slojmn
12/02/2002, 05:38 PM
Yesterday I was hagning out with some friends at home watching the 49ers try to lose another game in the final few minutes when I noticed my heart and soul of a dog acting very strange by the couch. Only moments before she was calmly sititng in her favorite spot by the open front door breathing the fresh air. She was ataxic (falling over and unable to walk) she was looking around wild eyeed and scared. I immediately called her to me only to watch her flip over and tumble around on the floor tryign to right herself. I was in the car in less than 10 minutes on the way to the doggy emergency room. By the time we arrived she seemd much improved, walking well and acting like her old self. The vet examined her and noted that she was still a bit wobbly and she had this weird eye movement going on. It appeared as if something neurological had happend. I figured it was a stroke. Cody is a border collie/golden retriever mix at about 55 lbs and 12 years old so a stroke was not out of the question. The vet mentioned Vestibular Disease as a possibility along with other things like a tumor, stroke or seizure. She explained what a bit about Vestibular Disease. It is some sort of imbalance in the inner ear that has rapid onset and is unknown as to a cause. It usually gets better in a few days and the dog or cat will return pretty much to normal. Since Cody was having this weird eye thing which is part of it I was still worried despite her improvement over the hour. We had some blood work done to rule out other stuff and took her home. She looked much better, ate dinner, and hung out as we watched more football. At 3:00 in the morning She woke me up bouncing off the walls in the bedroom. She was way worse and it was frightening to watch. I layed with her in her bed until the alarm clock went off then carried her outside to do her buisness. As I watched her tumbling around and falling over like an extremely drunk dog and trying to go to the bathroom the tears just ran down my face. It was awful. We carried her back into the house and sat with her until our regular vet opened. I did some research online about Vestibular Disease and began to hope that this was in fact what she had. While the symptoms are horrific to watch the outcome is good. Our vet felt that this is what she had and that more symptoms would most likely occur through the day but by Wednesday she should start to improve and within 3-4 weeks be back to her old self, except for the possibility of a head tilt forever. Basically Vestibular Disease will cause severe ataxia, and even inability to walk at all, weird eye movements, vomiting, drooling, walking in circles, and a pronounced head tilt. Cody is definately vomiting all over(hopefully the childrens dramamine will help), her head is tilting to one side dramatically and she is a total mess, but I am happily hugging her over and over. The symptoms can look a lot like stroke or seizure as well. If the vet is not knowledgeable about this syndrome or disease they may suggest euthinizing the dog as quality of life is abysmil while going through the first few days of this situation. I had never heard of this and was scared to death that I would have to be making some hard decisions today about my beloved little girl. I can't tell you how relieved I am as we sit here together quietly lounging until she can walk without falling over.
Thanks for reading and I hope to just inform others about this disease and give the information out so misdiagnosis does not lead to uneccessary euthinasia of a dog or cat when they can fully recover in a few weeks time.
Thanks for reading and I hope to just inform others about this disease and give the information out so misdiagnosis does not lead to uneccessary euthinasia of a dog or cat when they can fully recover in a few weeks time.