we had a pretty big scare this morning. angus, our 14 year-old border collie was stumbling around, falling over, and his eyes were going all crazy. i thought for sure he had a seizure and we were going to have to say goodbye.
when i got to the vet, they wouldn't see me but sent me to the emergency vet. they said that it wasn't a seizure or stroke but something called vestibular disease. it causes him to get really dizzy and off balance (which explains the falling over and inability to walk) and makes it hard for him to focus (which explains the crazy eyes). it happens fairly frequently in older dogs. think how you feel when you spin around in a bunch of circles then when you stop, you almost immediately fall over. well... that's how he's feeling. the vet said that it should correct itself in about three weeks and that in the mean time i should give him dramamine to help with the dizziness and motion sickness. he's sleeping pretty hard in his kennel right now, and has been pretty much all day. which i guess is good, so he doesn't feel so bad. it's difficult to watch, but hopefully it will clear up soon. i wish there was more i could do for him.
That is craziness!I had a bout with it before, but didn't know dogs could too! My doc said it has to do with small pieces of bone that usually stay in your middle ear migrating to a different place in your head and causing vertigo and tracking issues with your eyes...I had to go to this strange physical therapy for a few weeks to re-situate the bone pieces. Hope Angus is a-ok soon enough...it is so hard when they are older!
ReplyDeletethanks for your comment! it's my first one. :)
Deletehe is getting a lot better. it was pretty scary when it first happened, though. i had never heard of vestibular disease before this. it's good to know that it's fairly common and that they usually make a full recovery. angus is at about 70% right now, but is getting better every day. still having trouble with the stairs, but i think he will be able to make it up and down them in the next week or so.