Hello Again Everyone and Happy Thanksgiving,
Another question. If some of you have seen my previous posts you know that my wife got me a Great Dane puppy in October for my birthday! I am very happy with “Gunner” and he is growing by leaps and bounds. I have two questions and will do both here instead of separate questions:
1: I am starting to notice as he grows that he is developing what seems to be a doggie adams apple. I have never owned a dog that I could “feel” or see an adams apple on them. I have had shepherds, bassetts and beagles and never noticed one on them. Is this something that every dog has and I just never noticed or is it unique on the Dane?
2: As my Gunner grows I am getting more and more attached to him. One thing that concerns me about my Great Dane is that they are known as the “heartbreak breed” because of their short life spans of only 6 to 10 years.
After doing a lot of reading on them it seems that one of the most dangerous conditions for them is something called bloat. It is a fatal twisting of the stomach. There are suggestions on how to minimize the risk of bloat from not letting the Dane exercise for an hour after eating to using raised water and food dishes (although this one seems to be debated).
It seems the sure way to prevent bloat is to have their stomachs “tacked”, basically surgically sewn to the muscle wall to prevent the twisting. I am thinking of getting this done, but I don’t have any idea of what a surgery like this might cost. I plan on visiting our vet but won’t be seeing him for a few weeks. Does anyone here have any idea what a surgery like this should cost? Not that I don’t trust my vet, but if I don’t have an idea of what it should cost, I won’t know if what he is quoting me is a fair price.
I don’t know the cost, but I’ve heard about a “new” procedure that uses laparoscopic surgery to tack the stomach to the muscle wall. Any minimally invasive procedure has to be better than major, guts-on-the-table surgery. Right?
Any deep-chested dog can get bloat, it’s not just Danes.
But we’ve had 4 Danes in the family and with normal care, none got bloat. I’ve also heard (and practiced) no exercise an hour BEFORE AND AFTER eating. (The raised dishes are for the comfort of the dog.)
I’ve never noticed any Adam’s apple. However, I would think any large dog with a deep voice should have a more prominent throat thingy than smaller dogs. Mention it to the vet the next check-up to be sure it’s normal.
As with most consumer items, the cost of an elective gastropexy will vary depending on where you live. That said, the costs I’ve seen quoted for emergency gastropexies vs elective gastropexies (for Great Danes) are $4k -$5k vs $400 to $800. It may be less if your vet performs a laparoscopic gastropexy.
If you “bundle” the elective gastropexy with neutering, you can save some money there, as the major cost in most surgeries is the anesthesia. The larger the animal, the more anesthesia used, thus the increased cost.
More information about known major health problems in the breed can be found at: Great Dane Club of America – Health and Welfare. (Scroll down the page for info on Gastric Dilatation and Volvulus [“bloat”] and links to more info, including gastropexies.)
Wow, the emergency prices are pretty steep. I love my Gunner, but at that price he ain’t gonna make it! The elective prices aren’t too bad, I will check with the vet soon. Thanks for the replies.
I never remember an Adam’s Apple on a dog. I just checked my Lab Sampson and he doesn’t seem to have much. Older dogs develop some loose skin there. I would try looking at some other Danes. Are you in touch with his breeder? Does such run in his family?
How about bloat? None of the Labs and Shepherds I am familiar with ever seem to bloat. But then they bred by those that health and long active lives are much higher priority than looks.
I know little of surgical bloat measures. I would go with the raised dishes. Most of the doubt comes from one Purdue study that doesn’t seem to have been very well done. Most of the people raising the food dish are people with breeds where it is a problem. Thus it is not surprising the dogs with raised bowls are more likely to bloat.
Another thing you can do is slow down rapid eating. There are not one, but 2 easy, tested, effective ways to control rapid eating. You can spread the food out on a cookie sheet or something. Some of my friends just throw it on the floor of the crate. You can put large rocks in the food dish, much to big to swallow. Either way, the dog can’t gulp down one big mouthful after another.