We had quite a scare at CircusK9 yesterday. The dogs were enjoying a midmorning nap in the sunny front room. I came bustling in getting ready to run some errands and the dogs got up to see what I was up to--except for Harry. He staggered around in large, looping circles, repeatedly falling over as his right leg gave way beneath him. He could't stand back up without assistance. "Drunken sailor" came to mind.
My first thought was that something neurological had happened, perhaps a stroke. I shooed Azza outside to keep her from bumping him then I made Harry walk up and down the hallway, and gave him numerous treats. His tail was up, his ears were alert, his eyes were tracking me and the treats. He ate plenty of treats and drank some water. I carried him outside (he couldn't negotiate the steps) and when I set him on the ground, he peed. The only problem that I could observe was that he couldn't stand up for long or walk very well. It was clear that the weakness was isolated to his right side and focused mainly in his hindquarters.
I did some poking around on the internet and it looks like Harry was hit by an episode of idiopathic vestibular disease, also known as "old dog" vestibular disease. Some forms of this can be congenital but the "old dog" form appears out of nowhere in old dogs with no clear trigger, which is what idiopathic means. (Edited to add that "vestibule" means small passage or entry way to a larger room; in this case it refers to a space inside the inner ear).
It is related to a misfiring or other problem with a nerve in the inner and middle ears, which of course are the organs that dogs, and we, use for balance.
Of course a stroke is always possible but Harry's symptoms fit the idiopathic vestibular description well. His head tilt is quite pronounced today and the right hind leg weakness is still there. He falls over when he tries to shake but I figured out that if I gently hold his hips, he can get a reasonable head and shoulder shake going without hitting the floor.
Thankfully he doesn't have any eye rolling, which is probably what leads to motion sickness and the vomiting and diarrhea reported by others. He is eating and drinking like normal. This morning he made it outside on his own for a poop and a pee.
He is not in pain.
While not an official symptom, anecdotally it seems that many dogs get confused or worried about their bodies' failure to respond normally. Harry is certainly agitated, following me everywhere, slowly crashing into walls and objects as he goes, and takes quite a long time to settle down.
And based on comments on several websites, this disease can be much, much worse. Harry can at least walk (we went for a very short walk this morning and I made sure that all of the interesting pee spots were on his right side so he could lift his right leg and put weight on the more reliable left one). He even negotiated a couple of curbs although I tried to make the dogs use the handicapped access ramps when I could. He had a lot of problems walking uphill so I stuck to a relatively flat section.
Many times the symptoms of idiopathic vestibular disease disappear (mixed info on the interwebs about this, some sources say they disappear as quickly as they showed up, others say they fade over several days). But they should noticeably abate by Thursday so until then, I am keeping a very close eye on my little old man.
My first thought was that something neurological had happened, perhaps a stroke. I shooed Azza outside to keep her from bumping him then I made Harry walk up and down the hallway, and gave him numerous treats. His tail was up, his ears were alert, his eyes were tracking me and the treats. He ate plenty of treats and drank some water. I carried him outside (he couldn't negotiate the steps) and when I set him on the ground, he peed. The only problem that I could observe was that he couldn't stand up for long or walk very well. It was clear that the weakness was isolated to his right side and focused mainly in his hindquarters.
I did some poking around on the internet and it looks like Harry was hit by an episode of idiopathic vestibular disease, also known as "old dog" vestibular disease. Some forms of this can be congenital but the "old dog" form appears out of nowhere in old dogs with no clear trigger, which is what idiopathic means. (Edited to add that "vestibule" means small passage or entry way to a larger room; in this case it refers to a space inside the inner ear).
It is related to a misfiring or other problem with a nerve in the inner and middle ears, which of course are the organs that dogs, and we, use for balance.
Of course a stroke is always possible but Harry's symptoms fit the idiopathic vestibular description well. His head tilt is quite pronounced today and the right hind leg weakness is still there. He falls over when he tries to shake but I figured out that if I gently hold his hips, he can get a reasonable head and shoulder shake going without hitting the floor.
Thankfully he doesn't have any eye rolling, which is probably what leads to motion sickness and the vomiting and diarrhea reported by others. He is eating and drinking like normal. This morning he made it outside on his own for a poop and a pee.
He is not in pain.
While not an official symptom, anecdotally it seems that many dogs get confused or worried about their bodies' failure to respond normally. Harry is certainly agitated, following me everywhere, slowly crashing into walls and objects as he goes, and takes quite a long time to settle down.
And based on comments on several websites, this disease can be much, much worse. Harry can at least walk (we went for a very short walk this morning and I made sure that all of the interesting pee spots were on his right side so he could lift his right leg and put weight on the more reliable left one). He even negotiated a couple of curbs although I tried to make the dogs use the handicapped access ramps when I could. He had a lot of problems walking uphill so I stuck to a relatively flat section.
Many times the symptoms of idiopathic vestibular disease disappear (mixed info on the interwebs about this, some sources say they disappear as quickly as they showed up, others say they fade over several days). But they should noticeably abate by Thursday so until then, I am keeping a very close eye on my little old man.
2 comments:
Poor Harry! I have a friend that had this happen to,two dogs... The tell-tale head tilt...
One dog was completely recovered in a day. The other took a couple weeks.
Get well Harry!
Get well, Harry!
Crystal and Webster
Post a Comment