Labrynthitis - Page 1

Well, this was one Christmas gift I sure DIDN'T need!

When I got up this morning, my old guy (soon-to-be-thirteen) was staggering around with his head tilted to one side, and barely able to walk. I had to get help carrying him up and down the stairs so he could go out to do his business.

I've seen this before in other dogs, and have also seen it discussed on this board, and his symptoms are classic. I'm hopeful he can beat this, as his appetite is good. He gobbled down his food in about 30 seconds flat, as he usually does! Most dogs that don't come through it are too dizzy to want to eat or drink.

Still, combined with the severe arthritis in his spine it ain't good news.

My understanding is there is really very little the vets can do to fix this. It either resolves on its own, or, given the condition attacks mostly old dogs, that are already weakened by age-related problems, many owners decide euthanasia is the best route.

If you've had experience with this, and know of some things that can help, please chime in. I'm damn well NOT taking him to the pet E.R. on Christmas Day! Those robbers have already gotten enough of my hard-earned money over the years! 

Oh, and in case you're wondering, Ranger has NEVER had any problems with ear infections, nor is he scratching or rubbing his ears. So, not an ear infection, which is the commonest cause of this condition.

I just had the same thing with my old girl, same age as yours and it started to resolve within a few days.  She did not have an obvious ear infection but when I took her to the vet she saw inflammation deep down in the ear canal and said that it often crosses into the vestibular portion of the ear causing this problem.  Not sure if I'm explaining it correctly.  Anyway, she started bouncing back within a few days with a course of antibiotics for the ear infection and right now is doing very well.  It was very scary at the outset and my initial thought was that she had a stroke because she couldn't walk without weaving or falling.  Take her to your vet  tomorrow and see if there is an inner ear infection. No sense in spending a fortune at the ER today. 

I checked his right ear (they tilt the head towards the affected ear) and there's no unusual odour. Star has allergies and chronic itchy/gunky ears, so I know the smell...   If I can manage to get in to see my regular vet tomorrow, I will probably take him, just to be on the safe side.

I moved the water bowl so it's on the wood floor, and he managed to stagger over to it to drink, though he fell once along the way.

He only has a trace of nystygamus, and he's not upchucking, so it's not a very bad case of labrynthitis.

Poor boy...still, it breaks my heart to see him this way! 

This is really tuff to see the seniors struggle like this, so sorry he has to go thru this.  Damnit, I hate when these guys are not well.  It is heartbreaking, and the worry is off the charts.  Good luck  Nan

Old-school tx protocol was oral small-gun antibiotics, to cover any potential bacteria that might start setting up housekeeping in the inner ear, along with a short course of low dose prednisolone to reduce inflammation of the nerves within the ear. New school is to treat the nausea as necessary [typically secondary to the nystagmus]; some vets still like to get low-dose pred on board, some will do a bolus injection of dexamethasone to address inflammation. More commonly called 'idiopathic vestibular episode' or 'old dog vestibular syndrome' in veterinary circles.

So, no, there's no reason on earth that would justify doing an ER visit for what you've described with Ranger so far; knowing your medical background, I'm sure you've checked pupillary reflex and capillary refill, and checked his temp just to be sure he's not febrile. Aside from that, best bet is to keep him well-bedded down in his crate or a warm, darkened, quiet room in the house, with his water within easy reach so he isn't getting up and trying to navigate about any more than he absolutely must; feed several small, light meals to counter the nausea from the disturbance in his balance. [I've found filling a bowl with ice cubes to work well, less messy if the bowl gets sent skittering across the floor.]

Of course, physica support of the dog's body when he does need to get up and walk around is necessary, and any stairs or areas with lots of obstacles should be blocked off so the dog doesn't sustain any injuries. It could clear up by tomorrow morning, it could take a month or more to fully resolve, or the dog could recover for the most part but still retain a slight head-tilt. Time will tell.

Poor Ranger....sucks getting older.

And this morning, Ranger walked the full tength of the slippery ceramic tile hallway at almost normal speed!  He still has the head-tilt, and can't do stairs yet, but he's on the mend!   Appetite is good, NO vomiting, so I think I will skip the vet visit, unless he suddenly takes a turn for the worse!

I am SO glad I now have help here to get him up and down the stairs. A friend from the schutzhund club fell on hard times, and she and her husband are now (temporarily) living in my basement apartment. Hubby has been carrying Ranger up and down the stairs for me. He's a big boy at 25 1/2 inches tall, and must weigh close to 80 lbs.

My friend will be here in the daytime (she's helping to run the kennel) and between the two of us, we should be able to manage lifting him when her husband is at work!

Just the sort of good news I was hoping to see tonight, SS!  [Ranger's improvement, not your friend's reversal of fortune--though perhaps it will turn out to be not so much a reversal but rather a recasting of fortune for all of you...like some friends and I have discussed the idea of all of us pooling our retirement funds in the coming years, buying a vast piece of property with lots of smal individual living quarters, a large main house for human and canine socializing, in a rural location where we could also have some sheep & cattle and do dog stuff as well, where we share in kennel and livestock duties but have hired housekeeping help 'cause none of us mind dog-keeping chores but all hate housecleaning].

Here's to Ranger continued improvement, with hopes of regaining his full balance and losing the head-tilt entirely! 

Oh, you have NO idea what a blessing this is, Hexe!  She had her two sons here over Christmas, and the four of them did almost ALL the kennel chores, so I could ejoy hosting my family on Christmas Eve!  Between her dogs, my dogs, and the boarders, we've got about 20 dogs in residence, so it's a LOT of work!  But many hands make light work...

Since my husband died, I've hated having to decorate the Christmas tree by myself, and usually wind up in tears, as most of the decorations are ones he bought for me.. She and her husband and youngest son helped out, the tree is MAGNIFICENT (got a great deal on a 7-footer!) and a great time was had by all!

I was not looking forward to spending Christmas Day alone. My step-sons spend it with their mom, and generally I don't get together with them until Orthodox Christmas in January. I asked Kellie if she and her family had plans for Christmas, and she said, "No, not really." 

"Well, would you do me the honour of being my guests for Christmas dinner?"

She gladly accepted, and the 5 of us had a lovely meal. She baked a ham, so we had both turkey leftovers and ham, plus the remains of a very tasty broccolli and cauliflower casserole my sister-in-law made for the previous day.

She and her family were gone most of the day, doing Boxing Day shopping, but when she got home, she asked me if the kennel dogs had been fed yet. I said no, not yet, and she said she'd go out and look after them, as I was watching TV (Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet).

I said I'd go out and help, and her reply nearly brought me to tears.

"You've run this place for so long on your own that you DESERVE to sit down and put your feet up! Now, don't worry...there's four of us to do the work, and we'll manage just fine!"

[sniff!]  Yeah, it's been the best Christmas I've had in a LONG time!

Oh, and Ranger came down the three stairs to the living room on his own tonight, then went back up them, also on his own! He also tried to get my friend to play ball with him!

Now, if only he can get his balance back, so he doesn't look like a strong wind might blow him over...

Went to the vet yesterday, as he does have some scaly, crusty stuff on the inside of the ear. The vet said it didn't look bad, but took a swab anyway, and found a mild staph infection.

So antibiotic for 10 days, plus eardrops 3-4x a day. And oh, does Ranger EVER hate having his ears handled!! He damn near BIT me when I was giving him the drops!

Glad to know there's something I can do to help him, but ohhhh, this is SO not going to be fun!!

Thank goodness the one who has the chronically gunky ears is like [sigh!] Okay, let's get this over with...when  I have to clean her ears, and give her drops!

Ugh. I hate the multi-dose eardrops, because most dogs hate them as well. You ARE lucky Star has resigned herself to having her ears treated; I can't even begin to count the number of chronic ear-issues dogs that became aggressively ear-shy with their owners because of the constant cycle of examine-clean-examine-treat several times daily.  The Zymox products, though pricey, are heaven-sent for those dogs, and have helped prevent many more from becoming ear-shy.

Good to know that Ranger's condition is definitely attributable to a treatable ailment, and not the default 'idiopathic' form of the syndrome!