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Anyone have any experience with something called vestibular disease... AKA old dog disease in their dog? I was hunting this morning and got a frantic call from my wife that our 13 year old dog must have had a stroke. She was falling down and her legs wouldn't coordinate so she could walk. I hurried home and made the call to the vet and sat with the dog for a couple of hours before we could get her in. By the time we got her to the vet she was better but still unsteady on her feet. It is 6 hours later and she can walk around like nothing happened but seems tired. I guess it is a middle ear syndrome similar to vertigo in humans and it happens most often to old dogs. Thought that truck ride was a one way ticket for the old girl. I am out 300 bucks but seeing how it isn't serious I guess it was worth it.
living the good life every day
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Out $300? Merry Christmas.
You did just earn the respect of at least 3/4 of the "Fire by putting your dog first.
Good on you, Sir. I hope you get it back tenfold.
Me solum relinquatis
Molon Labe
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With dogs and kids no amount is too much.
living the good life every day
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Campfire Kahuna
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Glad to hear the old gal is good to go.
Paul
"I'd rather see a sermon than hear a sermon".... D.A.D.
Trump Won!, Sandmann Won!, Rittenhouse Won!, Suck it Liberal Fuuktards.
molɔ̀ːn labé skýla
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We have one dog who has that (or something similar) occasionally, he would stumble around like he was drunk, his head doing the bobble head wobble, drool and puke. First time was on a Sunday evening, called our vet (she is married to a friend) and she said it was probably the canine version of human vertigo and said to get an antihistamine (Benadryl) in him and restrain him so he didn't get hurt. 20 minutes later he was fine. Scared the tar out of us the first time. He was about 5 yo when he had his first bout, he's almost 10 now. He will have one as often as every month or two but sometimes 9 or 10 months apart. We have taken to call these episodes as him having "rocks in his head". If we can catch him early in the onset he recovers quickly. It still scares him, but is a lot easier on us now.
Follow what your vet says.
Good luck !!!
Someday I hope to be the person my dogs think I am . . .
The only true cost of having a dog is its death.
Someone once said "a nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves."
Shiloh Sharps . . . there is no substitute.
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$300 sounds like a deal to me. I bet my Vet hasn't sent out a $300 bill in 15 years...
Harry
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ya my beagle does that once in a while. sometimes he's like that for a couple days. pretty alarming. we took him to the vet the first time and vet said he was going to be like this the rest of his life and not much can be done. mini seizures is what he called it. the last time he did it he couldn't walk. had to carry him outside to go to the bathroom. we thought he was done for and were going to take him to the vet for a final trip. when he heard me and my son discussing where we were going to bury him, he snapped out of it. been fine ever since. one of these days i think he's not going to come out of it.
My diploma is a DD214
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Thanks guys and it is comforting to know it is pretty common. We figured this was it and somehow the vet just knew on the phone when we talked with her. Funny too I have a daughter who is a vet tech and she said the same thing when we talked with her before we took the dog in to the vet. It is amazing she is right back to the way she was before all this. Ate her supper and went outside to make sure no deer are in the yard. LOL Fannymae lives another day.
living the good life every day
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$300 sounds like a deal to me. I bet my Vet hasn't sent out a $300 bill in 15 years... Dogs can have some pretty significant vet bills. Years ago I had an ACL sports injury and insurance covered all of the surgical expenses. The dog had an ACL a several years ago and it was around 5K in cash to get that fixed. Whats wrong with this picture.
living the good life every day
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At age 10.5 my Yellow Lab, Ellie Mae, had a major episode. She was flailing about trying to stand, eyes going every which way, and rolling about the floor. I tried to calm her while calling our vet. I thought she was having a stroke. Our vet said it was likely a seizure which should pass within 10 minutes. It did not. I had to lie on top of her to keep her calm until help could arrive. She would panic if I tried to lift her off the floor. The vets called that an "alligator death roll" where they drown their prey. That is exactly what it looked like. It took three men to roll her into a blanket and place her into the car for a trip to the emergency vet clinic.
Upon arrival, they sedated her. They kept her from Monday until Thursday evening with little improvement. No longer rolling but she still could not stand or walk. We brought her home Thursday night and took the following week off work to care for her at home in a makeshift hospital room in our den. She still wasn't walking but would raise up to pee but never pooped. We had agreed that if she wasn't able to walk by the Sunday before our return to work that we would put her down. We would not allow her to lie in waste while we worked. On the last Sunday, I rolled her over to a shooting mat with a strong strap and pulled her through the house, down a ramp off the deck, and on to grass.
As soon as her feet touched grass, she struggled to stand and, with our support, she finally did. She put out a week's worth of poop and took a few more steps. I promised her that if she would fight to recover, I would not leave her side. I also told a fellow gun club member who was a retired neurosurgeon and lab owner that, "If love can mend, she will walk again." Well, it did and she did. Over time, her head tilt disappeared, her eyes quit twitching, and she recovered the use of her right legs. I retired a few months later and never left home overnight for 4.5 years. Promise kept. Her balance on hardwoods never improved so we put runners throughout the house for better traction. We called them the queen's runway.
Happy to say that sweet Ellie Mae lived to age 15 when we had to let her go last June. Old age and failed hips took its toll.
Hoping for a full recovery for your pup.
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I'm glad you didn't do the other guy on here.
"Took the ol boy out in the yard, he basked in the sunshine for a few hours and then come dinner time...he seemed like he didnt feel like eatin..so I put em down"
Wtf
Hope you get it all sort it out.
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My wife ended up diagnosed with vestibular disorder after a severe whack on the head (she just wouldn't shut up  ). In her case the diagnosis was Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. She was really messed up, but a trip to the doctors office and some very specific exercises/maneuvers she was mostly cured right then and there. The maneuvers involve head rotations that realign the crystals in the ear. I have to figure the maneuvers could be approximated and effective for a dog as well. Try a web search for Epley and/or Canalith maneuver.
Forgive me my nonsense, as I also forgive the nonsense of those that think they talk sense.
Robert Frost
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Campfire 'Bwana
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At age 10.5 my Yellow Lab, Ellie Mae, had a major episode. She was flailing about trying to stand, eyes going every which way, and rolling about the floor. I tried to calm her while calling our vet. I thought she was having a stroke. Our vet said it was likely a seizure which should pass within 10 minutes. It did not. I had to lie on top of her to keep her calm until help could arrive. She would panic if I tried to lift her off the floor. The vets called that an "alligator death roll" where they drown their prey. That is exactly what it looked like. It took three men to roll her into a blanket and place her into the car for a trip to the emergency vet clinic.
Upon arrival, they sedated her. They kept her from Monday until Thursday evening with little improvement. No longer rolling but she still could not stand or walk. We brought her home Thursday night and took the following week off work to care for her at home in a makeshift hospital room in our den. She still wasn't walking but would raise up to pee but never pooped. We had agreed that if she wasn't able to walk by the Sunday before our return to work that we would put her down. We would not allow her to lie in waste while we worked. On the last Sunday, I rolled her over to a shooting mat with a strong strap and pulled her through the house, down a ramp off the deck, and on to grass.
As soon as her feet touched grass, she struggled to stand and, with our support, she finally did. She put out a week's worth of poop and took a few more steps. I promised her that if she would fight to recover, I would not leave her side. I also told a fellow gun club member who was a retired neurosurgeon and lab owner that, "If love can mend, she will walk again." Well, it did and she did. Over time, her head tilt disappeared, her eyes quit twitching, and she recovered the use of her right legs. I retired a few months later and never left home overnight for 4.5 years. Promise kept. Her balance on hardwoods never improved so we put runners throughout the house for better traction. We called them the queen's runway.
Happy to say that sweet Ellie Mae lived to age 15 when we had to let her go last June. Old age and failed hips took its toll.
Hoping for a full recovery for your pup. Smiling here.
If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
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Campfire 'Bwana
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If you put Taco Bell sauce in your ramen noodles it tastes just like poverty
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Campfire Ranger
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I have a nephew who is a vet and I know from hearing him talk that canine surgery as in the case of the torn ACL can be very costly. His specialty is surgery and he makes a very comfortable living at it.
Last edited by gunswizard; 12/09/18.
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Campfire Ranger
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I've had something like this with several dogs, The vet, who I respected as a scientist, and I both came up with some type of epilepsy. Generally it's a worsening chronic condition if not treated. My guys never quite made the point in frequency and severity of seizures to need medication. With a paralyzing seizure you could see terror in their eyes. Paralysis starts with staggering, then they can't stand on their hind legs, working to the front if severe enough. All with excessive drooling and fever, it's the overheating which is dangerous. Comfort and reassurance is important in minimizing the frequency of seizures. Rocky Apso would come up to me with that look in his eyes, I'd get on the floor with him and usually a seizure was avoided or at least minimized. Eventually seizures diminished and left him as mysteriously as they started. There are many other causes of seizures, be observant for triggers.
The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh
Which explains a lot.
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It appears that what Fannymae had was not a seizure but a type of canine vertigo caused by a middle ear issue. She appears fine now but it sure was scary when it happened. I thought for sure she was having a stroke.
living the good life every day
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Campfire Ranger
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Sounds like a better deal. The symptoms you wrote in your original post match exactly the onset of a mild epileptic-type seizure, and sometimes they resolve the same way as you describe.
Either way I'd go with calm and reassurance. In my understanding as a pack animal loss of physical control or acting weirdly can mean death in a pack and can be instinctively terrifying.
The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh
Which explains a lot.
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Yeah I had a couple of dalmatians years ago and one would have periodic seizures. We would just hold him down until they passed. Most were fairly mild but a few were quite startling. I doubt the dog even knew what was happening. It was like the brain was short circuited. He would be tired and quite mellow after it ended for a few hours then right back to normal. This didn't have the rapid breathing or leg jerking. She acted drunk and couldn't stand or make her legs do anything and her eyes were twitching side to side. I guess it is fairly common in old dogs according to the vet.
living the good life every day
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