Canine Vestibular Syndrome Disease - Page 1

Regarding this topic:
There are several different forms of this disease occurring in mid to Geriatric Dogs.
Peripheral - some expected recovery
Geriatric
Idiopathic
Central - may never recover
Masks itself in the form of a stroke which most sources say dogs rarely have. If you have dogs in this age range you can make yourself familiar with this condition and increase your knowledge base as to the symptons, conditions and what to do.

You can do an Internet search on this subject with Goggle - Bing or any of the other search engines available to you. VB

 

Had an old dog who had this once.  When it didn't resolve itself in 72 hours, I knew it was time.

Haven't thought about Shardik in a long time...he was a big, sweet, lazy dog that I was forever trying to keep weight off of.  I think he topped out around 120 lbs. at one point.  Had one ear that never stood up but that was just part of his character...everyone loved that dog.  Here's the funny part...I actually bought that dog as a puppy from Mike (I have no time for showline dogs) Diehl in '86 or '87.  Sardik's father was from Holland, if memory serves, and I believe was Mike's patrol partner at the time.

He's on the left...

Had a dog who developed this many years ago also, she was 3 months short of 13 years... the head tilt never went away and she always just wanted to go to her crate.. not really like her.. we too knew it was time

The initial symptoms were pretty severe....... vertigo, vomiting, head tilt, nistagma (sp?)..... and so much anxiety the poor thing...
Usual treatment is antibiotics, often valium and meclazine(again sp?) for the motion sickness

Saw it many times as a vet tech... official diagnosis "Idiopathic Old Dog Vestibular Syndrome" 

I have seen dogs as young as 7 and as old as 12 develop this condition. In my experience, with supportive treatment, the condition improved after about a week to 10 days and was essentially relieved (except in one dog who had a permanent slight head tilt) after about 3 weeks. The key is reducing inflammation, preventing secondary infections, supporting the dog nutritionally and most dogs require assistance walking. Nystagmus is often a key feature, as are the other signs noted above. In my experience I did not consider putting the dogs down because they had been otherwise healthy. They all recovered and lived years more. But if a dog is very old, or an owner cannot care for it, sometimes putting the dog down may be the choice. Most dogs will recover and do well.