We had a Dalmatian that started having these issues at the same age as your B. Vestibular disease got worse causing her to lose her balance and fall when walking, loss of strength in her hindquarters and incontinence. I am not aware of any treatments for the VD, but there are a number of human treatments for strokes that might be able to be used in dogs.
Vestibular Syndrome
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Here are some pictures of Mickii with the "after" results of her bout with Vestibular Syndrome… She has a very hard time drinking, so I got a lick bottle for her... After she was pretty much recovered, she decided that she like it a lot.... and would follow me around until I would fill the bottle for her and hold it while she drank (which is what I did when she first developed Vestibular).... I am now like the Pied Piper... I fill the bottle, she follows me to the office till I hang it in the crate... and what is funny, none of the other Basenjis will even try it....
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LOL, cute pic, what is Vestibular Syndrome? I've never heard of it. I hope she is doing better. I had a cat once that would drink from a lick bottle, he was a odd cat
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Glad to hear that Mickii is doing better. At what age did it hit her? My female Cassi had a very severe bout of it at about 12 1/2. She eventually recovered to the point that you could never tell she'd had it.
Alex on the otherhand has had two bouts of it. One at 13, and again at 14. Now (15+) he has some permenant balance problems because of it. If you pick him up an set him back down, it takes him several minutes to regain his balance. He also frequently bumps into walls and has times when he cannot stand upright.
One thing I figured out with Alex is that an elevated food/water bowl seems to help. Lowering his head tends to upset his balance.
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Mickii was 15 1/2 (or almost) when she got it. They say that typically they only get it once, but you are the second person that I have had with a dog that has gotten it twice. Mickii has recovered to the point that you would never know that she had it….. no head tilt at all....
For those that do not know what Vestibular is, here is a link
http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/vestibular.htmlAnd you can seach the internet for it also, there is lots of information out there about it.
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The pictures are cute…glad Mickii has made a good recovery!
I have a soft spot for older dogs...:) -
The pictures are cute…glad Mickii has made a good recovery!
I have a soft spot for older dogs...:)Me too…. of course I have a house full... OJ, will be 17 in September, Mickii at 15 1/2 and Kristii at 13 1/2. We just lost Maggii at 16 yrs, 9 months
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Pat - I had an off-topic question since you've got so many older dogs.
I know you're usually against free-feeding, but how do you feel about this with older dogs? If Alex (15 years 6 months) eats too much at a time he usually ends up throwing up. Therefore I feed him two small portions twice a day. However, during the day he gets hungry (it's impossible to put/keep weight on him) and I've been keeping a small bowl of dry food around for him to pick at. He'll usually go by every 3-4 hours and eat a couple bites between meals. Do you see a problem with this? It's so hard to get him to eat and keep his food down that this is the only thing that seems to work longterm.
The way he's been acting the past few months I doubt he'll see another birthday so I try and indulge him any way that I can.
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Pat - I had an off-topic question since you've got so many older dogs.
I know you're usually against free-feeding, but how do you feel about this with older dogs? If Alex (15 years 6 months) eats too much at a time he usually ends up throwing up. Therefore I feed him two small portions twice a day. However, during the day he gets hungry (it's impossible to put/keep weight on him) and I've been keeping a small bowl of dry food around for him to pick at. He'll usually go by every 3-4 hours and eat a couple bites between meals. Do you see a problem with this? It's so hard to get him to eat and keep his food down that this is the only thing that seems to work longterm.
The way he's been acting the past few months I doubt he'll see another birthday so I try and indulge him any way that I can.
Since you only feeding one dog, I certainly would do whatever works for him… and at his age... if he were mine, I would do exactly like you and indulge him totally
