I got this email from someone in my dog rescue group. There have been several posts from time to time about dogs with seizures. I wonder now if my senior sheltie had this instead of the seizure I thought it was. Has anyone else heard of this?
Hi all,
You may already know about this, I did not... and I wish I had, so here it is!
Minouche, our 14 year old Border Collie mix, suffered something called "vestibular disease/syndrome". Even though it is quite common among older dogs - and cats - we had NEVER heard of it before. The symptoms are VERY scary but thankfully, most of the times, the problem resolves itself within 3 days to 3 weeks, sometimes without help.
These were Minouche's symptoms, which appeared all of a sudden, after what SEEMED to be a seizure:
- Severe stretching of the neck
- Severe head tilt
- Complete loss of balance - unable to walk two steps without falling on one side or the other
- Severe nystagmus (rapid, non-stop, involuntary eye movement, in her case continuously from left to right and back)
Because Minouche is older and has health issues, we thought she had suffered a stroke, and that this was the beginning of the end.
Fortunately Minouche did NOT suffer a stroke or a seizure, but she suffered from vestibular disease. Here is a more complete list of possible symptoms:
• Head tilting, similar to the symptoms of ear mite infection
• Nystagmus: Irregular eye movement (up-down, from side to side)
• Strabismus (crossed eyes)
• Dizziness; looking disoriented, sudden collapse, staggering gait, difficulty standing up, rolling from side to side
• Frequent vomiting (from feeling sea-sick)
• Lack of appetite
• Excessive salivation
Since this happens to older dogs and you may think your dog is dying, you may be reluctant to subject your pet to more tests, more meds, more stress, and may consider euthanasia. Don't!!!! DO bring your dog to the vet! It is most of the time idiopathic (i.e. the reasons are unknown). However it can also be due, among other things, to an ear infection (in which case your dog needs to be treated), or a brain tumor.
Minouche was ordered 2 types of antibiotics (for a chronic ear infection which seemed under control but might have moved to her inner ear) and prednisone on a short term basis.
The nystagmus stopped after 2 days, the stretched neck and head tilt stopped after one week, and she has almost completely recovered her balance (1 1/2 week later).
It happened on a Saturday evening (of course!...) and you can imagine our relief once we found out online what it was, and that in the majority of the cases, it was benign!
So if your older pet suffers this kind of symptoms, don't panic!
Here is one of the links to more info: http://www.vetinfo.com/canine-vestibular-syndrome-symptoms.html
Note: You may read that it is rare, it is NOT! I spoke to a vet with a small practice who said she saw one case almost every day.
Marie Bossard
Hi all,
You may already know about this, I did not... and I wish I had, so here it is!
Minouche, our 14 year old Border Collie mix, suffered something called "vestibular disease/syndrome". Even though it is quite common among older dogs - and cats - we had NEVER heard of it before. The symptoms are VERY scary but thankfully, most of the times, the problem resolves itself within 3 days to 3 weeks, sometimes without help.
These were Minouche's symptoms, which appeared all of a sudden, after what SEEMED to be a seizure:
- Severe stretching of the neck
- Severe head tilt
- Complete loss of balance - unable to walk two steps without falling on one side or the other
- Severe nystagmus (rapid, non-stop, involuntary eye movement, in her case continuously from left to right and back)
Because Minouche is older and has health issues, we thought she had suffered a stroke, and that this was the beginning of the end.
Fortunately Minouche did NOT suffer a stroke or a seizure, but she suffered from vestibular disease. Here is a more complete list of possible symptoms:
• Head tilting, similar to the symptoms of ear mite infection
• Nystagmus: Irregular eye movement (up-down, from side to side)
• Strabismus (crossed eyes)
• Dizziness; looking disoriented, sudden collapse, staggering gait, difficulty standing up, rolling from side to side
• Frequent vomiting (from feeling sea-sick)
• Lack of appetite
• Excessive salivation
Since this happens to older dogs and you may think your dog is dying, you may be reluctant to subject your pet to more tests, more meds, more stress, and may consider euthanasia. Don't!!!! DO bring your dog to the vet! It is most of the time idiopathic (i.e. the reasons are unknown). However it can also be due, among other things, to an ear infection (in which case your dog needs to be treated), or a brain tumor.
Minouche was ordered 2 types of antibiotics (for a chronic ear infection which seemed under control but might have moved to her inner ear) and prednisone on a short term basis.
The nystagmus stopped after 2 days, the stretched neck and head tilt stopped after one week, and she has almost completely recovered her balance (1 1/2 week later).
It happened on a Saturday evening (of course!...) and you can imagine our relief once we found out online what it was, and that in the majority of the cases, it was benign!
So if your older pet suffers this kind of symptoms, don't panic!
Here is one of the links to more info: http://www.vetinfo.com/canine-vestibular-syndrome-symptoms.html
Note: You may read that it is rare, it is NOT! I spoke to a vet with a small practice who said she saw one case almost every day.
Marie Bossard