Zane had a rare treat on Friday. He made a guest appearance at a seminar on prostethics and orthotics for a class of up and coming vet students at NC State Vet School in Raleigh. He loved all the attention from the students. He enjoyed trotting around the lecture hall, up and down the stairs, and in and out of the rows of seats. Jeff Collins, of Canada, makes all types of prosthetics to help dogs with disabilities live the best life possible. He demonstrated his equipment to the students and used Zane to model a neck brace for dogs with spinal problems. He took measurements of Zane and consulted with 3 neurosurgeons and an orthopedic surgeon to get input on the angling of the brace. Zane seemed unaffected wearing the brace. He appeared to be more comfortable in it than his traditional cotton and tape wrapped brace. Now that Jeff is back in Canada, he is busy building the brace that will hopefully further stabilize Zane.
Meanwhile, the prednisone seems to have helped Zane greatly. He is still taking 20mg once daily. I believe that we are to start cutting that back to a half dose very soon. Since we needed to cut off Zane's brace for the fitting on Friday, I decided to try the towel wrap brace. I tri-folded a thick towel and tightly wrapped it around Zane's neck. I used 2 very large and wide buckle style dog collars to hold it in place. On Monday, a friend of mine sewed down the folds of the towel and attached velcro for ease in removal. I have been letting Zane sleep at night without the wrap. Daizy Lu, our foster Rottie, loves the velcro and tries unwrapping Zane all the time. I don't feel that this towel wrap provides as much stability as the wrap that Dr. Durkes puts on the dogs post implants. We should have our new brace this weekend and I will post pictures for the curious.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Riding the rollercoaster
The week has moved on and Zane seems to be doing better with the help of the Prednisone and his neck brace. He is moving a little easier although not nearly as well as he did in the month following the implants. He is back to climbing up on the furniture and getting into trouble in other ways! His rear legs are not in sync with his front so he is back to sideways running and kangaroo hopping.
The prednisone has helped Zane get his appetite back. He lost 3 pounds during his backsliding and wasn't very interested in eating...well at least not his food. He doesn't really love the Science Diet that we feed him to comply with Dr. Durkes advice to keep the calcium down to limit Zane' growth until he turns two. He prefers the Canidae that he used to eat and that Zeke still does eat. I have made a compromise and add about a third of a cup of the Canidae on top of the Science Diet to get Zane started. He is also drinking like crazy and several times this week we have made potty trips outside in the middle of the night. This is not much fun with Zane as he never comes right back in. He likes to go exploring in the dark!
The prednisone has helped Zane get his appetite back. He lost 3 pounds during his backsliding and wasn't very interested in eating...well at least not his food. He doesn't really love the Science Diet that we feed him to comply with Dr. Durkes advice to keep the calcium down to limit Zane' growth until he turns two. He prefers the Canidae that he used to eat and that Zeke still does eat. I have made a compromise and add about a third of a cup of the Canidae on top of the Science Diet to get Zane started. He is also drinking like crazy and several times this week we have made potty trips outside in the middle of the night. This is not much fun with Zane as he never comes right back in. He likes to go exploring in the dark!
Monday, November 12, 2007
7 Weeks Post Surgery...and backsliding
I haven't been the best blogger lately. I like to write when I have good news to share. I don't like to write about my worries. I've been worrying a lot lately...my wonderful sense of intuition has been dead on once again. When I sense doom, I prefer to ignore my intuition and not act on it, hoping that things will pass and maybe this time I will be wrong.
For the past 2 weeks I have been watching Zane and noticing his movements seemed off...just little things about the way his back right leg would jerk out to the side at times, other times he would be slow to rise and appear very stiff. Last weekend, Greg threw me a surprise party for my big 4-0 and I noticed that night how tired Zane appeared. He tried hard to work the crowd but he was tripping and falling again. As the week progressed, Zane started becoming more and more unsteady.
On Thursday, Zane's friend Luke from the rescue came to visit for the weekend. His foster Mom was going out of town so we offered to watch our buddy. Luke came to the rescue as a stray with a severely damaged rear leg/hip. We raised the funds to allow him a second FHO surgery and follow up rehab in an attempt to save his leg. It worked beautifully and now that Dane runs like the wind. He can out run all of my healthy, able bodied dogs any day. Luke was a good distraction for our foster dog, Daizy Lu, as it gave her someone to wrestle with other than Zane. Zane did his best to join in on all the fun and it seemed to wear him down even more.
Friday afternoon I phoned Dr. Durkes to address my concerns. He recommended that we put a neck brace back on Zane and call him Monday morning with a status report. We could not find the neck brace supplies anywhere in and out of town. We tried all the specialty stores and finally settled on using leg wraps made for horses. We created a brace for Zane but knew it was only temporary. He continued to become more unstable. By Sunday evening, he looked worse than before his surgery.
This morning, I called Dr. Durkes at 7:45 (he's an early bird) and he recommended we get Zane on some Prednisone to help reduce the spinal swelling. Thank goodness I have my own pharmacy of vet meds...always a little of this and that on hand. I also called my regular vet to have him help rewrap Zane's neck. By lunchtime, we had Zane back in his fashionable neck brace. He gave him a shot of steroids to help jump start his system. Now we just sit back, wait, and pray that this helps Zane come back around again.
For the past 2 weeks I have been watching Zane and noticing his movements seemed off...just little things about the way his back right leg would jerk out to the side at times, other times he would be slow to rise and appear very stiff. Last weekend, Greg threw me a surprise party for my big 4-0 and I noticed that night how tired Zane appeared. He tried hard to work the crowd but he was tripping and falling again. As the week progressed, Zane started becoming more and more unsteady.
On Thursday, Zane's friend Luke from the rescue came to visit for the weekend. His foster Mom was going out of town so we offered to watch our buddy. Luke came to the rescue as a stray with a severely damaged rear leg/hip. We raised the funds to allow him a second FHO surgery and follow up rehab in an attempt to save his leg. It worked beautifully and now that Dane runs like the wind. He can out run all of my healthy, able bodied dogs any day. Luke was a good distraction for our foster dog, Daizy Lu, as it gave her someone to wrestle with other than Zane. Zane did his best to join in on all the fun and it seemed to wear him down even more.
Friday afternoon I phoned Dr. Durkes to address my concerns. He recommended that we put a neck brace back on Zane and call him Monday morning with a status report. We could not find the neck brace supplies anywhere in and out of town. We tried all the specialty stores and finally settled on using leg wraps made for horses. We created a brace for Zane but knew it was only temporary. He continued to become more unstable. By Sunday evening, he looked worse than before his surgery.
This morning, I called Dr. Durkes at 7:45 (he's an early bird) and he recommended we get Zane on some Prednisone to help reduce the spinal swelling. Thank goodness I have my own pharmacy of vet meds...always a little of this and that on hand. I also called my regular vet to have him help rewrap Zane's neck. By lunchtime, we had Zane back in his fashionable neck brace. He gave him a shot of steroids to help jump start his system. Now we just sit back, wait, and pray that this helps Zane come back around again.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
4 Weeks Post Surgery
Zane continues to progress nicely. He really enjoys romping in the backyard. He no longer tires the way he did prior to the surgery. We followed up with Dr. Durkes and will continue to heed his advice regarding Zane's activity level. We are advised to always be careful of activities that could strain Zane's neck. The new tissue growth there will never be as strong as the "original equipment." No more games of tug... guess we won't be giving Zane that 4 foot long rope toy that we had stashed for Christmas. We thought it was so cool since it was Zane size!
Our new foster Daizy Lu has come down with an upper respiratory infection and pneumonia. She is not doing well. It's a challenge to get her to eat, but she does seem to enjoy being spoon fed the good canned food. We use Merrick and Eagle Pack canned foods and all the dogz just go nuts when I open a can. They don't normally get canned food so they are enjoying their spoonfuls whenever Daizy gets fed. Zane actually jumps up and down like a kangaroo when he sees me open a can!
Our new foster Daizy Lu has come down with an upper respiratory infection and pneumonia. She is not doing well. It's a challenge to get her to eat, but she does seem to enjoy being spoon fed the good canned food. We use Merrick and Eagle Pack canned foods and all the dogz just go nuts when I open a can. They don't normally get canned food so they are enjoying their spoonfuls whenever Daizy gets fed. Zane actually jumps up and down like a kangaroo when he sees me open a can!
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
3 weeks Post Surgery
Great News! On Monday, I phoned Dr. Durkes for our 3 week follow up call. He felt that Zane was stable enough for us to remove his neck brace. He was pleased to hear that Zane was doing things we had never seen him do before and that his gait has continued to improve. I thought that Zane would be running around like a nut case once I took it off but he opted for a nap instead. It must have felt odd to him.
By the afternoon, Zane was back to stirring up trouble. He has really taken to our new foster dog, Daizy Lu, the Rottweiler. She loves him too and can often be seen licking his mouth and grooming his ears. We try to keep a close eye on their playtime as we don't want Zane to overuse his neck muscles while they continue to heal. I can't help but wonder whether or not Zane is actually aware that he has more control of his body now. He seems to just go about his day business as usual!
By the afternoon, Zane was back to stirring up trouble. He has really taken to our new foster dog, Daizy Lu, the Rottweiler. She loves him too and can often be seen licking his mouth and grooming his ears. We try to keep a close eye on their playtime as we don't want Zane to overuse his neck muscles while they continue to heal. I can't help but wonder whether or not Zane is actually aware that he has more control of his body now. He seems to just go about his day business as usual!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
2 weeks and then some....
I've fallen a little behind on the updates because my schedule has been so busy lately. So here is a run down on what's been going on this past week.
Saturday
Zane had his first public showing since his Gold Bead Implant Surgery. We had an adoption event at our local Petco and Zane came out to greet the visitors and tell them about Rescue. I think he enjoyed his time for the first hour but then was ready to go. Like Mom, he has limited patience for social events. We hung in there together and vowed never to stay so long in the future. While Zane loves to greet people of all ages, he clearly gets tired of all the commotion. At times, he would just charge towards the door to make a break- a-way for the van. It was fun to see his Dane friend Luke who has stayed at our home in the past. We helped raise money for Luke to have hip surgery #2 to repair a bad break from his running-as-a-stray days. Soon they will both be able to play together. Zane also enjoyed hanging with his Dane friend Itsy from the Rescue. They chatted about old times and marveled at how much taller Zane is now and how much wider Itsy is now. Once Zane made it home, he crashed on my bed for a good long nap.
Sunday
Zane stayed home today while I headed to the Rescue to help with Open House. It was another super hot day out in the blazing sun. Where is Fall? Many people came out to visit with the Danes and their friends. Their applications will be reviewed and hopefully more dogs will be finding new homes by the next open house. Several of our rescue dogs left for their new furever homes. Always a blessing to see them get new homes!
Monday
Impromptu road trip to Augusta, Georgia. My rescue friend Renee joined me on a journey to the Dog Pound to check out a Dane mix in need of rescue. The dog turned out to not be Dane. We selected six dogs to bring back to the rescue. This shelter has an 80% euthanasia rate. That means that for every 10 dogs that walk in to the shelter, only 2 actually get to walk back out. They haul a truckload of dead dogs and cats to the landfill every day. Horrifying. We chose dogs that would have been euthed the following morning. Not a single dog that we brought back was a Great Dane but each one is still precious.
Tuesday
A day of recovery! The whole pack enjoyed a lazy day together. We played ball, drank from the communal water bucket, and caught up on snuggle time.
Wednesday
Another road trip! This time it's to Mountain City, Tn. A young Dane had been owner dropped off at a rural animal shelter, along with two other dogs. One of the dogs was put to sleep the day before for food aggression (like that's not fixable?). The Rottie would be next as he was limping. Tough decision here...all time high number of dogs at the Rescue (with 6 new ones that were not Danes) and Rescue owners reluctant to take a Rott....what to do? Can you leave a dog's companion behind when you know it will surely die? I took the Rottie for a walk to see how friendly it was. It walked by my van and hopped in. Easy enough. I got the Dane next (he has cherry eye) and we headed back to NC. The Rottie was clearly in pain so I dropped her at my vet's to be boarded for the night so he could xray her in the morning. I also needed to buy some time to figure out what to do next.
Thursday
Yet another road trip! I stayed within the state today as I headed out for a 2+ hour drive. Turned out to be a waste of time as one of the animal control officers released the 2 danes to a different Rescue yesterday. They were holding the dogs for me to pick up and failed to communicate this information to each other. I am frustrated at the waste of time but happy that the dogs are rescued. Spoke to the vet regarding Daizy Lu's limping. Turns out that her paws are all torn up and raw. Every step is painful for her. She will need a month of healing. I brought her home so she could have a soft surface to walk on while I try to place her in a Rottie Rescue. She is getting along well with the rest of the pack. Zane has tried playing with her but I shoo him away because I know she is in so much pain. He actually seems to understand. She is even sleeping on his bed tonight!
Friday, October 5, 2007
11 Days Post Surgery
Zane continues to do well. His ability to keep up with the other two dogs is amazing. The greatest improvement that we still see, is how well Zane can run now. He twists and turns his body and keeps on running. Occasionally, I still see him take a tumble when he is wrestling with Zeke but is it really out of the ordinary? Zeke does somersaults and flying leaps from the top of the furniture and cannonballs into Zane so I think that would take just about any dog off his feet.
He also continues to impress and annoy us with his new found ability to stand up on his back legs to reach things that were formerly out of his reach. He's just getting into all kinds of trouble now! I swear that dog laughs at me anytime I give him a hollering for misbehaving.
Zane is a 120lb puppy, no more no less. Zeke stayed puppyish for a long time when he first came to us. I think he was well over 2 before he stopped getting into things on a regular basis. He still enjoys chewing up a Croc every now and then. Zoe, on the other hand, was an angel from the get go. She was always sweet. We never had any trouble with her chewing up things while we were gone. Even when she was out of commission for her ACL surgeries (2 within a year), she would sweetly chew a bone until she drifted off to sleep.
Not Zane. Chewing bones gets Zane excited to chew other things. We have more chew toys in our house than you could imagine. There are bones lying on the floor of every room. Nothing like flying out of bed in the middle of the night to get a vomiting dog outside and landing on one of those bones. Or there is always the good toe jab you get from inadvertently kicking one as you head back to bed in the dark, after cleaning up the vomit mess because you just weren't quick enough this time.
He also continues to impress and annoy us with his new found ability to stand up on his back legs to reach things that were formerly out of his reach. He's just getting into all kinds of trouble now! I swear that dog laughs at me anytime I give him a hollering for misbehaving.
Zane is a 120lb puppy, no more no less. Zeke stayed puppyish for a long time when he first came to us. I think he was well over 2 before he stopped getting into things on a regular basis. He still enjoys chewing up a Croc every now and then. Zoe, on the other hand, was an angel from the get go. She was always sweet. We never had any trouble with her chewing up things while we were gone. Even when she was out of commission for her ACL surgeries (2 within a year), she would sweetly chew a bone until she drifted off to sleep.
Not Zane. Chewing bones gets Zane excited to chew other things. We have more chew toys in our house than you could imagine. There are bones lying on the floor of every room. Nothing like flying out of bed in the middle of the night to get a vomiting dog outside and landing on one of those bones. Or there is always the good toe jab you get from inadvertently kicking one as you head back to bed in the dark, after cleaning up the vomit mess because you just weren't quick enough this time.
Many people have recommended Kongs. We've got them too. We have to buy the largest and heaviest because power chewer Zeke blasts through the traditional red ones. Nobody likes the hard black ones. Hand a dog one of those 5 pounders and they give you the fake out. It looks like they are taking it ...until they let it roll out of their mouths and onto your foot!
Chewies are still my best friends. Give a dog a rawhide and you can have 5-7 minutes of blissful peace. Unless you are Zane and your Chewie runs out before your brothers. Then you must get within 12 inches of his face and bark relentlessly until Mom gives you another Chewie. Works every time!
Chewies are still my best friends. Give a dog a rawhide and you can have 5-7 minutes of blissful peace. Unless you are Zane and your Chewie runs out before your brothers. Then you must get within 12 inches of his face and bark relentlessly until Mom gives you another Chewie. Works every time!
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