Should my Great Dane puppy get gastropexy to prevent twisted stomach?

Hi there. Since Shelby is a Great Dane, yes - I would recommend having a gastropexy done at the time of her spay. This is generally a very safe procedure with no significant downsides, and is very effective at preventing gastric torsion later in life. Pros: nearly 100% effective at preventing gastric torsion Cons: a bit of added expense, a slightly longer spay incision and slightly increased anesthesia time I recommend that all giant-breed females have this procedure done at the time of their spay, since the benefits far outweigh the risks and bloat/gastric torsion is a significant problem in these breeds. I hope that helps! :)

This is not a procedure I am familiar with but many great danes do undergo a procedure to tack the stomach to try to reduce the risk of bloat and torsion. I recommend you discuss this with your vet at her next wellness/vaccination visit

For some reason the x-ray did not post to your question. Bloat with volvulus (turning of the stomach) causes massive vomiting, decreased appetite, lack of proper stool, and also shows up pretty clearly on an x-ray, so please try to repost this to verify. In some cases the pets stomach can be untwisted without surgery. However, I would still consider having the surgery to tack her stomach in the near future to prevent her stomach from twisting again. We look forward to hearing back from you soon! Take care.

In veterinary school, I was taught as well the the risk of GDV was increased by feeding from raised food bowls. Given that Jasper is a giant breed dog, it's not worth the risk of feeding him from a raised bowl. A GDV is deadly, sometimes even with treatment, and it's best to avoid any risk factors to prevent it from happening. There is a preventative surgery you can do when he's older to keep it from happening. It's called a gastropexy, and it's when the dog's stomach is sutured to his thoracic wall. It does prevent the stomach from rotating on it's axis. You can see if this surgery is an option for Jasper by discussing it with your vet.

Yes, GSDs are prone to GDV (gastric dilatation volvus). This is because they are large breed, deep chested dogs, which research has shown have an increased risk for GDV. It has been reported in puppies, but risk increases with age. It is life threatening, and it requires immediate medical attention as the dog will die if not treated. That being said, because a GDV is so serious, there is still a risk of death even with being treated. The treatment is to decompress the stomach, and surgery to fix the stomach to the thoracic wall using the ribs to prevent it from happening again. As a preventative measure, you have have surgery done on Bruno to fix his stomach to his thoracic wall now, which would prevent GDV from happening. Yes, I have seen this in GSDs, and when it does occur, it is an emergency.

I think the gastropexy is a good idea. Bloat is very serious, and quite deadly, and dogs can die from it even if they get treatment. Since he's under anesthesia already, you might as well have it done to protect Cooper. While the cone of shame sucks, it's only two weeks. It's the best thing to protect his incision.

Unfortunately I'm not aware of anything preventative for osteosarcoma. It does seem to run in certain lines, so you could ask if your breeder knows if there are any dogs who have developed osteosarcoma in your potential puppy's line. A prophylactic gastropexy would be a good idea - I often recommend performing the procedure at the time of spay or neuter.