I am improving little by little every day. My head still tilts when I look at mom or dad, but not as much. I'm much more steady on my paws and have been enjoying my walks, tail high and wagging and having my sniffs along the way, my appetite is great again, and I've been initiating play with Hunter complete with roll overs and play growls. I still don't want to go down the steps, so mom and dad are continuing to carry me. I am about 95 pct back to myself, and we are all grateful! Vestibular disease does usually clear up after a while, some longer than others, so hopefully soon I will be back to 100 pct again!!
My appetite has come back and today I have kept my food down. I'm still wobbly on my paws and I am scared to go down the steps, so mom or dad carry me. I have been barking again and run eagerly for treats. My head is still tilted a little bit, but with every day I seem to be getting a little better.
Article on Vestibular Disease:
As a dog owner have you ever wondered how your dog is able to move about, run, jump and play without falling to the ground? Ever wondered how your dog can run around in circles without getting dizzy? Perhaps not, because we tend to take these things for granted.
However, all of this is accomplished thanks to the dog's vestibular system, a complex and effective mechanism that originates in the dog's inner ear allowing the dog (and even us humans) to have good orientation skills. In particular the vestibular system allows dogs to well balance themselves and coordinate their eye movements with their head.
All these great features that allows dogs and humans to walk and lead everyday normal lives go unnoticed generally until problems start to take place. When this happens, often dog owners are therefore quite startled and often really cannot get a grasp of what is going on.
The most common reactions to vestibular disorder in dogs are:
''I think my dog just had a stroke''.
''Something is really wrong with my dog''
''I think my dog is having some sort of seizure''.
Indeed vestibular disease can be quite scary in dogs often producing the following symptoms:
•Head tilt
•Eyes darting side to side (nystagmus)
•Strabismus
•Vertigo
•Falling to one side
•Rolling
•Staggering Gait
•Nausea/Vomiting
•Loss of Appetite
•Salivation
•Pain Chewing or Yawning
Causes of Vestibular Disease in Dogs
Owners of dogs affected by vestibular disease of course are very alarmed when their dog starts exhibiting these scary symptoms. More often than not, they will rush their dog to the emergency room thinking their dog just had a stroke and imagining him paralyze for the rest of his life.
Fortunately, often the causes of vestibular disease are not so grim most of the time. In most cases, vestibular disease is due to some problem located in the inner ear (peripheral vestibular disease). However, it is best to have the dog checked out by a veterinarian to rule out problems located in the brain (central vestibular disease).
Here are some potential causes:
•Ear Infection
Because the inner ear is responsible for a variety of important functions such as balance and coordination, when a dog develops an ear infection he or she may start exhibiting symptoms of vestibular diseases. This is because in some severe ear infections, the infection may spread from the external ear to the middle ear and then into the inner ear, negatively affecting all these important balancing functions.
•Canine idiopathic vestibular syndrome
Unfortunately, in some cases the cause remains unknown (idiopathic). This often takes place when the dog reaches its senior years, indeed often it is called ''geriatric vestibular syndrome''.In this case, for unknown reason the nerves connecting the inner ear to the cerebellum become inflamed often resolving on their own after a few days or a few weeks.
•Hypothyroidism
In some cases, low thyroid levels may cause vestibular disease issues.
•Toxins
Sometimes medications placed in the dog's ears may cause sudden acute vestibular disorders. Known culprits may be the following products: gentamycin, streptomycin, neomycin, erythromycin, polymyxin and ear products containing alcohol. Metronidazole has also been know to be a culprit.
•Tumors
Tumors in the inner ear or in the brain may cause vestibular disease symptoms.
•Encephalitis
This term depicts brain infection and may cause symptoms of vestibular disease. Causes may be canine distemper, toxoplasmosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Erlichiosis, blastomycosis, coccidiomycosis .
Treatment
In order for the treatment to be effective it must take care of the underlying cause.Thyroid medicine may be prescribed for hypothyroidism, ear infections must be cleared and the administration of toxic ear drops must be stopped.
In most cases, vestibular disease resolves within two months. Often after 4-5 days the nystagmus episodes should subside. However, in some cases the head tilt will remain. Dogs are often prescribed medications that reduce dizziness such as Diphenidramine (Benadryl) or Meclizine (Antivert).
-Affected dogs should be helped to eat, because of disabled motor skills they may be unable to eat from the food bowl. Hand feeding therefore is helpful.
-Dogs with vestibular disease should be kept away from stairs and safe from bumping into furniture.
I have that along with an ear infection in both ears....but the vesticular disease is what's making me really miserable!! I am dizzy, nauseous, and just kinda pooky! Dogtor told daddy I'm "geriatric" and we "geriatric" doggies are prone to this vesticular disease thing, but it should go away in a few days! In the meantime mommy and daddy are cleaning up after me when I throw up, but I ate cottage cheese for daddy, and so far it's staying down. And, the dogtor sent 4 medications home with me to take for 7-10 days. Sometimes this getting old thing stinks!
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