Jamie had an idiopathic vestibular episode Wednesday. He’s shown slow but steady improvement over the last 48 hours. He’s still a little wobbly but can walk without falling. The head tilt comes and goes. He can’t access his food or water bowls when they are on the floor but can eat and drink when they’re elevated.
When I got home from work Wednesday, he was staggering and disoriented, barely able to walk and clearly in a panic, trembling and panting. I recognized the symptoms immediately, as several friends have had this happen to their dogs.
The vet said there’s no specific treatment, give Benadryl to calm and sedate and keep him from being a hazard to himself, which he was. He’s been crated in a dark room (our bedroom), which seemed to help with the loss of equilibrium and subsequent nausea.
By Thursday morning, he wanted to eat but when I put his bowl on the floor, he didn’t have the eye-mouth-head coordination to do it. I hand-fed him, matching my hand position to his head tilt. We spilled a lot of food but he ate with enthusiasm.
His motor skills improved visibly within 24 hours. He could walk without falling but circled constantly to the right. When I tried to gently turn him to the left to guide him back into the crate, he toppled over. We had to take a convoluted route through the house, always turning right, to get him aimed in the correct direction to get into his crate.
By this morning, Jamie was able to turn both his head and body left and right. He shook and stretched when coming out of the crate, two behaviors I’d not seen him do for 48 hours. His rear legs occasionally operate independently of his front legs but he was able to eat breakfast out of a bowl when I held it at his head level. His head carriage is normal when he’s moving but if he stop, sits or lays down, it tilts.
I’m optimistic about a full or close to full recovery. I don’t know if he’ll have another “spell.” Hope not. It was scary enough for both of us the first time.
Hugs to you both. I hate those kicks to the gut that remind you everything gets old :(
ReplyDeleteGlad he's doing better!! Frank sends Uncle Jamie red dog lovin'!!
ReplyDeleteWe had an old dog get this and she recovered fully and lived a normal life for several more years. Sounds like he is on the same recovery track she was, so pulling for you!
ReplyDeletePoor Jamie. Thats tough. Im glad he is starting to better.
ReplyDeleteSame as what Kathy posted, a good friend's old Dobe had an episode of this and is still doing great, ruling the house. Pulling for Jamie !
ReplyDeleteMy old dog had this as well. SO scary. Glad Jamie is getting back on track quickly. Hugs to you both.
ReplyDeleteMy Skyler had it at 13. It did take her a little longer to recover about a wk and she had the tilt for a few months but at close to 15 she recovered and never had another vestibular (thank god I knew what it was only because I had met someone whose dog tilted to the side and I asked him what was wrong and he called it old dog disease and explained it to me or I would have thought Skyler was having a stroke) Agility friend just had it happen to her old dog and it recovered completely in just one day! It's a sheltie so guess he didn't want to miss a meal. Speedy recovery to Jamie.
ReplyDeleteopps I meant she is now close to 15 not that it took two years for her to recover :))
ReplyDeleteMy old yellow lab had two different bouts of vestibular about 1.5 years apart. I found big improvement in 48 hours then back to about 80% within a week and then 95-98% with about two to three weeks. It was terrifying the first time and the second time she was being watched by my mother while we were volunteering at the Whistler ParaOlympics. Mom thought she was dying so I rushed home and knew exactly what it was when I saw her. I smuggled her back into the condo we were renting and part of me thinks that was her plan all along. She never liked being left out. Damn I miss that dog! Hope Jamie has an easy recovery.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to Jamie in his recovery. It sounds like things are heading in the right direction.
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