Give Gus a Chance at a Healthy Life

Our special Gus, is a 1.5 year old Great Dane who has been through so much in his short time on this earth.

 

Starting around 2.5 weeks old his breeder noticed some things that were different with him from his littermates. He was having discharge come from his nose while nursing which isn’t a normal thing to have happen. So, she took him to the vet. It was hard to tell what was going on with his esophagus because of the shape his lungs were in from aspiration pneumonia. Mega-esophagus was one concern that arose but couldn’t say for sure until his lungs were cleared out so they could get a better view of what was going on. It was recommended that he be bottle fed upright, instead of continuing to nurse from his mom, and held upright after his feeding to see if that would help everything going into his stomach and prevent the drainage coming from his nose. From there we tried to tube feed him but the formula would come right back up so that wasn’t going to work either. The main concerns were making sure he was taking in enough nutrients and clearing the aspiration pneumonia. Eventually when he came in for a recheck appointment, his lungs were still “busy” on X-rays and it looked as though he had a partially collapsed lung. Still weren’t able to rule out MegaEsophagus at this point but began treating him for it to see how he responded on the medications and with only upright feedings. He was responding to the medications and the changes in his feedings. At this time, I adopted him from his breeder as I have had experience with MegaEsophagus with two of my other Danes and I work at a veterinary clinic so his access to care was much more readily available. He spends every day that I work at the clinic and he makes everyone’s day with his sweetness and joy to be there.

 

Around 4 months old, when we were performing a physical exam for his age appropriate vaccinations, the doctor noticed he was sensitive with his hips and I had also noticed at home that he was a little weaker in his hind end when climbing on furniture or going up and down stairs. We ended up taking hip X-rays and it looked as though he had hip dysplasia. We sent the images to an orthopedic specialist and he was diagnosed with bilateral hip dysplasia. He ended up having to have PennHip surgery pretty quickly after diagnosis as the window to perform that surgery was closing. During his PennHip X-rays they also noticed that he had bilateral bowing of both knees but no surgical intervention was needed. Keeping a 4 monthsold puppy quiet for 4 weeks during recovery was not easy but he was a perfect boy!

 

Around 8 months old he developed a skin infection and after multiple antibiotics to treat it, he was not responding to meds and he began losing hair and was uncomfortable. We ended up doing skin biopsies and a culture to make sure we chose the correct treatment plan going forward. Results came back with a deep furunculosis infection and MRSP which is an antibiotic resistant infection. He was treated with a very strong antibiotic that is known to cause a lot or side effects. He ended up having three seizures when starting this medication and we had to monitor bloodwork weekly to keep an eye on his bone marrow. Ofcourse, he was a brave and happy boy and took everything in stride. The seizures ended up subsiding once his system was used to it but he was anemic being on this medication. The treatment for this was 6 weeks long and meds were given 3 times a day during that period. After being in this medication for 5 weeks he stopped eating and required appetite stimulants and hospitalization to keep him hydrated so his system wasn’t completely depleted. We ended up stopping the medication because his skin was improved and his appetite improved as well.

 

Fast forward to earlier this year he started having horrible nasal discharge and has so much congestion that it was hard for him to breathe. We ended up having to steam/nebulize him every 8 hours to help clear the discharge so he could breathe. He ended up getting a head CT to make sure there wasn’t a mass or cyst in his nasal passages. What they reported was a deviated septum and turbinate/cartilage damage from the chronic nasal discharge. Following the CT scan he fell very ill. I ended up at emergency after he collapsed at home and also had a 105 degree fever. That brought us back to fluids therapy and hospitalization. After a few days he improved and was back to his normal self again. He’s a fighter if you haven’t noticed that from his story already!

 

Fast forward again and his skin infection came back so we went back to the same protocol as last time and had to monitor weekly bloodwork. No seizures this time but his appetite depleted quickly. Even with probiotics and appetite stimulants he still was hardly eating. He ended up going from 130 pounds to 117 over a 2 week period. Again, we chose to stop the medication but this time his skin was not improved. His health at this point was more important than treating his skin infection.

 

In September, we ended up having a consult with a specialist to discuss the potential of a palate issue as his chronic nasal discharge was still not improving and he had multiple bouts of aspiration pneumonia. He ended up having an endoscopy and an upper airway exam under sedation. Come to find out his soft palate is about 3 inches too short which means anything his is consuming in his mouth is going straight to his nasal cavity or into his lungs. He was diagnosed with soft palatal hypoplasia and velopharangyeal insufficiency and intermittent aspiration pneumonia. He also has tonsillitis, laryngitis, rhinitis and tracheitis. Having found all of this conditions he needs a procedure to extend his palate. Because he has a history of not eating well, we are also needing to place a gastric feeding tube. His surgery needs to be done in 2 stages since his palate abnormality is so severe.

 

He required a week of hospitalization following this lastanesthetic procedure that found all of these issues after a high fever, nausea, no appetite, aspiration pneumonia and multiple seizures.

 

He has started to finally bounce back and is acting like his happy puppy-self again but we have to get this surgery done as soon as possible so we don’t risk aspiration again.

 

Everything that this sweet boy has gone through has exhausted my bank account and then some. He does have a good quality of life worth saving and his prognosis for a normal healthy life after the surgeries can be achieved. Without them, the ups and downs with malnutrition and aspiration pneumonia will only continue.

 

So, I am reaching out to see if there is anyone that can help us get him to surgery as soon as possible so we can hopefully get him feeling better and be able to live a normal life once his 6-8 month recovery is over! This poor boy is so deserving to have that normal life since he gives so much joy and love to everyone that knows him.