Sasha's off balance again...

Last summer Sasha got this ear issue that made her off balance (like she's drunk) and makes her head turn to one side. It lasted about 2 weeks. Well, it's back today. Again her head is turned to one side and she's all off balance. She tries to shake and falls down. I hope it passes quickly. Nothing the vet can do for her, it's got to work itself out. I feel so badly for her. She's very confused as to what the heck's wrong. If you could spare a minute to send her some good thoughts we'd appreciate it. :(

I don't know how old your dog is, but this sounds very much like vestibular syndrome....maybe your vet could explain this in detail to you.

Aw, so sorry to hear that. Please get well Sasha. I know how bad it is to be dizzy with vertigo. Poor doggy :(

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Originally Posted by shepgirl

I don't know how old your dog is, but this sounds very much like vestibular syndrome....maybe your vet could explain this in detail to you.

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That is exactly what it is. She's even got the eye twitching back and forth going on now too. I just read the article I found before again. It's all happening to her, just no vomiting, yet. I feel so bad for her and there is nothing that can be done, it's just got to run its course. She's 13 or 14, I adopted her from the humane society 12 years ago, no one knows for sure how old she is and she'd not telling.

Poor Sasha, I hope she gets over this episode soon!

I am sorry Sasha is feeling so bad. :( It must be hard on both of you
when there is nothing you can do to help her feel better. I hope this will
pass quickly.

Sasha and I were up at 2 am. She needed outside. She couldn't walk down the stairs so I helped steady her. She made it outside and came back in ok. But couldn't get up the stairs, she started to panic. I tried to calm her but finally just scooped her up and carried her to her dog bed. It took an hour of tlc to finally get her to calm down and go back to sleep. I hope she "settles" in the next day or so so that I can get her to the vet. Right now she's way too shaky for even trying that. She doesn't need the stress. I feel so awful that this is happening to her again and that there is nothing anyone can do.

Thank you all for your good thoughts for my sweet, old girl.

{{hugs}} for you and Sasha.

Sorry that Sasha isn't feeling well. I hope it will pass soon.

I am sorry to read this. It is most disconcerting to the dog, who is dizzy and can't figure out what is happening.

My dog Princess had this happen. Princess lived with us for 16 years from when she was a puppy. When she was 12, this happened quite a few times over a few short weeks. It started the second week that my Dad retired. As the dog gets disoriented and worries as a result, our vet at the time had recommended keeping her in a small confined area over night so that she wouldn't hurt herself trying to figure things out. In response to this, Dad slept on the couch every night for the 2d and 3rd weeks of his retirement, keeping Princess on a leash, and the leash around his wrist. Mom set a dog bed on the floor beside the couch, up near Dad's head and shoulders area. This meant Dad could reach out and touch the dog, and if he needed to get up, he could swing his legs over and sit up without worrying about kicking her. Once it all seemed to clear up, the dog bed went back to where we normally kept it, Princess went to sleep there, and Dad went back to sleeping in bed.

(And you thought I was the only nutty pet person in this family??? :D )

We always joked that Dad retired just in time to nurse the dog through her illness. (Mom retired 6 months later, so she needed her full night's sleep at this point in time.)

After those multiple episodes, it never returned.

I pray that Sasha has few episodes and that it disappears for good very soon!

Sasha's eyes are still moving side to side. She has no interest in food. She's laying beside me on the couch, quite relaxed, even napping now and then. Overall she is somewhat better than yesterday, but far from normal yet. We have a ways to go.

Poor girl. How's she doing today? Give her some hugs from me.

Poor girl and poor you it must be hard to see her go through that. I hope she feels better real soon.

Sasha and I went to the vet yesterday afternoon. She is making progress getting better. But....she still won't eat or drink. The vet gave her Sub-Q fluids and some meds to settle her tummy. The vet also discovered that Sasha seems to have a heart murmur now. The right side sounds good, the left swooshy. My poor baby is not having a good time at 13 years. I gave her a dog cookie yesterday and she's carried it around since then.

We could use some hungry thoughts sent to Sasha. She needs to eat. She's down to 37.5 lbs from 41, not good at all.

Try giving her some raw hamburg with rice or if you prefer boil the hamburg. This is always appealing to a dog and easy to digest, you could switch to boiled chicken for variety. At that age our vet always says to give them whatever they will eat. A scrambled egg with sardines is something most dogs love. The kibble doesn't seem to be a appealing when they don't feel well, also the dizziness will make her tummy feel upset and she will need something special to coax her to eat. Small meals frequently instead of one or two huge meals.

SHE'S EATING!!!

Selectively, but she's eating. The new fav - black forest ham. She scarfed that down this morning. She even finally ate the dog cookie she'd been carrying around the last couple of days.

She seems to be pretty much over this episode, except for the slight turn of her head. That may never go away. I pray that we don't have to do this again.

Thanks everyone for your good thoughts for my sweet, old girl.