@imbj - Thanks for posting this... any treatments for this in dogs is great and great that there is ongoing research ongoing for all cancer in dogs and humans too!
Vestibular Syndrome
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Thanks Pat. Dougie (the BC) is our first dog so this is the first experience I have of elderly dogs. My GSD has just turned 12 so I know I've got a lot of it to come. I will keep you posted on his progress.
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Good luck… it was not much of a problem after the first couple of days, but getting enough water was the key. And I did do SubQ Fluids at home for her on the first 3 days until at least the eye motion stopped. And she was lucky that she could sleep OK, they say that is usually a problem because with the continued eye motion, they are "sea sick" and can't rest.
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Yes, my rw Ringo had that once. Looked like he was drunk. It happened quickly and vet said may have had an inner ear thing. Never happened again. Pretty scary though.
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Our dalmatian went through two bouts of this at about the same age as your dog. At first it was a balance issue where she couldn't stand up with out me supporting her and had the head tilt issue and some nausea and vomiting. After a few weeks she returned to normal albeit with some loss of strength in her hind quarters. The second time was about 18 months later same issues, but the loss of strength in her hind quarters was more pronounced to the point where she could not get up stairs any longer and would fall down on slick surfaces. We dealt with all the issues, carrying her in and out of the house and up and down stairs, picking her up off the hardwood when she fell, incontinence and daily baths, for about another 9 months before we came to grips with the fact that her quality of life was terrible and we made the decision put her down. She was our first baby and that was the hardest decision we have ever had to make.
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I am pleased there are people on here who know what I am going through and can help when things get bad - although I do wish that nobody had to go through these sort of things.
Dougie has been struggling with the steps at the back door and on our laminate/lino flooring. He weighs around 25 kilos so not an easy dog to carry around. We love him to bits, as do the rest of our families and hate to see him suffering. I will be monitoring him closely especially when it comes to water intake and sleep. The vet told me to offer him small amounts of food at first to see if he will take it.
He's been through worse in his life and is a real fighter so I am sure he will be right as rain in a week or 2. Fingers Crossed.
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It is very stressful the first couple of days and we also have laminate floors, but there was enough throw rugs that Mickii could find a balance point. They say 2 to 3 wks for recovery, depending on the degree.
The drip/lick bottle was a life saver and she learned to use it with no problem at all. I would just hold it for her and squeeze the water out while putting the nozzle in the side of her mouth. She caught on really quickly and to the point that even when recovered she continued to drink that way.
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So sorry to hear about Dougie's problem, i hope he's feeling better soon. Perhaps yuou could get some carpet runners for the floors if he's slipping.
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Vicki - sorry to hear about Dougie. I have never come across this before but my vet book seems to say that it is fairly common and can affect any dog from middle age on.
Dougie is a good age - we've never had a BC live to 14. I do hope he'll soon recover.
Can Douggie make some sort of a ramp for the back door?
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We have had two old dogs that developed VS, one had it very badly for several days, then it subsided. The other just walked in circles for several days. The vet treated the first one with steroids, but said that it usually resolves whether you treat it or not, we did not treat the second old girl. both recovered completely after a couple of weeks. Keep hydrated, hold and comfort, be sure he is safe and hopefully it will all resolve in a few days.
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I actually have bilateral vestibulopathy which basically means my inner ear balance mechanism does not work in either ear. This leaves me with poor balance especially at night and a thing called oscillopsia which is a bouncing of my vision when my head is moving. There are many causes for this problem some of which get better and the problem goes away and others like mine which is perminant. The body does adjust after a while but never back to normal. It takes time to recover if possible or adapt if required so do not give up on them. I still do plenty of things once i learnt how to cope.
John
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I can hardly believe but, tonight, our 12 yr old GSD bitch, Megan, has come down with vestibular syndrome. It's only been 3 months since we went through this with our BC. He's now doing well and turns 15 tomorrow. I'm taking Megan to the vet first thing to make sure there's nothing else going on.
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I can hardly believe but, tonight, our 12 yr old GSD bitch, Megan, has come down with vestibular syndrome. It's only been 3 months since we went through this with our BC. He's now doing well and turns 15 tomorrow. I'm taking Megan to the vet first thing to make sure there's nothing else going on.
I'm sorry to hear that.. I hope the vet has some good news tomorrow and nothing else is wrong..
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Good news for those that have never experienced Vestibular is that they typically totally recover. Some may have a head tilt, but when my Mickii got this, in two weeks she was pretty much back to normal. However, drinking water was a problem and I held a lick bottle for her (there is another thread on the forum with pictures) and she continued to use this until we lost her at a month shy of 16.
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Vicki, I'm sorry to hear about Megan but very strange that she has got it as well. I hope she soon recovers - at least now you know what to expect and how to deal with it.
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Took Megan to the vet this morning. She definitely does not have it as bad as the BC did but she has a temp of 104. I've got antiBs for her and the vet may want to take bloods next week of she's not better.
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Vicki, sorry to hear about Megan and hope the ABS do the trick for her
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Good to hear that she's not as bad as Dougie was. 104 is very high though I hope the antibiotics bring that down soon.
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104 sounds high (IS high for humans) but not so high for a basenji, dog's normal body temp is 100 to 102.5, with basenjis on the high side (or so I have been told by my vet).
Hopefully she will feel better very soon!
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Basenjis normal temperature should be 1 degree lower than the average not higher!! If any of my Basenjis has a temperature of ioi Iwould be concerned.
Sorry to 'pinch' your thread Vicki. I hope Megan is improving today.
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Well it's happened again. Megan has VS again. It appears to be worse than last time (July 10) but she doesn't have as high a temperature. Her head tilt is to the opposite side. Vet took bloods and her liver enzymes are high. He wants to retest in a month. She has had a little food and water (with a bit of help) and I have her resting in a warm, dimly lit room where she can get peace and quiet. She recovered well from the last bout of VS so fingers crossed she will recover well. She will be 13 on 9th March.
Here are some pictures of her taken on Christmas day 2010.
