if you have an old dog who has suddenly started to stumble and act drunk if
they've developed a head tilt or even if they can't get up then there is a real
chance that they are suffering from a condition known as old dog vestibular disease
in dogs this can come on very quickly and the symptoms can appear to be very
dramatic is vestibular disease as serious as it appears though what is the
treatment and what is the recovery time well keep watching as I answer all of
these questions and more hi I'm dr. Alex the veterinarian behind ourpetshealth.com
and on this channel you'll find pet health videos all designed to help you
and your pet live a healthier happier life so make sure you subscribe if
you're not already so what causes for stipler disease in dogs well let's start
with what vestibular disease actually is and what the known causes of this
condition are so the name of the disease reflects the involvement of the
vestibular system and this is the group of structures and nerves that are
responsible for balance they're found next to the middle ear and they relay
information about which way is up to the brain as well as balance the vestibular
system also helps with the control of posture and it helps keep the body and
head horizontal or at least know which way is up so there are lots of potential
causes of vestibular disease some will affect young dogs others just old dogs
some causes are very rare and others are much more common causes of vestibular
disease and dogs include men in Gon sefa lightest and cancer thymine or between
b1 deficiency a brain bleed or a clot head trauma hormonal abnormalities like
an underactive thyroid or hypothyroidism drug toxicity middle ear infection
congenital disease and finally idiopathic disease now thankfully the
vast majority of old dogs that develop vestibular disease are suffering from
the idiopathic form an idiopathic simply means that we don't yet know why it
happens or what the cause is but this cause is so common that the condition is
also known as old dog vestibular disease this disease can affect all old dogs of
any breed and any gender and it can also affect cats but this is actually
very rare so what's the difference between vestibular disease and strokes
and old dogs well we are all aware of the signs of strokes and people and the
devastating effect that it can have it is pretty common for worried owners to
believe that their old dog has suffered a similar catastrophic stroke now it
used to be thought that dogs didn't actually get strokes but with MRI scans
now being available we know that this isn't true and they actually can suffer
from a stroke now while they can be due to a bleed within the brain most are
actually due to a blood vessel becoming blocked either due to a blood clot or
another form of M Billy and that cuts off the blood supply to parts of the
brain very often a dog who suffers a stroke will actually be suffering from a
condition that makes blood clot development much more likely and that
might be something like Cushing's disease cancer or heart disease
now unfortunately the signs of stroke and those of idiopathic vestibular
disease can be almost identical but history examination findings and testing
might very well give a clue as to which is the more likely diagnosis in reality
though true strokes are much less common in dogs and the prognosis for vestibular
disease is normally much better as I'll discuss in just a little bit so what are
the symptoms of vestibular disease well as you can imagine the symptoms of
vestibular disease and dogs really relate to a lot of balance and
effectively not knowing which way is up it might even appear like your dog is
drunk or seasick so let's break down the symptoms that you might see in your dog
and then discuss them in more detail so the main symptoms of vestibular disease
and dogs include a head tilt a taxi or a wobbliness nystagmus or flicking eyes
falling rolling leaning to one side a really wide based stance your dog might
be drooling or vomiting they might be circling so walking in circles there
might be signs of other nerve dysfunction and there might be an
inability to stand so the severity of signs can actually vary quite a lot some
dogs may only develop a slight head tilt holding the head to one side lower than
the other while others will have their head they're almost 90 degrees to normal
and be completely unable to stand along with a head tilt affected dogs will have
something known as nystagmus and this is the flicking of the eyes like I
mentioned before and typically it's from side to side with the
moving quickly in one direction and then more slowly returning the other way as
I've mentioned the degree of wobbliness can really vary it might just be a
subtle stumble or a dragging or catching of a leg instead it could be a complete
inability to stand up to compensate for this instability you might find that
your dog spreads their legs further apart than normal to try and prevent
falling well they might actually lean against a wall for support so walking in
circles and always walking in one direction in the same direction is
another possibility as well as falling over and rolling at all other symptoms
that might be seen and that's really as well a result of loss of balance and
reflect the vestibular system just not working properly
you might also see your dog drooling they might appear nauseous or actually
vomit and in effect your dog has developed motion sickness or vertigo and
if you've never had that then I'm sure you'll sympathize with what your dog is
going through and then finally if there is a different cause of your dog's
vestibular disease then it might be that there are other symptoms that your dog
is showing that are not typical for a normal idiopathic old dog vestibular
disease okay so how do we go about diagnosing this condition well because
we're stipulate disease can be caused by a real large number of different
underlying conditions there are a number of tests that need to be reached to
diagnose idiopathic vestibular disease and that's because this condition is in
itself the diagnosis of exclusion which means that we need to rule out all of
the other causes before specific diagnosis can be made a detailed history
is absolutely vital as is a thorough physical exam blood and urine testing is
generally the first thing to be run and then depending on the results and
clinical picture imaging might be next so x-rays can show the presence of
middle ear disease and that could be either infection or a mass but it can't
give an indication of the presence of abnormalities actually within the brain
itself only CT or preferably MRI scans can do this but the obvious problem with
this is that they're both a lack of availability potentially and also a high
cost so other tests might include sampling of
the fluid around the brain or fluid within the middle ear and then
additional specific blood tests might also be needed to rule out potential
conditions when there is a suspicion that they might be responsible so
referral to a neurologist and in far expensive imaging thankfully will not be
needed in the majority of dogs those dogs that are older and they're showing
appropriate onset of symptoms where there's no evidence of middle ear
disease or any other disease and where there is no history of trauma or
potential for drug toxicity that you know could be causing this problem then
these dogs will quite appropriately have a presumptive diagnosis of old dog
vestibular disease response to treatment is the final factor in diagnosis and if
a dog is not progressing as expected then definitely the diagnosis should be
reevaluated so what is the treatment for idiopathic vestibular disease well in
reality time is the biggest treatment for this condition time and supportive
care so this might include anti sickness medication IV fluids supportive bedding
with regular turning for our patients that can't get up and move themselves
anti anxiety or sedative medication if the dog is becoming distressed
anti-inflammatories in the form of nonsteroidals or steroids may also be
given although whether they make a difference or not it's not really clear
but the bottom line is that because we don't really know what the cause of
idiopathic disease is there is not a specific treatments and instead we were
relying on good support of nursing care and time and in the dog who's only
mildly affected actually TLC at home may be all that is prescribed so that being
said what's the prognosis and recovery time well as you might have guessed by
now the actual prognosis for dogs suffering from vestibular disease is
generally really good most will go on to make a full recovery some might be left
with a permanent head tilt but they'll otherwise adapt really well and be able
to live a really full and happy life it's important that we give our pets
enough time to recover it is all too easy to see a dog that seems to be
suffering from really severe upsetting symptoms and make the irreversible
decision to euthanize we need to give them time the general course of disease
is that the symptoms are worse about 24 to 48 hours after they start some dogs
will then recover as rapidly as the disease started for others the recovery
time will be longer and instead it might take seven to ten days before a
significant improvement is seen and two to three or even four weeks
before they're back to normal in my personal experience most dogs will show
significant improvement after only a few days and most will recover fully if your
dog is not recovering as expected then the diagnosis should be revisited
if possible and this might mean running repeated tests it might mean running new
tests or even referral to a neurologist for assessment alongside advanced brain
imaging and MRI scans now this might be out of reach for you but if things
aren't progressing as we'd expect then certainly it would offer the best chance
for your dog to have the right diagnosis and successful treatment carried out now
I've got another video that I'll link to down below and just on the end screen
there is a personal story from a friend of mine Dan from the YouTube channel
parent pacifier and he went through having an older dog developed vestibular
disease he didn't know what was going on the recovery was it may be as
straightforward as it can be and I thought it'd be really useful for you to
hear a first-hand account of just what vestibular disease is like what concerns
that you're likely to have as an owner what the progression of the disease
might be if you've got an old dog suffering from investing bili disease
then you should definitely check out the video that's just linked in the card
over here but until next time i'm dr. alex from our pets health because
they're family