Quinn and Gray's physical therapy
Donation protected
May of last year I applied to adopt a typical great dane puppy from a rescue. We picked Quinn out of the litter at 5 weeks of age. At that point, by all appearances, he was normal.
At 6 weeks, the puppies had to be taken from their foster mom who wasn't properly caring for them. 4 out of the 10 puppies had developed hind end weakness.
The puppies presented with abnormal bone growth, stunted growth, orthodepic deformities, and ocular deformities. Penn vet in Philadelphia tested the puppies for everything under the sun. Neospora, HOD, wobblers, Addison's disease, Ricketts, MPS, and all other medically treatable diseases were ruled out. Any other testing would have negatively impacted their quality of life. The cause of their condition is unknown. What we do know is that mom was likely bred to her full brother who was a harlequin dane. Mom was merlequin, which makes this a double merle breeding. Mom was also vaccinated and fed a very poor diet while pregnant.
We were advised to do non- invasive therapies with the pups and that their long term outlook would not look good as surgery would never be an option for them. Penn vet also told us that they would not make it past 4 months of age. My family took Quinn home anyway to give him love in the short life that he would have.
The pups recieved physical therapy through Whole Animal Gym in Philadelphia. They also recieved massage and cold laser treatments through a close friend. Whole Animal Gym advised us to get them up and keep them standing as much as possible. At 4 months, two of the puppies bagan walking and thriving. Gray was one of those puppies. At 6 months, 3/4 puppies were walking, running, and thriving. We ended up taking Gray home as a foster and eventually adopted him
Quinn is the only one from the litter that cant walk yet. Quinn has had major gains and major setbacks. In February, his spinal cord was compressed by his scoliosis which caused complete hind end paralysis. He grew out of it and with the help of acupuncture and physical therapy is now able to stand by himself for 4 minutes straight. He is on the road to learning how to walk himself.
Quinn's physical therapy and acupuncture costs well over $70/ appointment. We spend $560/month on therapies alone. If you would like to donate towards this we would be so grateful. Thank you for sharing this journey with us!
At 6 weeks, the puppies had to be taken from their foster mom who wasn't properly caring for them. 4 out of the 10 puppies had developed hind end weakness.
The puppies presented with abnormal bone growth, stunted growth, orthodepic deformities, and ocular deformities. Penn vet in Philadelphia tested the puppies for everything under the sun. Neospora, HOD, wobblers, Addison's disease, Ricketts, MPS, and all other medically treatable diseases were ruled out. Any other testing would have negatively impacted their quality of life. The cause of their condition is unknown. What we do know is that mom was likely bred to her full brother who was a harlequin dane. Mom was merlequin, which makes this a double merle breeding. Mom was also vaccinated and fed a very poor diet while pregnant.
We were advised to do non- invasive therapies with the pups and that their long term outlook would not look good as surgery would never be an option for them. Penn vet also told us that they would not make it past 4 months of age. My family took Quinn home anyway to give him love in the short life that he would have.
The pups recieved physical therapy through Whole Animal Gym in Philadelphia. They also recieved massage and cold laser treatments through a close friend. Whole Animal Gym advised us to get them up and keep them standing as much as possible. At 4 months, two of the puppies bagan walking and thriving. Gray was one of those puppies. At 6 months, 3/4 puppies were walking, running, and thriving. We ended up taking Gray home as a foster and eventually adopted him
Quinn is the only one from the litter that cant walk yet. Quinn has had major gains and major setbacks. In February, his spinal cord was compressed by his scoliosis which caused complete hind end paralysis. He grew out of it and with the help of acupuncture and physical therapy is now able to stand by himself for 4 minutes straight. He is on the road to learning how to walk himself.
Quinn's physical therapy and acupuncture costs well over $70/ appointment. We spend $560/month on therapies alone. If you would like to donate towards this we would be so grateful. Thank you for sharing this journey with us!
Organizer
Alicia Fox
Organizer
Schwenksville, PA
