Rocky Mountain Great Dane Rescue, Inc.
Unfortunately, Tiny was diagnosed with Wobblers disease after a thorough neurological exam and cervical spine x-rays.
For those of you unfamiliar with the disease, Wobblers is extremely common in Great Danes and caused by a narrowing or malformation of the neck vertebrae which causes pressure on the spinal cord by the lower neck vertebrae due to either a malformation or a malocclusion (when the vertebrae do not come together properly).
Symptoms usually appear first as a mild uncoordination or lameness in the rear legs and can escalate to affect the front legs as well. This is caused by pressure on the spinal cord as it travels through the neck. Essentially, a dog affected by Wobblers appears clumsy, “wobbling”, and sways their back legs. It is challenging for them to walk on slick surfaces and typically they will fall when attempting to turn. The toes of the hind feet may also drag when they are walking and they tend to spread their legs out as far as possible to better balance themselves. Obviously as the disease progresses the front legs develop similar symptoms.
In Great Danes, Wobblers Syndrome most commonly appears from 10 months to a year and a half of age, although it can manifest in dogs much older and younger as well.
Many Wobblers dogs can live a long and pain free life with little or no treatment. Others deteriorate quickly and euthanasia then becomes the only humane option.
We have unfortunately experienced this horrible disease with several previous Danes in our foster program. Many of you may remember Tarzan, who was most recently affected. As his foster mom Bree can attest, this is a very horrific process to observe. Tarzan went downhill very fast and soon became incontinent and was falling regularly since he could not control his coordination. He became very depressed and even aggressive due to the pain. We ultimately had to make the very difficult decision to put him to sleep and put an end to his suffering.
As far as Tiny goes, one of our wonderful foster families, Lori, Bennie and their girls, have decided to keep him for the remainder of his days (which we hope are many!). This is a very brave decision and we are incredibly grateful that he will get to know what love and family are like before he goes. The board will help the family to make the right decision when the time comes, but in the mean time they plan to spoil him rotten, just like he deserves! At this point, he seems happy and we are able to control the pain enough so that he has quality of life. We have decided to rename him Tatum and we will be sure to keep the group posted along the way.
Thank you, Lori and Bennie, for your amazing generosity in opening up your home and hearts to this very deserving boy at this difficult time!!!
March, 9 2006
It has been a week now and Tatum
is a different dog. He seems to be pain free with the exception of laying
down sometimes and his shaking has decreased significantly, almost non-existent.
He is eating well, loves his short play sessions with his foster brother,
Casper(his foster family doesn't want him to play too long and worries about
him getting over-tired), and he has settled in quite nicely.
In addition, Dr. Brown has graciously agreed to do an acupuncture treatment
on him pro bono, so we are working on setting that up for him.
Keep the healing thoughts coming...it is working!
March 21, 2006
We are happy to report that Tatum is only getting better! We can't explain it, but we just know that he doesn't shake at all anymore. When he came to us he didn't have the typical Dane arch in his back - his arch is now visible but you can also see that one hip bone sticks up further than the other. He no longer yelps when he lays down, he actually sits now, and his temperament is getting better. He is still pretty mouthy but he seems a bit more relaxed. Here are some more pictures of Tatum enjoying indoor living at his foster home.
April 21, 2006
Tiny Tatum is doing wonderfully! He is getting around fine and his pain seems to be decreasing. He has had one acupuncture treatment and is set up for another early next week. Dr. Brown has graciously agreed to treat him pro-bono for as long as he benefits from it! Tatum is very excited about that news! His foster family has nick-named him "The Ref" because any time the other fosters are rough housing and he doesn't approve he lets them know to settle down. He really is quite the character and we are so happy he is doing so well. We do know that there will be and end to our joy some day, but until then he will be spoiled rotten and loved while he enjoys his toys and doggie beds.
June 27, 2006
Tiny Tatum is doing wonderful! He is still getting around just fine and is pretty much off is pain meds. We recently got a kitten and Tiny is not quite sure what to think about Bongo. He has become quite the Daddy's boy and follows Papa everywhere! He gets to go in the front yard with Daddy. Bennie opened the tailgate of the truck recently to get something out and Tiny jumped right in! Guess he is feeling pretty good! We don't know what we did without him - he is such a character!!
August 1, 2006
The Tine is doing great. He and Casper the Dane play pretty hard in the evenings and the Tinester keeps up with him for the most part. He very rarely takes his pain meds anymore, he just doesn't need them. He prances around the house and knows who belongs where and will be the first to tell you if he thinks something is out of place. Tiny is such a Papa's boy and gets so excited when Bennie comes home! His new thing is he chases his tail when he gets excited! He is very vocal and talks all the time. He was originally terrified of the car but some short trips around town have helped him learn that a car trip doesn't mean a new home! He also was pretty unstable on his feet, so keeping his balance in the car wasn't easy for him but that too has improved. He is fascinated with the new kitten, Bongo, and just watches his every move. His foster family is very thankful to have Mr. T in their lives and he has certainly provided plenty of comedy!
March 12, 2007
We are extremely concerned that Tiny is nearing the end of his road. He just
seems to be in a tremendous amount of pain, despite the medications. The past
two weeks his high stepping has gotten worse and he is shaking constantly
now. He gets up and paces at night, something he never use to do, and is drinking
an enormous amount of water during the past five days. He seems to be eating
okay, but he just isn't himself. Starting Friday night, he was up all through
the night with diarrhea and is bleeding from his rectum. We decided it was
time to get him back in to see Dr. Landry to re-evaluate his condition.
March 13, 2007
After arriving at the vet, we learned that Dr. Landry had him on the lowest dose of Gabapentin. We discussed his situation for about a half an hour and decided to try a different medication on Tiny since the last addition made such a big difference for him. He will no longer be taking Rimadyl, but will be taking Tramadol instead. We will be upping is dose of Gabapentin and also adding Prednisone. He wants to see if this makes a difference and prescribed 10 days worth before we re-evaluate. He apparently expected this to happen at some point and wasn't overly surprised by his decline. The blood and diarrhea are both stress related due to being in pain and should subside if he responds well.
We are also going to try acupuncture as an alternative method to dealing with the pain. He will be giving Tiny 5 treatments for free to see if he responds and we will continue long-term if we see positive results.
If Tiny doesn't respond to his new drug regimen in 10 days, then it may be time to discuss quality of life, but until then we are keeping our fingers crossed.
March 17, 2007
We are happy to report that Tiny has been sleeping through the night, no pacing,
no accidents, and no whimpering since Dr. Rob worked his magic on Monday.
Today, he actually wants to play, so we are very encouraged by his progress
and hopeful that he has many more days left with us!
April 17, 2007
It is with a very heavy heart that I write to inform you all that Tiny Tatum crossed the rainbow bridge today. As you all know, he has been a very special member of our permanent foster program due to his condition. He has battled Wobbler's disease since he was diagnosed in March of last year and proven himself to be a true fighter, outliving all predictions. Dr. Landry worked closely with Lori and Bennie in order to maintain quality of life for as long as possible and unfortunately, his time finally came. This was a very sad and heartbreaking day for the Rice family who has come to see Tiny as a member of the family, not just a foster. They were all with him and he went very peacefully! We are very appreciative to them all for loving him so much and showing him what family was all about.
This page last modified on April 24, 2006
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