Once again, I am dying a thousand deaths! : (

What do you do, when you believe beyond the shadow of a doubt, the ER vet got it wrong....that you didn't need to euthanize your dog afterall? That there was a rush to diagnose a brain bleed, or brain tumor? No diagnostics were done to prove, or disprove the tumor, or brain bleed.

It wasn't until 2 weeks after I KILLED MY DOG, that I even learned about "Old Dog" Vestibular Disease. It seems the only symptom my dog didn't show, was the nystagmus.

Two years after his death, I got up the courage to go to the ER hospital, and ask for his records for the 24 hours he was with them. I sat in the parking lot, reading it all, and sobbing when I read that one of the "differential" diagnosis was in fact, "Old Dog" vestibular disease. The 24 hours he spent there...his vitals were stable, he was given only one dose of anti-nausea meds in his IV, and he had 1 episode of "gator rolling" in the few hours after we left him there.

For 28 months now, I have beat myself to death over this. If only I would have known....I could have asked them to keep him another 24 hours, or more, to see if he improved, especially now, when I know he was stable, and not suffering! But I didn't know...so the grieving never ends. I KILLED MY DOG, and he very well could still be alive. How does one live with that??
How can an ER vet make a diagnosis like he did, without tests to back it up, and tell me I needed to euthanize my boy....especially when my dog didn't get worse?

Hindsight is 20/20....but I just didn't know! : (

I'm no expert, but I think the absence of nystagmus may have allowed them to rule out vestibular disease. I've also never heard of "gator rolling" being a symptom of vestibular disease. The vets may not have been certain as to the cause of your dog's symptoms, but they may have known it was not vestibular, and therefore unlikely to improve on its own. More info here: http://neuro.vetmed.ufl.edu/neuro/vestibular/vestib.htm

dogaware: Thank you for posting this link.
Since no tests were run, I think the ER vet made a guess at a diagnosis. In my dog's chart notes, was a list of several possible diagnoses....vestibular disease was one of them. So obviously, that was not ruled out as a possibility. I've never experienced a crisis like this, the onset was sudden, and severe...I just don't understand why I wasn't given an option to leave him in the hospital, with a wait and see approach, even if only for another 24-48 hours, to see if he improved. I will never again, blindly do as I'm told, by a vet, without asking lots of questions....especially when it involves euthanizing one of my dogs....

at older dogs like mine being 14 you can have a dog come out of it almost fully but it is hard to watch and you must do pretty much constant care..keeping the dogs butt shaved helps as you will have to do alot of cleaning it up. also hand feed eggs cooked thin and white bread rolled thin with butter.the 24 to 48 hour rule isnt realistic with a serious bout it is more like a 4 or 5 days when my dogs eyes quit rolling she couldnt stand until weaned off the predinsone. also it makes them drink and pee alot although benificial hard to deal with. if you can get 2.5 mg valium enough for about 10 days to give the dog when it is panting alot from the stress it helps the most let the brain sleep and heal. it was worth it to see those first little baby steps at day 7 or 8 now two weeks and hardly any signs of it. she did get infection from i think not gettig all the pee off with diaper wipes but is responding well to a antibiotic and is better every day.

I'm interested in your comment that your dog couldn't walk until taken off prednisone. My dog has a recurrence of vestibular and she is on pred and doesn't seem to be improving like she did the first time (2 weeks ago post surgery).

i had read that sometimes the predisone will cause weekness in the rear end so we cut her back and also swas so misreble that we had givin her alot of 2.5 mg valium. all under direction of the vet it seemed as soon as she was less doped up she could finally stand. it took about 4 days to stop the vertigo eye movements and i know that valium stops siezers but she was drooling and panting a symtom the vet said was being in pain or distress so we just let her sleep it off. clean up with her shaved up was easy and i think it was more just a waiting game but with all the meds we took her off slow and then she started to stand. i know the wait is hard but now she is fully recovered with a little stumbling but thinks she can so it all. it is worth the wait i think some just take more time and the rolled butter white bread and lots of water gave her a little strenth she lost almost 9 lbs so hope all comes out for you.

Ok, we've given it some time and she is better now. Getting up, walking around on her own. She's falling down a lot but she is soooo much better. It just took her longer to recover from the episode this time. We missed one pred dosage, every 12 hours, when she had the second episode. She was totally incapacitated within 8 hours of missing the dose. We realized our mistake started it back and it has been 9 days and she is just getting back to normal. Vet says the relapse could or could not be related to the missed dose. If it is she has some sort of swelling on her brain so we'll keep her on it for now, let her recover from the original ailment, mast cell tumor, and then revisit. Giving it time is really the best advice for vestibular. It is so hard to watch and so much work to care for them but worth it in the end.

yea don't get me wrong we were worried about brain swelling and not being able to afford the mri we didn't know so treating for a tumor that could have same syptoms was our goal also but she had two injections of predensone and then pills for like 8 more days before we decided that it may be the meds keeping her down. so yay glad to hear your loved dog is getting better praying we don't have another as our mali is doing great not quite as cordinated some times but she is great. the pred is so hard to deal with but does force them to drink a ton of water and that has to help also stimulates appetite so was just a dission we made on the article about it causeing mussle weakness so weather taking her off was why she got better or it was just the time...

My heart goes out to you, I am sure you are not the only one this has happened to. Many years ago one of our family dogs (at my grandma's house), suddenly started having symptoms of a "stroke", she was put to sleep, she was not very old, maybe 5 or 6. I was a child and I was devastated over the loss of my little friend. I am sure that she had vestibular disease and could have recovered. You did the best you could at the time this was happening.

My heart just breaks for you but you did nothing wrong. Many people won't even take their dog to the Emer Vet due to the expense, but you did. You didn't know what was wrong so you listened to your vet. What you did was done only out of love for your dog & not wanting your dog to suffer. I completely understand b/c I beat myself up every time I have to have a beloved dog euthanized......did I do it too soon ? did I wait too long ? did I do all I could ? I am just now hearing of this disease myself & now I too am wondering if this was what was wrong w-my poodle/terrier mix Lindsey. She had all of the symptoms (except the eye movement b/c she was blind.) But geriatric vestibular disease was never mentioned to me either. My vet referred me to a veterinary neurologist, who examined Lindsey & ran a battery of tests. All of this took several weeks & when the tests were inconclusive, I decided to have her euthanized b/c she was not getting any better. And that is my only comfort in all of this.....she was not getting better & I couldn't bear for her to suffer any longer, so I think I did the right thing. Time has not taken away the pain & sadness, but it has softened it & I hope it will for you too.

I hope you will find solace and not condemn yourself. Our Amant is suffering his second attack-1st one 1-2010 and now last Friday. You did the best you could and your pet knows how much you loved him. He is waiting for you across the rainbow bridge-D

did your dog come out of the second attack and how long did it last??

I am feeling your pain. I just put my dog to sleep 2 days ago with the exact same symptoms. I have been crying non stop and thought I had done the humane thing until reading this article. Now I am questioning and will have a hard time forgiving myself. My Vet never mentioned "old dog stroke". Had he, I would have tried harder, I just thought there was no end in sight and did not want to see her suffer. I will definitely tell this story to as many people as possible to maybe prevent this from haunting someone else.

don't beat yourself up my dog went in we thought stroke they first said she had old dog disease or a brain tumor but the price of mri was out of range.we took her home with predisone and valium. then we felt so bad we called the mobile vet he said it was idiopathic or old dog disease and we should wait and see. he was very good about checking in and came a second time to give a injection again of predinsone and more valium. she eats but can't stand at all. we cave her bread rolled flat with butter just to get some calories and cooked a scramble egg a day for protine. after four days up all night the terrible head tilt thats messing one eye up from laying on it. and cleaning the poo and tons of pee from the predinsone i am misreble and still she cant walk although day four her eyes finally quit rolling she did have two days of motion sick pills so no puking but i have thought every day should i put her down its so awful and if she is recovering and has a little i can't imagine her ever walking on her own so we are going to cut her meds down and see if its drugged up and no walking or if she needs put down we have a day seven set if no improvement so you may have done the right thing unless you wanted to be really commited to such a mess

i may add i love my dog alot she is 14 year old chow and is struggling with this disease.

mali also was laying on her eye and ruining it you can help your dog during treatment with artificial tears.i will post either way if sh comes out of it anytime soon

my dog mali age 14 pure chow female stopped having the eye movement on day we tought she wouldnt' ever walk again she did day 7. we are so glad we hung in there she had two predinsone injections the pills and valium i think she wasn't walking due to weakness the predinsone causes as soon as we weaned her off she really improved. she ate white bread rolled thin with a rolling pin then covered with butter and dip in milk then a thin cooked egg. now hamburger she drank a ton and any dog on predinsone needs a ton of water if you ever take it yourself you will know how important this is. we used pads from norco for pee and poo they are people size really helped, used baby wipes to avoid pee burns, also prep h for butt and she had diarea so had kaopectate for a few days.we now have some dry shampoo so she smells better and is going outside. she disapeared and only to find my worries about the 2 dog door obstacles she had went outside on her own. have to steady her and watch because she still off balance. the motion sick pills were given until eye movement stopped....she is so cute and we are really proud of her it was well worth the constant care and mess...yay more mali time... her name is malichiah and that in the bible means message so take this as her message and give your dog the chance it is good to see her back

it is a good deal to shave the dogs entire bottom when they are down with this it sure made it easier to keep her clean. mali has now recovered almost completely she gets a little off balance but we are so glad we hung in there it was 8 days of complete horror but now she is playful and doing just great.

Hello, On Nov.29th I came home from work to find my 15 and half year old dog had defecated and urinated several times and was very dizzy. She wanted to go out as usual, but then fell down the 4 steps to the back yard. I was mortified....and felt sooooo bad for her. Daisy was my #1 companion and a sanity saver with our nightly walks. I panicked and the next day she was put to sleep after a conversation with a vet tech. If I had read this article, she may have still been alive. I am lost without her. Life is precious! Even though I went to the Humane Society....all the cute dogs left me feeling empty and sad....as none of them were my Daisy.
Enjoy every moment with your companions. Life is short!

Is there any breed of dog that tends to get this or is it just a "dog thing"?

From my research, it can happen to any breed of dog. Mine was a Chinese Crested.

You're right, any breed.

Hi - one day I came home from work and my 14 year old lab could not walk without falling down. At first I thought she had a stroke. Her head was tilted and her eyes were moving back and forth and then I knew what it was, even though it didn't make me feel any better. I had previously had a German Shepherd that went around in circules and had the same eye movement so I knew what it was. It lasted longer in my older dog but if that is what the problem truly was then there is no worry. They did prescribe some medication for nausea and that helped but it was a lot of work. Then the poor thing died of a rupture in her spleen a few weeks later. Surgery was an option but because of her age and we would have to drive 45 miles to get to a place that would do the surgery (since it was in the evening) we decided to let her go. It was the hardest thing. I don't know if the 2 things were related but I hope not. I was lucky to have her 14 years old. I miss her.

At 16 lost her hearing, but that was OK, we learn to sign, what was so sweet Our other senior rescues Pet-Kids learned to sign too. Daisey, was a Border Collie-mix. as Her Head Turn,with in a week She could not walk, Our Wonderful Pet Doctor said Daisey had mini stokes,with-in a week a large brain growth, surgery was not a option, ( time was-up ) we did all we could, at 18 she was put to sleep in my arms, She will live in my Heart....Love hurts but worth it,

Today's blog was interesting. But I have two questions.
1. Hasn't someone tried anything similar to the Hallpike Maneuver that is used in humans to treat episodic vertigo due to canalith displacement?
2. Has any vestibular areflexia been reported in younger dogs, especially puppies? They should have somewhat the same symptoms (head tilt, circling, etc) minus the effects of any vertigo (no vomiting etc.)

No, I haven't run across any mention of the use of Epley or Semont maneuvers that are typically used in human medicine or vestibular areflexia in puppies. Probably not a lot of interest in research on the topic since the majority of older dogs get better on their own.

Dr. Patty wrote about this years ago. About 2 months later my dog got it. It was still shocking to see, but I knew what it was. The first week was pretty awful, I had to keep him gated in a small room. The worst part was that when he got upset he would pace in circles anyway. When he got vestibular, he would NOT lay down, eventually he would get so tired he would fall over and not be able to get up, then he would sleep. I took to sometimes pushing him over so he would rest.

Since he was a dog that hated to be picked up, I put a car seat harness on him, the kind with the loop on the back. I used it as a "handle" when he needed help getting up, or getting outside.

He never totally recovered, but he did get much better.

Does this happen in cats?

My mother's DSH had similar symptoms a few months ago; we panicked, and raced her to the vet. The vet really never gave us any diagnosis, did no treatment and gave no medicine -- but the cat did fully recover within about a week.

???

Thanks!

Yes, it can happen in cats but much less frequently than in dogs.

Hi Dr. Jennifer ...

Telling the truth , "i'm still looking for words in my dictionary" to describe your strong/useful article above , just "literally leaving me ....

Of 4 " ....

Also , TTTKKK UUU SSSOOOO MMMUUUCCHH for sending to "us" ...

Pet-Sincerely ...

We .... Nina & I

Beginning of April, I came home from work and was shocked to see my beautiful Penny in such a state. Head tilted, eyes moving, hardly able to walk, but, still wagging her tail when she saw me. She was an Australian Shepherd/Shetland Sheepdog and at 14 and a half, she was still in great shape. I rushed her to my vet and he said that she had a stroke and put her on meds to help. A week later, she was no better. She began having seizures and doing the "gator roll". That Sunday, she was in very bad shape. I rushed her to the ER vet and they put in an IV and gave her meds for her seizures due to her continuous seizing. The vet gave me the news of "old dog" disease and he suspected that she had a brain tumor. Now, after reading this article, I'm afraid that I euthanized prematurely. After a week after the "seizure", she hadn't gotten any better and wouldn't even eat her treats. I miss her so much and now I'm afraid I could have done more for her. There was probably an underlying issue, right? She was having seizures and tremors from her collar up. I have to think that there was something that caused all this other than vestibular disease or I won't sleep at night. I guess I'm wanting reassurance that, in the end, euthanizing was the right decision for my girl. I know I gave her a loving happy home, but, I still miss her terribly.

I had a 12 yr old dog who had some of these symptoms, they would come and go but it did seem that she had something going wrong in her brain. But some of the symptoms also matched vestibular disease, like walking like a drunken sailor, not eating and circling. I was considering taking her to a neurologist and also suspected cognitive dysfunction for some of the symptoms. One night she seemed to be having some kind of episode (panting, hiding, crying as if in pain or very frightened) and I rushed her to the emergency vet but she died on the way. This is just to illustrate that there are a lot of things that can go wrong with the brain and nervous system and vestibular disease is only one of them, and in fact I don't know what my dog's cause of death was. But she went through a lot of fear and panic in her last hour and if I could have spared her that I would have. So you never know. It may be that you did the right thing and spared your dog a difficult time.

Thank you, that does make me feel better. I honestly think it was more than just vestibular disease going on, but, after reading this, I had some doubts. Thanks for helping to put my mind at ease. Sorry for you loss on your 12 year old 4-legged kid.

I am not a vet but I think continued seizures are not usually a sign of vestibular disease or something that can be cured from the symptoms you describe.

Thank you. I don't think there was anything that I could do with all of the seizures either, but, there was a small part of me that got scared that I didn't make the right decision.

Dear Dr. Coates:

Thank you for your very informative article on Vestibular Disease ("Old Dog" disease). I would like to tell you how very much I appreciate your taking the time out of your very busy life to write these blogs. I have learned so much, and am much better prepared to be a good mom to my babies in terms of their health. With this article I won't have an instant panic attack [or worse attack LAL (Laughing A Little)] if something like this should happen.

So, feel good, Dr. Coates, as you are a hero to me.

Margherite

Thank you so much for your kind words.

Currently, I've got 2 clients with this ailment (I'm a pet sitter). Also, I just had a similar illness myself - dizzy all the time for about 2 weeks.

Finally saw the doctor and he fixed it with exercises from www.dizzyfix.com , with a diagnosis of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

Any chance that these exercises could help an old dog?
I went through one series of exercises, went home and had a nap, got up with no further issues. It's been 2 months and though I can expect a recurrence at least I have a quick fix to try before heading to my vet, er doctor. ;-)

Hard to say. I haven't seen mention of using procedures like this in the veterinary literature, probably because most dogs get better over the course of a few days to weeks no matter what we do.

Hey everyone. I thought I would put this bit of info out there for the people who have an old dog, about a disease called, old dog vestibular disease. On the 30th of December it hit Jazzmin!! It was one of the worst things I have witness in my life time. It attacks the inner ear. That is what controls their balance. Her eyes moved back and forth, and her eyebrows danced up and down uncontrollably. Her head leaned to one side. At first she just spun in circles for one or two minutes and defecated on the floor. (which she has never done even when she was a puppy.) Then she lost all sense of balance completely. She began to throw up repeatedly. She was so dizzy, nauseated, and had no control of her legs. We took her to the vet as fast as we could. Of course, it was in the middle of the night so we took her to a animal hospital emergency called Advanced Veterinary Care. (Advanced my ass) The staff is horrible there, starting with the techs all the way up to the doctor. The doctor who saw her was Dr. Katie Kramer. The tech took her into the back room (I couldn't go back with her.) The doctor came out to tell us that Jazzmin has vestibular disease. She did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR HER. She told me to go to the Walgreens and pick up some dramamine and take her home. The charged was $95.00 dollars! As soon as I knew Jazzmins vet was open, we were there. We take her to Lone Peck Veterinary Hospital. Her vets name is Jodi Way. It was Jodi's day off so we saw a great doctor named Dr. Kyle Hammond. He was awesome!! First, he gave her a shot for nausea then checked her ears ( one ear was very swollen inside) he told me the next 72 hour are the most crucial. He explained to me about the disease, plus gave me paperwork for me to read up on this disease. I thought that I would not be bringing Jazzmin home with us that day! But now there is still hope:) Of course, I was so scared and crying horribly. Dr. Hammond told me to settle down because she is in tune with my feelings. I need to relax so Jazzmin can to. He put her on anti-nausea medication called Cerenia 40 mg's a day and a antibiotic called Simplicef 100 mg's a day. I took her home and laid with her on the floor for the next 72 hours watching every move she made. After the first day, she started to drink a little water, the eyes started to slow down from the back and forth movements and she was not throwing up anymore. Second day, there was more improvement (not much, but some.) The third day was bad. She still was not doing very well. I called Jodi to let her know how things were going, she told me to give it one more day. (so did Malory, Zacks fiancè.) Finally, the next morning she went outside to use the bathroom. She was now eating, drinking, and using the bathroom! She is still very wobbly and doing circles to one side. Each day after that she slowly began to improve. After four day's she didn't need the ant-nausea medication anymore and it will be a total of 17 days that she will be on the antibiotics. It took 9 days for to be able to leave her side. Of course Zack stayed with her while I ran a few errands. After the fourth day, her strength started to bounce back. Her head will always have a slight tilt. It is kind of cute because she looks like she is curious. But at least my dog is still here with us and has spring back in her steps! So if you have an old dog just keep in mind this does happen. And there is always hope. Also one more thing, NEVER EVER take your pets to Advanced Veterinary Hospital they are horrible!! I want to THANK THE TEAM AT LONE PEAK VETERINARY HOSPITAL:) They are simply the GREATEST for any problem that my arise in our pets. (or should I say our family members.) Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I am on my second attack with amant my Belgium shepherd almost 15. the 1st 1-2010 was terrifying but the vet knew right away what it was. He was unable to walk or stand for 2 weeks then slowly came back. Last Friday, attack but able to stand just unsteady. We are hopeful that he will make a slow comeback and at least be able to walk around yard. Pretty amazing for his age.

Amant was able to recover with a slight head tilt. See my 12-24-2012 entry in which I forgot to mention that he beside Chinese herbs, western medicine has acupunture monthly. The Vet and prescriptions help but I attribute alot to Amant and his strong loving will to live. He is happy just slow as he turns 15 sort of like us his human companions who are retired..

A week ago, while making dinner I turned to see our 16 yr. old mixed breed dog falling down, trying to walk, falling down, etc. We assumed she was having/had a stoke. We rushed her to the emergency clinic. Background note-last summer she was thought to have a tumor on the back left side of her head. The clinic staff took her to the back while we were put in a patient room. The vet gave us 3 prognosis'-ear/inner ear infection, the tumor, or old dog vestibular disease. He wanted to clean her ears & recommended putting her on a steroid for 10 days, saying she would need round the clock care. He left us to think about what we wanted to do-they were going to clean her ears & wait for our decision. We decided to have her euthanized & to have the ear cleaning stopped because she hates that. I paid the bill so I wouldn't have to cry at the desk when we were leaving, we signed the paper saying we wanted her euthanized & to be with her when the put her to sleep. My son sat on the floor with a blanket waiting for them to carry her into the room. A few minutes later they brought her to us...much to our surprise, she came trotting into the room with her tail wagging! She was minutes from being put to sleep. Obviously we did not have her put to sleep & at our regular vet the next day they did blood work & said everything looked fine (her calcium was slightly up, possibly because of the tumor or diet). The vet said we could expect her to re-lapse within the next 2 weeks but that the episodes should become less. She has had 2 more episodes lasting less than 10 minutes each. My advice if possible is to be with your pet while at the vet,& ask questions!

Dear Dr. Coates,
Thank you for your informative article. Your description of the symptoms of Old Dog Vestibular disease gave me the courage to change my plan to put my 14 year old wire-hair down this morning. I am so grateful. As you said, the symptoms were dramatic and deeply upsetting and I could not imagine waiting while Woody suffered. When he couldn't eat I thought it was the end, never thinking that the issue could just be nausea. This morning he ate chicken and rice and he's moving more smoothly, falling over less. I think he's going to make it! As he sleeps at my feet, deep sonorous snores roll through the room and I am one of the most grateful people on the planet at this moment.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Dr. Coates,

My 7.5 year old boxer presented with head tilt and stumbling - mostly on stairs and was diagnosed with Vestibular disease May 3rd. The vet put him on antibiotics and steroids. Within a week I was seeing much improvement. The vet said complete the course of antibiotics and continue with the steroids until they are gone, weaning him off at the end. His last steroid was June 20th. The vet had said there was a possibility he might have to be on low-dose steroids forever for this. I have noticed he is beginning the head tilt again. Is there any harm in long term steroids? I have heard something about bladder/urine issues.

Thank you

My 12 year-old Aussie Shepherd got this diagnosis last night and has been with a vet since. We're trying to get an appt with a neurologist asap. He is not standing up, which doesn't seem to be common with this disorder and is concerning.

Hearing all the options in my emotional state is head-spinning...

Has your dog been chewing at his feet at all? Showing signs of allergies? My dog was diagnosed with Vestibular Disease (after first being told it was a brain tumor) only to find out he had very bad allergies and had fluid in his ears causing his head tilt and balance issues.

I am not saying this is what is happening with your dog, but consider asking that question, please. We now give him a Claritin every day ...

dj919, we are going to inquire re your comment. For now, we are going to take him home tonight and have him see a neurologist next week if he does not get better.

Waiting to see a neuro then vs paying for emergency visit now seems to make sense given the info here. Since last night we've incurred $900.

Amant at age 12, Belgium shepherd had his 1 st attack, it was a rough 2 weeks in the laundry room with lots of vet visits and consults. He slowly recovered not quite completely but able to go on walks which is great given his age. In July we had a pendulated anal tumor removed, debated but went ahead-he quickly recovered. In October, 2012 slight reoccurance of Vestibular , head tilt but able to do slow walks. amant is so loving that all the effort & expense, Eastern Chinese herbs and western medicine has been worth it. We had just retired when he had the 1st attack 3 years ago no kids at home but amant and our cat, emeril. Amant will turn 15 years old on Friday the 28th. Everyone, his Vet and other employees/vets at his Clinic are amazed with his will to live and how loving he is. Did I mention that we also have him on Selegine for his canine dementia which is a miracle drug. For us for this very special dog, it has been worth the effort and we would have no hestitation in doing all of the above over. Our current frustration is with our rescue little terrier that we adopted from SPCA, severe allergies and periodic GI issues-if we had known about her allergies and since we didnt have 11 1/2 years with her before her illness, we would not have adopted her but now that she is with us-she is in her forever home.My advice is if you have the time and schedule hang in there-We cant believe that Amant will be 15 years old on Friday for a large dog with his health challenges it truly is a Holiday miracle

I have a 12.5 y/o Shepard/ Terrier mix. She is 5 days out from her bout w/ Vestibular Disease. She is eating and drinking. Her gait is much improved. Still has head tilt. My question is this: She seems to have "forgotten" where and how to get to her dog run and how to go through her doggie door. I have taken her to the run and she will usually do her job, but we have had to walk her frequently outside to get her to urinate and defecate. to places where she has never used to do those things. I guess I wonder if a side effect of CVD is memory impairment. Does anyone know? Maybe I am expecting too much too soon but she seems to be recovering quite quickly. Today I am not giving the Meclizine for he nausea, as that seems to have passed. I like many of you am glad I had an Emergency Vet that knew his stuff. They were great at the Sonoran Vet Clinic Phx AZ. We are still awaiting her Valley Fever titer to come back as a precaution. Which is common here in the SW desert.

Friday night we noticed my 12yr old chow was acting "drunk" it was like she couldn't keep her back end under her. Thought she was starting to have problems with her hips but today she fell out side and it FREAKED ME OUT! Never thought stroke and she was still pretty happy but to ease my mind took her to emergency vet, her vitals were fine, they did sense testing and she passed with flying colors, ears clean and she showed us her "rolling eyes", tilting head and was told about brain tumor but vet said she didn't think it was that at all, YAY! She had seen much worse case's than my dog where they cant even walk at all, but she feels that given 72hrs she should start to feel better, was told though some could take 2 weeks. Was also fortunate to talk to my vet and we are doing acupuncture tomorrow and putting her on some homeopathic meds to help. If you have not tried acupuncture DO IT! It does wonders for her arthritis and I am hoping it will do the same for this. By the way emergency vet only cost $90.00 YAY again!

My 12 year old Rottweiler had a vestibular event at 8 yrs. old. Recently, she had a bout with pancreatitis and we had to do some IV fluids, change her diet, etc. Two days after we began to see some improvement in the illness, she started showing signs of a possible stroke/vestibular event. She was leaning to the left, wouldn't eat (anything) and became almost unresponsive. Her eyes were not moving back and forth like they did at 8 yrs old. After another day, she was weaker and still no appetite. She could go out and pee, but she fell often and kept landing on her side. She also started digging at her right ear (opposite side from the leaning) and opened up a big hole in the fur beside her ear from digging at it. She was miserable. We took her to the vet and they said it looked like vestibular and could have come from the ear infection. They treated the ear and gave her a shot for infection and the nausea. She was foaming at the mouth a lot and really pitiful. Two days later, she was worse, and we had to physically carry her into the car to go to the vet. The vet had to come out to the car to give her an infection. They told me to give her dramamine. We are now going into day 8 or 9 and she's only getting worse. I am giving her water in a syringe but she hasn't really eaten in five days. She drinks a lot of the water, bobs her little tail stub at me when I talk to her and she tried to get up, but falls back over. I am devastated and I have cried and laid in the floor with her for nearly two weeks now. I don't know what to do because mentally she seems well, she recognizes me, and swallows the water, even swallows a little broth and baby food with the med (less than 2-3 teaspoons.) she has quit going outside, just pees on our floor and we keep her on towels. She barely moves all day and it's killing me. I don't know what to do. I have called or visited the vet about 5 times, and spent close to a thousand dollars. How long should I let this continue?

Thank you for your response. I am really torn up over this. She still has parts of her wonderful personality, which make this even more difficult. If she wasn't responding to me, still trying to stand, or trying to move, I guess it would be easier to give up. Or maybe not. This dog has been my guardian for 8 years, after I rescued her when she was 4. She has been my constant companion and has literally saved my life two times. My husband thought we should make a decision by tomorrow. She seems to be weaker this morning.

Our dog was just over 14 years old when she first came down with Vestibular Syndrome. It took her about 3-4 weeks to start to improve. WE never ever gave up with her. We hand fed her, slept next to her, did whatever we could to make her feel better. Then one day she just got up and started walking again. Fast forward 2 years and its back. Now she is 17 years old. WE have a Facebook group to for dogs with vestibular Disease

https://www.facebook.com/groups/126232394099102/

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My dog has has vestibular disease and cushings for over 1 year now. She has been getting worse with circling and going inside the house. I think she has a brain tumor. Her quality of life is very poor. I don't think she knows whats going on and I don't want her to suffer.What has been your experiences in the past with this condition? She is 14 years old now and led a very good long life.

My dog was diagnosed with this last Thursday and he has not been able to walk since. We are exercising his legs and trying to help him walk but he cannot. He cannot hold himself up. The symptoms are coming and going now (head tilt, eyes rolling). He is a 14 year old lab with arthritis. Plus he developed ulcers on his elbows which we are treating also, they are bandaged. He is not eating much but drinks a lot of water and urinates a lot.

We don't know what to do. We don't want to give up on him but his quality of life is really starting to be affected.

Please help! Please give me some hope!

Don't give up!! It took our 13 yo lab 9 days to get better the second time she had this. This time we gathered the kids and had a good bye and had an appointment set to put her down. After reading more I decided we would give her more time and I'm so glad we did! This condition is so devastating to watch and a ton of care but I have read extensively on it and it appears that most dogs only have the one episode and fully recover or have small hints of it. She is still wobbly a few weeks later but her foot is wrapped from the surgery. She is back to barking at the UPS guy, whining at the treat jar, etc. If she gets it a third time we probably won't let her go through it again. Obviously there would be something wrong neurologically. But we will know that we did everything and gave her every chance to be with us a few more years. Reading gave me hope. I hope it does the same for you.

Thank you for the post. We are still hanging in there. His appetite returned but he still cannot walk. We try walking him but his back legs are crossed and the paws folds under. It is like he can't use his back legs anymore. We are going to keep hanging on. It is just over 1 week now. We will keep exercising him, placing his paws and legs in the proper position and try to help him walk again.

He is using his legs for the first time this morning!!!!! We go to rehab this week.

yes my dogs legs were limp after about 8 days of the predinsone i read that it can cause muscle weakness so decided to try to wean her off not sure if that was the right decision because not knowing (unable to afford the mri) we didn't know if it was a brain tumor but we decided to try weaning her off and she did start being able to stand. i would give the predisone every chance to work and my heart goes out to you it is just a waiting game and the predisone was so hard to deal with because i have taken it myself and you are so thirsty and it is terrible. But again if it is a brain tumor then it is helping the swelling. sending all my prayers and we gave up many days but with my spouse taking alternating shifts we managed not to give up and we are so glad we didn't we still have our beloved mali. wish you well and again i will pray my rosary for you and your loved pet.

My 13 year-old Aussie Shepherd fully recovered from this a week after symptoms last Dec. - from not being able to stand/hold up his head, requiring a syringe for water, to not even a head tilt a week later.

Now I want to tell every old dog parent about it. He was unnecessarily on IV o/n at the vet's and showed lots of progress the day we had an appt with a neurologist far away. All he could have maybe used was some nausea medicine along with love and attention.

We were partly nervous because he has had tumors and wondered if this was related.

Thank you for the reply. We are not going to give up yet! It has been 1 week and 1 day, I pray he comes out of this. He is alert and still wags his tail when we talk to him. I want so badly to help him walk again. Thank you!

Was your dogs legs limp? They think my dog has a brain tumor and this is causing the vestibular disease. Our only options are to get an MRI or euthanize.

I'm so bummed. I thought they were going to tell us how we could get our baby walking again. Instead they said they do not think he will ever walk again:-(

Yes, he could not stand. Not sure how they definitively know there is a tumor unless there was an MRI.

Regardless, when I was exploring the neurologist appt for possible brain tumors, I had to wonder about the final outcome in terms of my choice, which comes down to euthanize or not...so how will knowing affect that choice? It is not like we would entertain brain surgery on an old dog, so what would be the point in knowing re a brain tumors, unless there is an easy cure?

Seems like if he is not getting better after an adequate amount of time, and he seems to be in pain, you are getting the info needed for the ultimate choice, which I had to with my 15 year-old Akita/Blue-Healer mix a few years ago, but I still doubted myself.

My Aussie showed improvement the day of the appt w/neurologist and I feel so blessed to have him these 4 months since...

The doctor said about 80% chance of tumor because Buddie has no movement in two of his legs, no matter what you do to them. He said this strongly suggests, in addition to the fact that it has been 2 weeks, that it is likely related to his brain and an interruption of signals.

We will not do the MRI for exactly the reason you mentioned. I don't want to put him through that. He had a seizure on the way to the neurologist appointment. Whenever we move him too much he is having these seizure-like episodes.

Thank you so much for your replies. I think we will explore steroids as our final option.

My heart goes out to you, trixie, and everyone else on this thread. It's so obvious how much we love our pets and want to do the right thing.

It's so hard having to be objective when you feel so emotional, right? And when loving means having to let go at times...so, so hard....

I've been wiping the tears, reading your comments, when I can tell you are trying to be clear-headed and make rationale choices - been there, where part of your heart wants to just explode...I miss my Akita mix and the 15 years I had with her and hug my 13 year-old Aussie mix whenever I can, knowing I have limited time with him.

Hugs and wishing peaceful moments to you all - you are all great pet parents that the world can use more of...

Thank you for responding, it really means a lot. We met with our vet today and the steroids are not an option due to the ulcers on his elbows. We are out of options. She agreed we should not pursue the MRI. We are now going to continue to give him lots of love and home caring until his quality of life is no longer. Right now he wags his tail when he hears our voices and he is eating all kinds of people food. When we put him outside, he goes to the bathroom.

we were told to put our dog down by one vet that it was probably a brain tumor and a second mobile vet talked us out of it and said to use the predisone he gave her two injections and pills and that would i guess not being a vet shrink the tumor. so gratefully we ignored the option of putting her down and she slowly very slowly recovered.

You know he did mention steroids as a possibility but the neurologist was pessimistic about how much it would help.

Thank you so much for this reply. We meet our vet tonight, I will discuss with her the possibility of trying steroids.

Copper is a 15 year old... mutt, we have no idea what he is to be honest. He could be collie, or whatever we want us him to be!

He was diagnosed with this about 8 days ago, we're fearing that if it isn't old dog vestibular disease, then it could be a brain tumor? He's 15, I highly doubt he'll get better...

He falls over, he slides across the tile and he has the head titling thing.

He's eating fine though and he loves to go for walks, its like he's in heaven when he's on walks, and he's like a puppy again.

But I can tell he's not the best time of his life because he knows there's something wrong with his body cause of this old dog thing going on.

I'd say give about ten more days or so to see how he does? I only hope he gets better, of course my family and I are going to be humane about it and NOT RUSH TO PUT HIM DOWN- I don't want to do that -

But if he were suffering and having a seizure all of a sudden, I don't know what I should do...

The whole thing is making me stressed, seeing him with the head tilt and it makes me think he's uncomfortable, but he smiles and has his tail wagging.

Then my dad bumps into him and he tumbles over >_<

It makes me sad.

My friend's dog was nine when he got better, my dog is fifteen, that's a major difference, and I don't think Copper is going to get better, but I don't know if he's going to get worse, I don't know what to do to be honest, I don't want him to be uncomfortable or in pain. He doesn't deserve that kind of life. Not him.

Thank you all for your support. The brain tumor really started to be a problem for my baby. We said good bye today.

I miss him terribly.

First of all, I want to say thank you for this wonderful post, it has given me some reason to be optimistic.

Barney, my 14 year o,d Golden Retriever was very sick last night, weed a lot, and then this morning he had a head tilt to the left, and would fall over, especially when he tried shaking his head. Rushed him to the vets, where he was seen very quickly, and were told that it was most probably Vestibular syndrome. He was given three injections: antibiotics, steroids and anti-nausea, and we were also sent home with tablets that are supposed to help blood flow to the brain.

He has improved slightly throughout the day today, he can walk, albeit very jittery and unstable. He doesn't really want to eat, but has taken a little ham that we gave him to take his tablet. He is also going outside on his own, weeing unaided and drinking when he wants, although it looks like it's hard for him to focus on the bowl.

We are scheduled to go back to the vets tomorrow to see how he is, I think I'm seeing an improvement, and he doesn't sound as bad as some other case stories I've read, but I don't know whether that's wishful thinking, just because I cannot stand the thought that we may lose him, he's grown up with me and helped me through tough times. He IS family.

I'm just looking for any advice really and encouragement. The vet told us we could do an MRI, but I wouldn't put him through that, and so long as he has quality of life, he'll be with us. I guess what in getting at is, what is quality of life? I mean he got up a few times to greet people throughout the day, and wags his tail occasionally, I just don't want this to be the end, you know?

I'm trying to do my best for him, I haven't left his side, but then I don't want to baby him too much, because he may just think "for god sake woman leave me alone!" but I can't help it, it physically hurts to see him suffering; just looking so confused about what's happening.

I know I'm rambling, I just really want this to all be a nightmare, and go back to my bubbly, daft boy who hasn't really been sick a day in his life.

Any comments would be appreciated

Thanks

Hi, thanks for asking about him.

Touch wood, he's improving slowly. He's eating a little more, and is off the anti-nausea and hasn't seemed to throw up any of it, so that's good. He's walking a little steadier on his feet, and looking a little brighter. It's so hard to not get my hopes up too high, or look too closely for any little sign that he's getting better, but the vet seems happy with him at the moment, so that's good.

He's drinking an awful lot, but I'm sure that's because of the steroids, so hopefully when we start to ween the tablets down a little on Monday, that should help.

Going back to the vet on Tuesday, so we shall hopefully(!) see more of an improvement. I'm keeping everything crossed - he means so much to me, this week has been terribly scary.

Thank you very much.

Have you any tips you or other people have found to help him with anything at all? He seems comfortable enough, but anything to help him...

Thank you, Liz X