Disc shatters out of the blue?

Oh wow, how tragic! I've never had a similar experience, but I'd like to express my sympathy. Poor baby. 

I can only imagine how shocked you were!! I'm so sorry to hear about your doberman.

 I'm so sorry for your loss; how horrible it must be to lose your furbaby so unexpectantly. Here is some information about disc disease, including ruptured discs, in dogs;     [linkhttp://members.aol.com/pxlbarrel/dachcirc/discdis.htm]http://members.aol.com/pxlbarrel/dachcirc/discdis.htm[/link]

According to the site ruptured discs are more common in small dogs but in any case surgery would have been your only option and the prognosis may have been poor;

" Finally, dogs which are completely paralyzed and have lost all their feeling to the hindlegs (deep pain) only have a chance to recover when treated with decompressive surgery. Removal of disc material within the first 48 hours after onset of paralysis can still have a success rate of 50%. However, left without surgery, or if surgery is delayed, 99% of these patients stay permanently paralyzed.
The overall prognosis depends on many factors:

1. severity of neurological dysfunction
   
2. the length of time the disc has ruptured and is compressing the spinal cord
   
3. the degree of spinal cord swelling
   
4. how quickly the disc ruptured (minutes to over several days)
   
5. the amount of disc material that has ruptured
   
6. the number of previous episodes of back pain
   
7. the overall physical condition of the patient "

     Small dogs are more prone to disc disease than large dogs but Doberman's are susceptible to it:  
[linkhttp://www.upei.ca/cidd/Diseases/musculoskeletal/intervertebraldiskdisease.htm] http://www.upei.ca/cidd/Diseases/musculoskeletal/intervertebraldiskdisease.htm[/link]
      
" With occasional exceptions, the Doberman pinsher is the only nonchondrodysplastic large breed dog to be affected by Type I IVDD, commonly in the neck region ([linkhttp://www.upei.ca/cidd/Diseases/musculoskeletal/wobblers.htm]cervical vertebral instability, or Wobbler's[/link]). "
 
   Did the vet tell you a six year old Doberman is old? Actually their average life span is  ten;  [linkhttp://www.petplanet.co.uk/petplanet/breeds/Dobermann.htm] http://www.petplanet.co.uk/petplanet/breeds/Dobermann.htm[/link]  so six  isn't old.
  Again, I'm so sorry for the pain you're going through. Please know that your girl is waiting for you at the Rainbow Bridge happy and well with lots of friends to play with while she waits;  [linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tt.asp?forumid=9]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tt.asp?forumid=9[/link]
Run free sweet girl;[sm=angel.gif]              

Im so sorry.... I don't have any ideas as to what happened to your girl, just wanted to say Im sorry.

Aww, I am so sorry for you.  Did the Vet even offer to try the steroids first?  Not to question your decisions or make you feel worse, but Biscotti had the same thing, had surgery at UGA, and is fine now at 9 yrs.  I honestly don't think the pain was bad after the first week, but she did have to be crated for 6 weeks, and take it slow for a few more months.  Maybe we were just lucky, but it makes me question the above statistics.

Again, I am grieving for you and your loss.

The vet told us she could give a sedative, but that would delay the specialist in taking x-rays and time was of the essence.  The vet told us we had to get the dog to the specialist as quickly as possible, and the specialist would take x-rays and then administer the steroids before deciding on the surgery.  By that time the dog was whining in pain and the ride to the specialist was 40 minutes.  The vet said there was blood in her urine, and we weren't sure about internal bleeding.

The vet said it was iffy as to whether our dog would walk again, or as to how long she'd be in pain.  We went through this with another dog who had cancer, and this time elected to cut it short and end her suffering before multiple surgeries and shots and pain etc.

What a shock that must have been to have that happen so suddenly. I would like to offer my sympathies.
 
I found out yesterday that my silky terrier, Elizabeth (13 years old) has a slipped disc in her spine. I noticed she was having more trouble getting around the last two weeks. She can't walk up and down the front step, she has trouble getting up after a nap, she can't even take walks around the block anymore. I took her to the vet and they did an x-ray and showed me the damage on her spine. There was no space between the disks; it was just like a blob of bones all stuck together.
 
The vet just said it probably causes some pain and discomfort, and put her on anti-inflammatory meds, and that's about it.
 
I didn't realize disk damage could be so dangerous though. In Elizabeth's case however that is the least of it. She is passing blood clots in her urine and this morning the vet said it looks like it might be cancer. I'll know more in a few days after they do the ultrasound.
 
Well, good luck to everyone with their pets.