Those with danes

I think my mom's dane is a goner this year :( He's 8 now and has really gone downhill the past month or so. He started having a strange cough and a couple odd episodes in which he would back up and not move. I don't live at home, so I don't know exactly what he was doing. My mom called me yesterday and said he had a seizure :( It's so sad that they don't live very long, he's too young! Mom is even really crazy about him not running too much or getting too worked up because their hearts are too small for their bodies. I'm not sure if it matters, but she does her best to keep him calm and relaxed in fear that he'll have a heart attack or something. My dalmatian had seizures all the time and was on meds for epilepsy, but it's a common thing in old dalmatians. He went to the vet after the two minor episodes and the cough, and he checked out. The vet wants to see if he continues to get seizures or if it was just a fluke, then do blood work, and possibly put him on meds. He also moves really slow, I call him Eeyore.

Anyone else have experience with this or know if getting seizures in old age is normal for danes? We all knew it was coming, but it still sucks. This poor guy had a rough life. My mom adopted him at 5 and he had already been through two rescue homes. He was found at a year old tied to tree for the entire first year of his life!

I had to post pictures of the goof
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...a/dogs/124.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...a/dogs/123.jpg

Onyx and Herky, Herky is 3, both were rescued.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...xandherky3.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...xandherky2.jpg

I love Danes. Always wanted to own one but would never put myself through the torture because I know they have a lot of health problems. Their average life span is only 9 years or so. You mom is doing a good thing to keep him calm because they also suffer from bloat.

Im not a vet but I have heard that seizures are common in most old aged dogs. Sometimes you will need to try several different meds until you find one that actually helps. However, unless the seizures are constant (at least once a month) the vet might decide that meds are not necessary. Again I am not a vet and am only telling you what I have research myself when I have had similar issues with my pets. Hypoglycemia is also makes dogs have seizure like symptoms so your mom can get him checked for that.

It wasn't a great dane, but my boyfriend's dog is somewhere in the 10-12 y/o range and had a spell where she was having seizures, walking in strange directions, and was generally unwell. they didn't think she would make it past a day or two, but it turned out what she had was an extremely severe inner ear infection. they put her on medicine for it and she still lives to wreak havoc, though she wasn't exactly the same dog because of the seizures. I don't know if thats useful or fit the bill for your situation, but i thought it sounded similar

Thank you to both of you. They did say something about it possibly being a sugar problem and that it could cause seizures. I guess it's just a waiting game for now. I'm not sure I could ever handle having a dane either. Just a few months ago I thought there was no way Onyx was going to die a 8 years old. It's so weird how quickly he turned into an old man. His face is just covered with gray hairs now :(

I don't know much about Great Danes other than the info on this page, the typical info you can pick up by googling. I hope he pulls through for your mom, he and his buddy are beautiful! One day far from now, I will get a dane. No matter if they have a short life span, I just love the breed so much!

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Originally Posted by Elise.m

I don't know much about Great Danes other than the info on this page, the typical info you can pick up by googling. I hope he pulls through for your mom, he and his buddy are beautiful! One day far from now, I will get a dane. No matter if they have a short life span, I just love the breed so much!

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Yeah I hope so! 8 is so young, but typically sites say the lifespan is 8-10 years. I guess I wouldn't be surprise if he doesn't live all that much longer given his younger years and I'm sure his breeding wasn't good. I guess they googled seizures and found that it's not common for it to start in old age, it usually starts when they are young. Who knows though. I was just hoping someone with lots of danes would chime in. I know there are a few on this site!

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

Yeah I hope so! 8 is so young, but typically sites say the lifespan is 8-10 years. I guess I wouldn't be surprise if he doesn't live all that much longer given his younger years and I'm sure his breeding wasn't good. I guess they googled seizures and found that it's not common for it to start in old age, it usually starts when they are young. Who knows though. I was just hoping someone with lots of danes would chime in. I know there are a few on this site!

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One possibility for seizures starting late would be a brain tumor. If there is metastasis to the lungs, that would cause coughing. I'm not saying that is what it is, just that cancer could explain both symptoms. He's a gorgeous dog - I hope he's okay.

Awwwwwwww :( I hope he is okay!!! Both of those Danes are big beauties!! My wife likes Danes a lot :gj:

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Originally Posted by aahmn

One possibility for seizures starting late would be a brain tumor. If there is metastasis to the lungs, that would cause coughing. I'm not saying that is what it is, just that cancer could explain both symptoms. He's a gorgeous dog - I hope he's okay.

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Ah yeah, that's a good idea. I'll have to tell them and they can talk to the vet about it. So far he's been doing good, no episodes yet. The vet is an interesting person. He's our horse vet as well, he knows his stuff, but probably not as much as more experienced vets. One thing I don't like about him is that if your cat comes up FIV+ he won't let you take your cat back, he puts it to sleep right then! I'm appalled by that.

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Originally Posted by Boanerges

Awwwwwwww :( I hope he is okay!!! Both of those Danes are big beauties!! My wife likes Danes a lot :gj:

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So far he's been doing fine! They are beautiful dogs! Total sweethearts and huge goofs! I have a 5 lb chihuahua that bosses around that 145 lb brindle dane, it's hilarious! My chi loves the Onyx the black dane, but he has a vendetta against Herky, who is the biggest baby! He'll run after the Herky, tell him where he can stand in his own house, how can can play with the other dogs, where he can lay, and what toys he can play with :rofl:

Great pics my dad has two the same colour black and white over in Scotland.... hope he pulls through it ok :D

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

One thing I don't like about him is that if your cat comes up FIV+ he won't let you take your cat back, he puts it to sleep right then! I'm appalled by that.

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How can he get away with that? If the owner wants their cat back, he lawfully has no right to euthanize it and can get himself into trouble if an owner pursues it.

Besides that, cats can live with FIV for years and be otherwise healthy.

at one time i had 4 danes in my house at the same time. probably the best breed i've ever had the pleasure to be around. german shepards are up there on my list as well (getting another GS pup next week). along with the beautiful lines, calm demeanor, and simple majesty of the breed does come some common health problems. what you're describing is not one of those common problems as far as i am aware. bloat, hip, and heart problems being the most common. but, i'm sure you already knew that. i can't really help with the problem, but i can say with experience that it is VERY hard to lose a dane. of the 4 i had, only one lived past 8 years old. and that one had to be put down because it got unpredictable around my kids.

so, i hope that everything ends up ok. but, if not, know that there are lots of past and present dane owners that feel your (and your mother's) pain.

She still hasn't heard from the vet last I knew about the test results. They did every test in the book! The bill was insane! I was able to go to the check up with my mom and sis. The vet thinks the cough is heart related, but doesn't know what is causing the seizures. He's had a total of 4 seizures now, last I knew :( I also found out that there have been four great danes in that town (of only 8,000 people) that died by the age of four, and one was only three! One was wobblers, two were heart related, and I forget what the fourth one was. So sad :(

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Originally Posted by aahmn

How can he get away with that? If the owner wants their cat back, he lawfully has no right to euthanize it and can get himself into trouble if an owner pursues it.

Besides that, cats can live with FIV for years and be otherwise healthy.

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I have no idea how that's legal. Luckily the dane's last check up was with the lady vet, they have never had her for a vet before, but she seemed to know what she was talking about. It infuriates me that he will put the cat to sleep if it's FIV+, hopefully if someone fought enough they could get their cat back. I'm well aware of all the people that have FIV+ cats and only adopt those cats. My vet she told me that if any of my kitties came up positive there was no reason I couldn't keep them other than they could infect my other kitties if there was blood exchange/fighting/etc. I'm really happy with my vet, she's very knowledgeable and kind hearted!

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

She still hasn't heard from the vet last I knew about the test results. They did every test in the book! The bill was insane! I was able to go to the check up with my mom and sis. The vet thinks the cough is heart related, but doesn't know what is causing the seizures. He's had a total of 4 seizures now, last I knew :( I also found out that there have been four great danes in that town (of only 8,000 people) that died by the age of four, and one was only three! One was wobblers, two were heart related, and I forget what the fourth one was. So sad :(

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I'm curious about what testing was done. I hope chest x-rays for the coughing at minimum was done. If the heart looked enlarged (due to heart failure), then an echocardiogram can pinpoint what is wrong specifically with the heart. Different medications can be used to manage various types of heart failure and help with the coughing, but it's concerning if they don't have a specific diagnosis on the heart condition. As far as the seizures, I'm guessing that they've done bloodwork to be able to rule out some metabolic issues, but that doesn't rule out a brain tumor...

I'm sorry to hear that you don't have answers yet. It's hard to know how to treat them if you don't know what's wrong.

They did 7 different tests! I couldn't tell you what each one was, but I know one or two were for the heart, some sort of blood test. I know they did a thyroid and glucose (I think). I can't remember the rest for the life of me. I spoke with my mom today and most of the tests have come back and they are all good. The vet said they can do more tests, but since nothing is obvious it can wait. When I was there to talk with the vet she seemed to think it was a stress related thing (seizures not the heart) since it was the Christmas season and all the extended family stays at my parent's home. The cough is concerning, but since the tests came back fine she didn't really want to do more. She said they could do more tests on his heart, but it's most likely not something they can fix. In a round about way she told my family that he's a dane, he's old, and they have heart problems. If anything gets worse the vet wants to try meds, but for now I guess it's still a waiting game.

I'll have to talk to my mom about the x-ray thing. I don't know anything about dog issues and they told the vet to do everything, I just assumed all the tests would have figured out the heart thing.

The first step for the coughing should be an x-ray. It's the easiest way of seeing directly whether the heart is enlarged, or whether there is a problem with the lungs that could be causing the cough. Yes, I suppose that it's most likely that it's a heart condition, seeing that he's an old dane, but other things should be ruled out.

The thyroid and blood glucose (for diabetes) would be done to look for sources of the seizures, but not the coughing. I'm still trying to think of what blood tests would be done to check the heart - I know one of the labs we work with was offering a new blood test that is supposed to help determine whether there is heart failure, but I don't remember what it actually tested. The heart work-ups we do at our clinic don't involve bloodwork (unless we need baselines for meds) and are always imaging (echo, x-rays if not already done) and EKG.

There was a weird blood test they did that had to have a special tube, was that the heart one? I'd have to see his bill to know anything for sure.