-nausea meds, and some Pepcid to make his tummy feel better. We are going to withhold food for now and switch to a bland diet tomorrow night if he does okay overnight.

February 28, 2007

Sully and I spent 3.5 hours up at CSU yesterday for further diagnostics...

The little man was a very patient boy as he was poked and prodded all afternoon. Dr. Mangan, a third year resident doctor, examined him after the students first took a look and reported their results to their mentor. Then, Sully made his rounds, first to the cardiology department where they took him to probe the vein and try and get an idea of the direction of flow through an ultrasound. They weren't able to get any conclusive readings so they took him to the radiology department next to try a more advanced probe to see if they could determine if it was arterial or intravenous. During his trip around the different departments of the hospital, Dr. Mangan and Sully ran into a soft tissue surgeon with a cardiology background who was also very fascinated by his case and interested in being involved.

Dr. Mangan said that they gathered some very important information during our visit. He confirmed that the next important step is a Fluoroscopy procedure where they will perform angiograms and further analyze what is going on. Basically, this means they will do special x-rays where they inject dye into the veins and arteries and they will take pictures to see where the malformation is arising and whether it is just veins or veins and arteries. This would make a difference in the outcome/prognosis, which is why it is important to find out. Sully will need general anesthesia for this procedure.

Dr. Mangan has decided that he wants to wait a week so that he can gather the necessary specialists, which may even include a human intravenous radiologist from Poudre Valley who has performed some similar procedures on people. They also hope to use this time to see what all they might be able to get donated to help us with the costs involved.

Hopefully next week, they will perform the Fluoroscopy as a group and look at the results to decide on the best surgical option. Dr. Mangan has spoken to their cardiology team to discuss the possibility of an external procedure where they would place an occlusive device in the abnormal vascular. They would essentially feed a catheter up the artery to find the feeder vessel and inject surgical glue to occlude them. Another option might be to place a metal coil in the vessel or they might even be able to possibly ligate, but it all depends on what they find during the next advanced diagnostics.

Before we left the hospital last night, Dr. Mangan wanted to perform a quick Tarsorrhaphy procedure to suture shut his eye. This is to help prevent trauma to the vascular swelling, which if traumatized, could lead to excessive bleeding. This is a temporary measure while we plan on the surgical procedure and gather the necessary specialists to perform the procedure. Dr. Mangan also suggested that we further protect the eye with an e-collar until our next meeting.

Sully was a tired pup when we left and crawled into my lap where he snored the entire way home! I am encouraged by the quality of care he received at CSU and they appear to be optimistic that they can help him to be able to see out of his eye like a normal puppy soon!

Dr. Mangan

Tarsorrhaphy procedure to suture his eye shut

The dreaded e-collar

March 8, 2007

Sullivan underwent both a fluoroscopy and surgery today at CSU. There was a team of specialists gathered for the diagnostic test standing by to help with surgery depending on what they found.

The did identify one primary feeder vessel and artery which was the source of the problem and what they were hoping for. Dr. Jan Bright and Dr. Lee Griffiths were the Cardiologists who performed the procedure. They catheterized the vessel and placed the occlusive devise in the problem area. They were not able to get it all the way down to the feeder vessel because it was too small, but they did get very close and it should work. They also went into the jugular and were able to go into the mass and back out of the vein to occlude the outflow also. Essentially, they cut it off on both sides and the mass should reabsorb if the surgery was successful.

It will take time for the swelling to go down completely and could take up to 2 weeks to normalize before we will know for sure. The doctors feel very optimistic at this point and say it looks very promising! We just have to wait and see what happens. Sully is awake from anesthesia now and in ICU so that they can keep a very close eye on him.

The surgery started around 10:00am and finished around 1:00pm, so it was a very lengthy procedure. It was standing room only in the operating room and everyone was very excited to be a part of this wonderful learning experience for all!

Sully should get to come home to his foster family tomorrow late morning! Everyone keep him in your thoughts and prayers during his recovery.

March 12, 2007

I am sad to say that Sullivan's first surgery was not successful. They noticed some increased swelling the day after the procedure and did another ultrasound and concluded that they simply were unable to get the coil close enough to the vessel because it was too big. This means that there is still enough flow getting through there to continue to push the eye out of position and swell. If we don't occlude the vessel, this condition will ultimately destroy his eye.

Dr. Bright feels very confident that that learned a lot from the first procedure and know now what they need to do to get it right. She will be ordering smaller catheters and micro coils so that they can get right up next to the lesion to obstruct the flow and occlude the malformed artery. It is far too risky to do anything surgically, so she will be going in through the neck again the next go round.

CSU has been wonderful and not only wants to help Sullivan, but they want to be able to learn from his case and help future dogs. Unfortunately, they don't have much teaching money to offer the rescue in order to help defray the cost, but they are doing what little they can. The next surgery will cost RMGDRI an additional $2000, so we would greatly appreciate donations toward Sully's medical care! You can donate online through our website or send a check to: RMGDRI, PO BOX 460773, AURORA, CO 80046-0773.

Sully is scheduled to report to the hospital on Thursday and the next surgery will be on Friday which will allow them enough time to get in the necessary parts for the procedure.

March 18, 2007

Sully weighed in at 44 lbs the other day and is growing like a weed!

He went in for his second surgery on Friday. Dr Bright thought they would be done with surgery by around 1:30, but unfortunately there were some complications during the procedure and it took much longer than anticipated.

They originally went in through his artery and tried to remove the original plug. Their goal was to then put the microcoils even closer to the artery through the same opening, but after 2 hours of trying to remove the original coil, they had to stop and move on to plan B.

Next, they entered through the lesion, since they had no other choice, but they were very nervous due to the unknown blood flow. Thankfully, the lesion did not actively bleed and they were able to fill it with coils. Using flouroscopy, they put in about 13 or 14 total. It looks like there is a very good chance it will clot and it appears as though the lesion is no longer filling with blood, so they are "cautiously optimistic".

There was also an emergency during surgery where Sully's Oxygen saturation significantly decreased. The anesthesiologist re-positioned Sully and they quickly shot x-rays of his lungs. Unfortunately, one of his lungs was in the process of collapsing during the procedure. They still don't know exactly what went wrong, but it is possible that Sully inhaled gastric fluid and aspirated. Luckily, they were able to act quickly and stabilize him.

Sully is now on two antibiotics and pain meds as a precaution. They kept him overnight to monitor his oxygenation and respiratory rate and, although he had a restless night, by morning he was eating, drinking, and defecating normally. Dr. Bright even went in the next day on her day off to check on him before he was sent home!

At this point, it is just a waiting game. His eye looks worse than before and is very swollen, but this was to be expected at this point. It could be anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks before we will know if his body will reabsorb the blood filled artery. Please keep Sullivan in your prayers!

March 21,2007

Sully went to his forever home with Kari & Ethan in Denver. He has a Husky brother named Kenai who will show him the ropes. He also has to cats to play with named Leo & Sushi. His new mom is a volunteer and Animal Behaviorist who volunteers her time for the rescue, so he is in wonderful, experienced hands! Kari is also home quite a bit, so she will have plenty of time to work with him and spoil him with all the love and attention a guy could dream of! They have decided to rename him Jasper.

His new family will continue to care for him throughout the remainder of his recovery and we will work together to make sure that Sully receives whatever future care is needed.

April 4, 2007

Note from Jasper(formerly Sully)'s new mom:

I just wanted to give you an update on Jasper. First of all, he is growing like a weed!! He wakes up bigger each morning and sometimes I think he grows during each nap. He is up to 54 pounds already and he isn't even 4 months old. His eye is doing okay. He developed a major infection this past week and I brought him to the vet when I saw nasty green stuff coming out of it. My vet actually had to put him under general anesthesia to clean it out, so he went back under on Friday. She got a good look at what's going on and talked with Dr. Mangan during the surgery. She wanted to sew his lid shut again so we wouldn't have to apply lubricant every two hours, but Dr. Mangan was worried that it would put too much pressure on his eye. He goes in for his re-check with my vet on Friday so if it's smaller, she will sew it shut again. Fingers crossed! She also said his eye looks beautiful, which is great news. She taped his ear back because he was flapping it so much that it was hitting his eye and irritating it. He is absolutely not thrilled about that at all, but the good news is that his eye is starting to decrease in size.

Kari

June 23, 2007

Good news! Jasper had the remainder of the red mass removed from his eye on Monday! The mass re-absorbed back into his body and decreased to about the size of a peanut M&M. So, after consulting with Dr. Mangan from CSU and our vet, Dr. Steele, we decided to have it removed. It was a relatively simple procedure and he recovered very quickly this week. Today was our follow-up recheck and I was nervous! But Dr. Steele was ecstatic about his progress and cleared him for all activity. She said that he is completely fine and is even able to go in to the baby pools at daycare. WAHOOOO!!! So, the day we have been waiting for is here. Jasper’s birth defect is now gone and he will be a normal dog (well, semi-normal as he is not the brightest bulb, haha). At 6 months and 3 weeks is 100 pounds and eating every flip-flop in sight.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who prayed for him and kept him in your thoughts. Thank you to the rescue for saving him and paying for his surgeries. Thank you to Bree for lovingly fostering him and putting up with my meltdowns when he bumped his head or scratched it. Jasper adores you and so do we. He is our angel and we can’t even remember what life was like without him.

I am attaching before and after photos so everyone can see how much he has changed.

Kari & Ethan

September 9, 2007

Jasper recently underwent his last surgery to correct the stretched out right eyelid and entropian in both eyes 3 weeks ago. After a major setback after surgery, his eyes finally look normal and we don’t have to worry about his eyelid catching dust and dirt anymore…. which translates into no more eye drops 6 times a day! On Friday, his ophthalmologist told us that he doesn’t need to be seen for his orbital vorax or any eye issues from here on out- we are in the clear!

He is doing wonderfully and we couldn’t be happier with his progress... aside from his puppy warts, he is gorgeous! It’s hard to believe he has come so far in 6 months. A big thank you, again, to all who prayed for him, and to Bree and Brian for fostering him and continuing to put up with his puppy antics when he visits.

Kari, Ethan, and Jasper