This disease was brought to my attention through some rescue contacts. Just in case this should happen to your dog, you will know that it is not cause for euthanization.
Quote:
"On another note, I am now on a bit of a public service announcement kick about "Canine Vestibular Disease", sometime called "Old Dog Vestibular Disease". If you want to share information about it with other rescuers, that would be great. I have talked to many people since this happened, and few have ever heard of it. I have also found several people who had dogs put to sleep after being diagnosed with a "stroke". They said that the symptoms were more likely this disease, and they didn't need to put their dogs to sleep! Anyway, here is the story:
When Dave came home Friday night, Bear had pooped all over the kitchen and couldn't get up. He called me to tell me to get home right away. In order to get me to drive semi calmly, he left out the part about how her eyes were flitting around and her head was bobbing all over. When I got there, we took her to the emergency clinic. We figured she had probably had a stroke. During the ride there, we were preparing ourselves to have to put her to sleep. She is at a point in her life that using extraordinary means would be selfish on our part. It was awful, I was so upset.
Imagine how very happy we were when the vet came in and told us that Bear's condition would resolve itself in a few days! She compared it to motion sickness or the feeling that you get when you get off a spinning carnival ride. It is apparently not that uncommon in older dogs. I have been telling everyone I know that has dogs about this, so in the future if they come home and find their dog in this state, they can at least have some hope. We didn't have much on our way to the vet.
She has been improving since we brought her home. That night was almost comical. She wanted to go outside, so she lurched through the door when I opened it for the other dogs. Then she ran around the yard in circles, only to the left. She would get so much momentum that she couldn't stop, so she would tuck her head down and somersault so she could rest a minute. Brewster, Bella and I stayed up with her off and on all night. She gradually has regained more control. By the morning she could at least go where she intended to and by late yesterday afternoon her eyes had stopped flitting around. Now she just has a bit of a head tilt (which may never completely leave) and she is still a little unsteady. But, she is alive and almost better. A much more positive result than I expected Friday evening!
Here is a link with more information:
http://www.peoriahs.org/vestibular.html
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