Stroke Symptoms? - Page 1

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with dogs who have had strokes? What were their symptoms?

I don't know how common they are in dogs, but when I thought my dog had one I Googled it which lead me to the actual diagnosis of Geriatric Vestibulitis, which is not necessarily just a geriatric disease. I had one dog that had terrible chronic ear issues that had a slight episode of this one time at five years old, but in three years has never had it happen again. My first dog it happened to was 12 and a friends dog was 13. Both recovered but were always a little tilted in the head. Good luck with your dog, I hope this is what you are dealing with and not a stroke.

Barbie

Thank you for the response, Leoetta. I Google'd it, and I don't think that is what it is. She does not really have the head tilt - well... shes kind of had the tilty-head look ever since her ear got a hematoma I guess... but it is not tilted more than that.

I'm not sure if stroke is even the word I'm looking for. If that is what it is, though, I'm thinking it was mild.

This is about Jewel, my moms 13 y/o Golden. A few days ago she started chewing herself again like she used to when she was on Science Diet. Now she has this big nasty raw spot on her side. When I went over there for Mother's Day, I noticed her letting out a whine every now and then as she was just settling in to lay down... almost like she would do when she had pyo, but just a quick sigh/whine rather than full-out crying (if that makes sense). Then today I went over to babysit my sick half-sister while her parents went to work. When I got there, mom asked me to try to get Jewel to eat, because she had apparently been refusing her food (wet food, by the way... which she is crazy about) for the past couple of days. So I went and brought her bowl over to her and coaxed her into eating it. It was weird though, for awhile she kept moving her nose, as if to tip the bowl over. When she was younger she would do that with her dry food, pick a piece up and play with it before she ate it... but she has never done that with wet. As soon as she was finished eating (did not clean the bowl out, but ate about 99% of it), she went and laid down and stayed there until it was time to go outside (roughly 5-6 hrs). Also, when she does get up it looks very difficult for her. Mom said yesterday it took her like 5 mins to get up fully.

I am just kind of wondering if she had a stroke or something, because this is all sudden and definitely not like her. :(

Check her eyes to see if they are dilated or twitching. That is a sign of a stroke. 
She also may need some pain meds for pain and inflammation from old age.  If  you take her to the vet they can test for lymes and other problems or disease with a blood test.
I work at a vets office, all sickness comes on fast.

Good Luck.
 

Yes, a blown pupil is a sure sign of stroke.

I'm not entirely sure what the canine symptoms of stroke are.

Melissa

"Strokes" are not common in dogs.
http://www.dogsymptomscure.com/dog-stroke-symptoms.php
 

I'll tell them to check her eyes, thanks.

Blitzen, I wasn't sure if they were or not... that was just the only thing I could really think of at the time. Mom said Jewel was dragging her back feet this morning when she took her outside.I saw her this afternoon though and she was walking alright. Weird.

I'm starting to worry that we might be getting close to some difficult decisions.

"'Strokes' are not common in dogs."

Correct; what you are seeing is most likely vestibular syndrome.
 

How did I miss this?

Dawulf, there are varying degrees of vestibular syndrome, and from what you're describing it does sound like Jewel may have experienced a rather mild version of the condition.  At it's most severe, the dogs can't stand or walk unassisted, but in milder form it can present just as Jewel is showing.  I would like you to check the color of her gums, as well as her circulation; the color of her gums should be a bright, soft but rich pink, unless she has black gums, in which case they should still be bright, soft but rich black--if the color seems weak, muddy, pale, that suggests she's experiencing some anemia, either due to blood loss, platelet destruction or a failure to manufacture platelets.  To check her circulation, you press your finger hard against the gum, at which point you'll see the color blanch out; when you see that, remove your finger and watch how quickly the color returns to the area where you pressed.  It shouldn't take more than two seconds for the color to completely return to what it started out to be.  If either color or circulation are off, she needs to see the vet ASAP.  If they're normal, you're probably OK with just seeing that she gets supportive care: treatment for vestibular syndrome is exactly that.  Help her up if she needs help, help her balance while walking if she needs that; if she doesn't want to eat her usual food, that's not surprising, as there's generally some nausea involved; you may have better luck feeding her something she can lap up, such as baby food with a bit of water to liquify it.  Let her rest as she wants, and try to keep her in an area that can be kept quiet and dimly lit.

If Jewel's had a vestibular incident, it doesn't mean you need to start preparing for the worst, either.  Many dogs live several happy and relatively healthy years after such incidents, especially when they're mild incidents.  So naturally I'm hoping that is what's happened with Jewel...let us know how she is as soon as you have something to report.