What is Canine Vestibular Syndrome

What do you think about this article?

We just had something happen to our geriatric dog and we thought it was a possible stroke or the vet thinks an inner ear infection. This is the first time that I have seen something on this topic and mentions the nystagmus. It has been 3 1/2 days since it happened. The eye movement has stopped and no loss of bladder control as of today. The biggest problem is getting food to stay down. Our dog is very nauseated even with anti-nausea meds. This may be something we mention to our vet. Thanks for the article

Our 14 year old Pit Bull/Bull Terrier mix was just diagnosed with this and we too thought it was a stroke. Our vet is prescribing Prednisone for the next week to see if helps alleviate the symptoms. He said it improves 50% of dogs, and of that 50% it helps, 20% will revert back once medication is stopped. We are crossing our fingers and hoping we are in the right percentage. Good Luck!

Even if your 14 year old does not come back completely to how (s)he was before the incident, it is highly likely that (s)he will improve significantly enough to lead a happy life for some time longer. Look for slow steady progress.
Hoping for the best!
Dawn

My 9 1/2 y. o. Maltese just experienced this syndrome yesterday, with one minute eating and running around as usual, than the next minute falling down, trying to get up, circling and falling down again. What a frightful thing to watch from an owners perpective. After an emergency trip to the vet and another episode during the night, she is much better today. I will suggested when this happens, to put your dog in a rather confined area (something that I usually wouldn't do) because their world is spinning at such a rapid pace and they need to lay down and place their head up against something to minimize their unstability. Also, it might help to gently hold their head against you, again, to reduce their out of control spinning sensation (?). In the next few days, when I go back to work, I am going to put her in a semi-large soft crate (I found a "pop-up one in The Christmas Tree Shop)so that if she has another episode she wouldn't be anywhere near stairs. We are hoping for the best with a complete recovery within the next 1-3 weeks, and hope the same for any other family going through this disorder with their beloved pets.
Thank you and take care
DAJ

We had this problem with our dog a couple of months ago and he seemed to resolve completely. Now all of a sudden it's started again and I'm not sure if that is common or not?? Everywhere I look the info says they'll usually be fine after a week or so, but nowhere so far says that it tends to happen again??

Because we don't know a great deal about the cause of canine vestibular syndrome it is difficult to know why it reoccurs in some cases but not others. But, unfortunately, your situation is not completely uncommon. Hopefully another course of treatment will do the trick again.
Dawn

My dog had this last September and she got "better" within 1 week but still had head tilt and became very scared of stairs. Had another episode in October and it took about a month to get better. Her health declined rather rapidly after that. I hope all your dogs will be okay. My friend's dog just started having this yesterday.

Our 5 year old terrier/daschund mix had many of these symptoms. Two vets in the clinic were baffled; three weeks ago we never would have imagined she would be home with us again. She has recovered remarkably however she is still very weak and only walksor runs short distances then plops down. She has bursts of energy if there is a cat to be chased but then tuckers out. The vets put her on IV fluids then she took steroids and antibiotics for 10 days. My husband noticed today she still tilts her head slightly to the right when she moves fast and she is becoming more afraid to go down stairs. Seems weird the vets never mentioned this disease. They suggested taking her to a university with specialists but we couldn't afford the $2500 plus. Her quality of life is almost normal except for tiring easily. Does anyone know if this is a trait of the disease? My husband keeps telling me to be patient but it's very hard!!! thanks...

Recovery from Canine Vestibular Syndrome is often slow and sometimes there are ups and downs with the dog doing well until (s)he gets tired, then the balance may be a bit off. I would agree with your husband-be patient, even the treatment being on antibiotics and steroids)can be somewhat draining. Also, as you will see from some of the other comments, the symptoms may recur in some animals.

My 9.5 year old yellow lab has had a rather strange and tough pat month with no real answers from the vet. I came across this article and it seems to cover a lot of her symtoms.

The first day of August she started vomitting. I took away her food and water and she continued to vomit for about a day and a half. When she stopped I put her on a boiled chicken and rice diet to reintroduce her to food. After that she was normal for about two weeks.

In mid August her back legs started getting stiff and then she devloped what can be best decribed as a drunken stumble to her gait and was sometimes crossing her back paws when walking. I took her to the vet who did blood tests which all came back fine and when the vet curled her paws under she proomptly corrected them. She was given a cortizone shot, muscle relaxant, and anti inflamatory. After mild improvement the next few days the vet decided to treat her with doxicycline for a possible tick borne illness even though the test came back negative. This seemed to work and after a week or so she seemed 95% back to normal.

Then the second week of September her whole left side seemed to gradually shut down. She was stumbling, walking into things, falling down, turning her head to the left, and her left eye and lip became droppy, she stopped eating, and when the vet curled her left paws under she took much longer to correct them. The vet did more blood work, xrays, and a sonogram/ultrasound. Everything came back fine. The vet decided to give her anti nausea medicine and treat her for toxoplasmosis even though that came back negative. For a week or so she seemed to be quickly improving.

Then yeterday she started tilting her head to the left slightly. Today it is was a drastic tilt to the left, and she started walking funny, and her eyes steadily are darting left to right.

I am going to be calling the vet again in the morning but wanted to see if anyone had any advice. At this point it seems like it is probably canine vestibular disease, a brain tumor, or and extremely bad inner ear infection. Thoughts?

Michelle

Your lab has a rather different history than is typical of Canine Vestibular Syndrome up until this latest set of symptoms. While it has been frustrating your vet has followed a logical course given the timing and variety of symptoms. Tick paralysis, stroke and, (hopefully not) a brain lesion are all possible. Neurologic problems are often difficult to pin down and frustrating in the process. I hope you find answers soon.
Good luck!

My sister's 14 year old dog was diagnosed with this about a month and a half ago. All of his symptoms seem to be just as described. At onset he didn't eat or if he did he was not able to keep it down. He is now eating and is better able to get around. He still has the head tilt, is not steady walking and is afraid of the stairs. He still falls down sometimes. Another thing is that he is constantly barking. All day and all night! He only stops if you sit right with him and pet him. Is the barking typical and what can be done to help stop that?? Any suggestions?

If your sister's dog still has the head tilt and is unsure of the stairs it is likely there is still some disorientation-this can be frightening to the dog. Some dogs bark for attention, to connect with other 'pack' members. That would explain why he settles down when someone is with him. It may also be that the barking is an old age thing- related to some senility (yes they lose brain cells too!). Given that it has been some time since the initial vestibular syndrome episode, I would suggest talking to your vet about medications for canine cognitive dysfunction (senility) as that may help ease the barking. If he has not been examined by the vet in a while it may be time to be re-evaluated. Another round of medication may help.
Hope for the best!
Dawn

This morning my 14 and a half year old could barely make it from her bed, she was stumbling so badly. She seemed to be having major coordination troubles. Later, she vomited hugely, (no bile, just food). Although she has not vomited since, she has been reluctant to eat. I called the vet who diagnosed stroke and proscribed 2 asprin, bid. (she is 56lbs)
I got her to take the aspirin by mixing melted cheese into rice. She will drink water a bit when offered but not a lot. She will eat when offered the rice but again, not a lot, just a few bites. I cannot tell which side of her body she might have had a stroke on since her major uncoordination and serious shaking is on both sides but more in her rear legs than in her front legs. Should I ask the vet about this vestibular thing as an alternative to the stroke diagnosis. It is Sunday and the vet did not think my dog needed to be seen yet. PS, she was perfectly fine yesterday. I am very worried. Thank you for this site.

Update on my dog, Venus. (the 14yr, 56lb dog diagnosed with stroke Sunday, right after she developed serious coordination troubles.)
Sunday night she seemed to be greatly improved but was listing to the right.
This morning, (Monday) she was worse, head tilting to the right, she seemed to be partially paralized on her right side. She kept falling down to the right. This worsened throught the day today until she can no longer do more than stand without falling. Her head is severly tilted to the right.
Monday night, her eyes began moving rapidly from side to side. she appears to be undergoing REM while awake.
Question, if Venus is suffering this vestibular syndrome and is not having strokes, and since this syndrome is an inner ear thing, would Drammamine help with the nausea/vomiting?
The vet set my appointment for Wednesday and wants me to observe her until then. Still, the vet swears by her symptoms that Venus has had at least one and perhaps two strokes.
ps, thank you for the babyfood advice. At least she is eating a little bit now.

Hopefully by now your vet will have had a chance to do a thorough workup on Venus. Given the severity of the symptoms stroke is still part of the rule out. I would discuss the anti-nausea meds with your vet as I don't know what else Venus is taking and dramamine is not for every dog. I'm glad the baby food helped get her interested. For senior dogs it is also nice to have some Energel/Nutrical (this is high calorie food in a tube (toothpaste like). Mixing that with a bit of baby food will help keep the old ones in better shape until they feel like eating again. I'm hoping for some significant improvement in Venus in the next few days.

Thank you for this site.... Any help here would be appreciated..

Monday morning by 13 year old golden got up and basically froze...I laid her back down and she was trying to circle while lying down. She was basically locked up and her pupils were huge and doing wierd things. We took her to the vet where she spent the night took fluids, steroids etc.... The vet has not committed to a vestibular diagnosis but it seems pretty dead on to us (she also vomitted a couple of times)

We brought her home yesterday and she is doing better, relaxing and no wierd eye movement.... she is eating a little out of our hands and drinking water. Her head does wobble around a bit and most discouraging is she won't get up..... is this a characteristic of a vestibular dog?

This does sound very much like Canine Vestibular Syndrome but your vet is right not to absolutely commit to it without doing extensive testing to eliminate other possible neurological problems. Vestibular sydrome as a diagnosis is arrived at by eliminating everything else-stroke, brain tumor, etc. But the tests are expensive so it is often wise to give it time and see if the symptoms resolve.
If she is still disoriented she may be hesitant to stand. If you've ever had a serious dizzy spell you will understand. Help her to get up by keeping her as steady as possible. This does take time so be patient.

Dawn

Thanks for the site and the quick response... One more question, when we try to get her up just to go out she won't put any wait on her legs so we are supporting her with towels under her belly.... have you heard of dogs with testibular doing that??? Thanks again.

If it is vestibular syndrome, it is not that she doesn't want to put weight on her legs but she may be unsure of her balance and afraid to stand. If she can walk a bit with your support once you get her up that is very common in vestibular syndrome. Again, if you are dizzy, you will lean against a wall or furniture or something like that to help with balance because standing up is difficult.

ok, last one... what about the head wobbling back in forth almost like a bobblehead doll....symptom of testibular?

The wobbling head can be canine vestibular syndrome or it can be other neurologic damage. If it gets steadily better then the chances are greater that is vestibular syndrome.

Dawn

I want to sincerely thank you for your insights.... I know you can't make a diagnosis but the information does help.... Unfortunately we haven't seen much improvement in the last day, she just refuses to get up and won't put any weight on her legs... she is eating and drinking (don't know how she will go to bathroom).......

SHE GOT UP.... I took her outside and just left her and came inside and watched through the window.... she got up stumbling around like a drunk (falling a little bit) and used the bathroom...

never thought i would be so happy to see my girl stumbling around like that....

I was actually on my way to see my vet with my 5yr old Aust Shep/Blue Tick mix for hip dysplasia (she needed some Deramax) and some kind of skin thing she had going on. She was fine walking to the car at the house, but I had to lift her back end up into the car (that's normal due to the hip dysplasia). When we got to the vet, however, she fell out of the car trying to jump down (not normal for her). Then she kept falling down. She couldn't walk into the office. She's 71#, too big for me to lift on my own, so I had to tie her leash to a lamp post and get help carrying her inside. I thought she'd thrown her hip out of joint or something, but they noticed right away she had the nystagmus eye thing going on, and when the vet came in, she mentioned the vestibular syndrome, but was puzzled because the onset was so sudden and my dog is only 5yrs old, younger than normal. Because my dog has gained 20# in the past two years (and I've had her on a restricted diet of weight-control food and only 2cups a day, very few treats since last Nov), the vet is thinking the vestibular syndrome might be caused by hypothyroidism. So, 2 questions - have you seen hypothyroid cause the vestibular syndrome (I don't see it mentioned in the article)? And have you seen it in dogs who are only 5yrs old? Thanks for any input.

Update on Venus:
She is MUCH improved today, although she got worse before she began to improve. The very Rapid eye movement was going from her lower left to upper right. It continued rapidly for two days, (illness days three and four), then slowed and continued slowing until day six there was only a rhythmic twitching which disappeared sometime during the day. On the second day of the nystagmus thing, she began walking in tight circles to the right. Mind you, If I were not straddling her with my legs on either side of her hind legs and bent over so my arms were on either side of her front legs, often supporting her under her chest, she could not walk at all. The circular walking only lasted a day. She learned very quickly that turning circles made her fall. She was so very frightened.

It has been six full days since she fell ill so suddenly. The eye movement has disappeared, the strength in her legs has COMPLETELY returned. Although she still has balance issues, it is nothing like it was. She is walking without help now; though, I must stay near her. If she even so much as sneezes she nearly topples.

Her appetite is non-extant.
The dramamine helped a lot. She completely stopped vomitting as soon as I started her on it. When she was a puppy, our vet had her using it to cope with car sickness so we knew her response to the drug. The vet also suggested diphenhydramine. I gave her one dramamine every 6 hours (3 daily), and one diphen- at bedtime for the two days that the nystagmus was so severe. Once it slowed from about 6 or 7 strokes per second to 2 strokes per second, we reduced the dramamine to half a pill e@ 6 hours. 56lb dog.

Now her tummy is settled, she is off all meds except Bcomplex and her reg vitamins. I will take your advice about the high calorie tube stuff. Even getting her to eat babyfood requires use of an oral syringe. I squeeze it into her mouth. She thanks me by swollowing it, not spitting it out. Sadly for Venus, baby food has few calories. I am lucky if I can get 150 calories into her in any given day. I also gave her a childs dose of B complex daily. That was not the vets Rx. I forgot to ask our vet so I just did it.

You have no idea how helpful your site is. I came very close to saying last goodbyes when we thought she was having repeated strokes and not just following the course of this horrid, cruel, disease. (Watching her suffer so much was hard!)
Thank you again and again!

Dear Dawn
My Vet Diagnosed my dog with Vestibular Syndrome on Tuesday. He has all the characteristic symptoms, head tilt, bobbling head, refusing to eat unless I feed him, cant stand or walk, and a nystagmus. He would not drink water the first two days, but he drank the PetSure from Pet Smart. He still isnt walking, but has started drinking water. His Nystagmus and head bobbling is pretty much gone, but he will not stand or walk and he will only eat if I feed him. I put him in diapers to prevent him from getting a skin infection, and keep him clean and dry. Is there anything else I can do? I feel so bad, because he wants to get up, and lets out a sigh/moan because he cant. He is on Prednisone and Dramamine for motion sickness. I just want to know when and how long it takes for most dogs to walk again. The vet says to hang it there, that almost all cases of this resolve, but all Im doing is searching the internet for treatments, or anything to help him more, yet having no luck. Do you have any advice for me? Please and thank you.

Finding this site feels like a miracle. Our 14 yr old Lab was fine on Thurs evening, went for a ride in the car, chased her ball in the yard, then 30 minutes later all of a sudden she could not keep her legs under her. It was like she was on greased ice. Her back legs had tremors too and she was very disoriented and stumbling like she was drunk. My husband thought she'd had a stroke. Took her to the emergency clinic, they mentioned vestibular but said could be cancer as well, she stayed overnight at the clinic. By Friday morning she was in really bad shape, couldn't walk without falling over, she stayed all day and night at her regular vet, who thinks its either an inner ear infection or a tumor. Has been refusing all food/water up until today, she ate some roast beef (by hand) today two seperate times and drank water several times. We have her confined to a large crate with her bed in it, we have stairs and hardwood floors and she just can't get around good. But today when I taker her outside to potty she can walk unassisted for the most part, but her gait is off and she stumbles some, but her last trip out to potty she kept her balance the whole time and didn't fall, although her legs are spread kind of wide, not like she normally walks/stands. I notice when looking at her at face level her left eye droops some. She seems very tired, but i guess that is normal. The vet has sent her home on pred and Baytril. Does this sound like vestibular syndrome??

5 years old is young for canine vestibular syndrome but it can happen. In that case I would work closely with your vet to ensure it isn't something else.
Dogs with canine vestibular syndrome are likely to be tired as they are fighting the neurological symptoms. It must be difficult for them to understand what is happening to them-the dizziness, nausea etc. They are eating very little so not getting many calories. Even getting up to go out is a big struggle so they are using up the calories they do get.

I can't emphasize enough the need for patience and supportive care. Let them rest as much as possible. Try tempting them with high calorie food treats-cheese, canned cat food or anything they have always really loved-hand fed is worth trying. By hand feeding they don't have to move their head (get dizzy) in the process of eating. Buoillon(the little cubes make a quick source) may be tasty enough to make them drink more.
And support when they do get up to go out. They may be trying to do it on their own but some help with balance will conserve the dog's energy.
For everyone who is dealing with a dog with canine vestibular syndrome I hope your pet recovers.

Our 15 yr. old large mixed breed dog Bob had a severe vestibular attack in may. He had the head tilt, loss of control of his back legs, but no nausea or vomiting. We took him home trying to decide if his time had come, but the next day he was a little better and gradually regained use of his legs. He has OCD-like symptoms with excessive panting and circling. He is on meds which have improved the OCD behavior. Now its october and he has had a few bad days, but has regained his "happy Bob dance" and can walk around the block with no problem. So there is hope for you owners-vestibular syndrome is not a death sentence and can be treated as a chronic condition. Thanks

First i must say thank you for this wonderful and informative forum. I'll actually get a decent nights sleep now. The last 36 hours (4 episodes)have been so painfully hard. Like everyone else my Bell was fine one minute and terrified the next. I am big on animal massage so went to work immediately thinking I was just comforting her last hours. I just sat/laid behind her to keep her warm as possible and massaged everywhere. But wow when she finally started to improve there was no stopping her. But i am curious would aspirin help during these times? I would ask a vet here but since i just just got back to work from a lengthy layoff none of the vets would even look at her without money up front. The most they would say was make her comfortable and wait. Anyway after every nap there seems to be improvement. Btw she is a 12 yr/o boarder collie/husky.
Thanks
Ramona

I don'y know what's happening with my 12 year old lab. 18 months ago she started with a slight intermittant cough on exercise. The vet listened to her heart and said it sounded flat. He gave her Fortakor. She was fine until 6 months ago when she had a slight seizure, from which she recovered quickly. The vet said that it may have been caused by poor circulation and gave her vivitonin. He did no other tests.Until 3 weeks ago she's been fine. No cough and never any signs of hypoxia. Then she seemed to develop very ichy ears and wanted me to rub them. 2 weeks ago she had a couple seemingly dizzy spells over the week and didn't seem herself. This culminated in what the vet called a stroke - acute ataxia, nystigmus and one bout of vomiting. He gave her a course of steroids and she more or less recovered in 3 days. Now she is a little topply, ans sees quite stiff-legged. He has little trembling fits, and is sometimes quite unresponsive, mainly when she is due a feed. The steroids are making her feel starving. The vet said these could be mini stokes or bouts of hypoxia. But even in the middle of it her ears are pink and warm, her feet are warm and her gums are pink with quick capillary refill. I eventually, after begging, got my vet to give antibiotic incase this is vestibular caused by ear infection. But I've also be wondering about hypothyroidism. And also, why did my vet say asprin won't help if it is a stroke. Please help if you can. My vet has the attitude that she's old and I've got to accept that I'll loose her. He's done no blood tests or x-rays or anything. But I'm just not convinced it's what he says and that something else, possibly treatable might be happening.Thanks

For those who have asked about the use of aspirin:
Aspirin needs to be used with great caution in dogs. They metabolize it differently than we do and they are prone to the same stomach irritation many people experience when taking it. I would avoid using it as long as the dog is improving. While it is frustrating to go through the slow recovery that many dogs experience with canine vestibular syndrome, there really isn't much in terms of drug therapy (even the steroids and antibiotics have limited value) that seems to shorten the course of the syndrome. The most important thing to do is to make things as easy as possible for the animal in the recovery phase so they can rest and get some nutrition, both of which are important for them getting better.

Hi Dawn:

We have a 14.5 year old Weimaraner with what we think (and the vet thinks) is vestibular syndrome. She has the head tilt, nystagmus, and her front and back legs are very limp. We have to use towels to lift her. I took her to the vet on Monday, and he gave her a shot of cortisone and hoped she might start to improve some by today. She doesn't seem much better at all. She mostly just sleeps - she doesn't even try to stand on her own. Although, last night when we were getting ready to eat dinner, I noticed she was standing and had somehow walked about 8 feet. I helped her to the kitchen and moved her bed so she could sit by the table while we ate (which is usually where she would be whenever someone it eating). I thought this was a good sign, but she's back to laying wherever we place her. She does eat and drinks some. She has had boughts with vestibular syndrome before, but has bounced back on her own, and much sooner. Also, this time her front legs are greatly impacted. She already had some neurological issues with her back legs prior to this, so the vet said this could be stoke related since her front legs are not working properly either. We love our old girl so much, we just want to do the right thing for her. Do you think it is time to put her down? Should we give her more time or more treatment? We don't want to put her through a bunch of poking and prodding, but we don't want to give up on her too soon either. What do you recommend? Thanks!

I'm sorry I can't give you a clear cut answer on this. Only your family can really say when the right time is as you know her best. You are right to want to minimize 'poking and prodding' but if this bout has only been a couple of days, it might be worth giving her a little more time.
On the other hand, if you feel that her quality of life is poor right now it is probably worth having another chat with your vet as (s)he knows you and your dog better than I do. While letting go is difficult, I am sure your family will make the right decision when you are sure that it is the best choice for her. Trust your hearts on this.

Hi Dawn:

Thanks for your prompt response. I'm going to keep a close eye on her and I'll let you know how things go.

Thank you for this website! Hopefully my story can help too. My 13 year old mix breed dog had this exact thing happen yesterday morning. I found her all contorted and falling over, she had vomitted several times and was drooling uncontrollably from the right side of her mounth. Once I laid her down, she had the head tilt and her right side seemed limp while her left did not. I definitely thought it was a stroke, my wife was crying and we both thought the worst had happened. After 30 minutes or so she started to become a little more alert (perking her ears at noises) where she had previously been unresponsive. She tried to get up so I helped her and she began a drunken stagger around the room, shook her head and fell over. Although it was hard to watch it immediately seemed to be an improvement from when I first found her. Long story short, in 2 hours she was back to perfectly normal running around and having fun like it never happened. I spoke with a vet friend who confirmed it was Canine Vestibular Syndrome, which he called old dog vestibular syndrome. What an interesting morning, from heart break to sheer joy as we realized we weren't going to lose our sweet dog.

Thanks again for this site!

My 14 year old Maltese all of the sudden came stumbling down the stairs shaking wildly head tilting to one side as if someone was tugging on it to go to that side and his eye on the opposite side was what looked like to me ready to pop out moving slowly back and forth while really popping out. He kept going in circles. After I picked him up afraid he was going to hit something (I have 2 children I raised with seziors and I thought up until this forum that this is what he was having) His body was stiff and wanting to lean to one side. This went on for approx 4 min after that he slowly as I talked to him seem to come out of this thing he just went through and 10 min later he seems fine. My question is this last night he acted weird he kept licking my bed quilt we couldn't stop him we put him on the rug and he started licking that and wouldn't stop he did this for over an hour. Is this any symptom of this?

This is not a specific symptom of canine vestibular syndrome but whenever there is a neurological problem abnormal behaviors can occur. If you have not had him checked by your vet yet I would suggest that you do. As I have said, there are several things that can look similar to canine vestibular syndrome including strokes and, as you mentioned, epileptic seizures.It is important to be sure the appropriate condition is being treated.
Best of luck.

Hi there...My beloved 13.5 year old shep/collie mix came down with this sinister syndrome less than one month ago. She was fine when I put her outside at midnight but by four in the morning, she could barely get up and urinated on the carpet when trying to get up. I attempted to help her but she could not stand. Confused, I put her on my bed and called the emergency vet who proceeded to be extremely rude. By this point, I assumed that she was paralyzed from a stroke and decided that I did not want this person to be the last person she saw on Earth (next to me). I laid beside her for three hours, saying good bye to her until it was time to leave for my vet's. When we got there, I tole the technician that I thought my dog had suffered a stroke. She looked at her and immediately said, bless her heart, that she thought it might be old dog vestibular syndrome. I was shocked and thrilled but did not want to get my hopes up. By ten o'clock, my wonderful vet called to confirm that it was indeed this syndrome and not a stroke and that she would likely recover but would need intensive care for some days or weeks. No problem! I stayed with her the first three days, sleeping next to her on the carpeted floor and carrying her down the stairs to go outside. It's amazing how resourceful a person can be when needed. I can offer two important tips to anyone nursing a dog through this : A doggie seatbelt harness saved me many times as it comes with a loop on the back to help steady my girl and is comfortable enough to wear all day and night. Second, my knowledgable vet tech suggested a brand of food called Recovery -- it is calorie dense and very tasty apparently. My girl would eat this from her elevated bowl even when she could not be tempted with steak! Less that one month later, I have my beautiful dog back. Yes, she is occasionally tippy but I cannot believe how she has bounced back. If you are dealing with this, hang in there, recruit people to stay with your dog as needed and be reassured by all of the wonderful people who have taken the time to write here about their dog's full recovery.

My 14 year old Chow/Golden Retriever mix was diagnosed with Canine Vestibular Syndrome 2 days ago. He had been perfectly fine the day before when I left home for about an hour and a half to run some errands. When I got home he was stumbling all over the house, running into things and falling down, he had acute weakness on his right side, his head was tilting to the right, he had vomited...all the classic signs of stroke. Since this came on so fast, I was certain he had had a stroke. We got him to our vet the next morning. I was frantic. I was sure he had had a stroke and that this was the end. Before we even got him into the exam room, my vet mentioned it was probably Vestibular Syndrome because of the sudden onset and the nystagmus or eyes darting back and forth, which I had not even noticed. I had never heard of it, but believe me I was so relieved to know that my dog was not going to die. My vet did a blood workup to ensure nothing was going on internally that would cause this. He gave my dog an injection of Cerenia, which is an antiemitic and sent us home with an additional 4 day supply. The episode happened Saturday night. It's now Tuesday afternoon and my boy is sleeping peacefully. His head still is tilted to the right & he has some residual stumbling, but the Nystagmus is almost completely gone. He's still a little reluctant to eat, but I have been able to get him to eat some chicken, ground beef and rice. My vet says the best thing is to give him whatever he seems to want to eat as long as he gets some calories in him. His prognosis is excellent since he was in excellent health for a 14 year old. Thanks for the article and all the comments. I am feeling lots better knowing that my baby will be around for a while yet. I hope everyone else here who's dog has suffered from Vestibular Syndrome has the same positive response that my dog has.

Hi Dawn:

I just thought I would let you know that Heaven has a new angel - we lost our 14.5 yr. old Weimaraner yesterday morning. She seemed to be slowly coming back from her most recent episode with vestibular syndrome, but yesterday morning she seemed to have had stroke (or an unknown illness)and died at home in my arms. Thanks for your input - we did get a little more time with our sweet girl.

My 10 1/2 year old Rottwieller was perfectly normal until last Tuesday evening (he does have diabetes and takes insulin injections, but that is under control). Last Tuesday evening he went outside and all of the sudden fell over again and again. I ran out and had to lean him up against me to get him inside. Once inside I laid him down and he was shaking like crazy. I thought it was low blood sugar so I gave him some honey and about 5-10 minutes later he seemed fine. The next morning he had another episode of the shaking and trouble balancing. That evening I took him to the vet and they did a blood test to rule out low blood sugar as the problem. On the way home from the vet in the car he started circling and shaking and also making a howling noise he has never made before. When we got home he did the same thing for a couple of minutes. He would not eat that night or the next morning and has had on and off balance problems (no vomiting or side to side movement of the eyes). He is now taking antibiotics and is eating agiain, and has not had a circling and howling episode since that evening. He still has the occassional two or so minute shaking episode where his teeth chatter he shakes so bad. The first two days he barely moved and didn't eat. Yesterday he ate and even went for a walk and played with a tennis ball. The vet says if the antibiotics are working then it could be lyme (he testing positive for exposure but so did my other two dogs) and hopefully not a brain tumor. He had chronic ear infections growing up but has not had one in a few years. Could this be vestibular syndrome even though he has no eye movement and had the weird howling the second day? Any thoughts? Thanks for any input.

It is possible that this is Canine Vestibular Syndrome. Not every dog shows the nystagmus (eye movement)but as I have said before Vestibular syndrome is a diagnosis that is reached by ruling everything else out.It will be important to work closely with your veterinarian over the next few weeks to see if you can get closer to a definitive diagnosis.
Good Luck!

Today our 12 year old mix breed was fine this morning, I left for about 4 hours and when I returned he didn't greet me at the door after being home for awhile I noticed that he never did come to see me, which is very unusual, however, when I found him behind the couch he wouldn't or could't get up. When I managed to comvince him to come to me, he fell. He couldn't walk he lend to the left and he couldn't hold his head up. I took him to the vet and they kept him over night but he never mentioned this disease, they started him on antibiotics and just wanted to watch him over night. Should I mention this disease to the vet in the morning? The symptoms sound so simular. He seems to think it may be inner ear, or head trama from a possible fall.

My 12 y.o. female German shepherd diagnosed with this syndrome on Friday Nov 07. My dog started to vomit, head tilt , her eyes started to "run" from side to side in a rhythmical manner. She is like a drunk - cant walk normally at all - can only seat for a wile, laying down, cant even lay down with straight head - she wants her head to turn all the time..She is still in the hospital. Dont eat, dont drink, she is on IV, antibiotics, anti-dizziness/vomiting meds..Doctor think that she must stay for 2-3 days .Blood work is fine. Urine test is not so good- they found a bit ob blood in it and also some bacteria - now it is pending for bacterial infection - to identify the type. Also they took ear culture and stool.
My dog is very different - she is staying in the clinic and looks like she dont care anymore..She would never stay anywhere before - she would cry and bark ... I dont recognise my dog.. I am so upset to see her like this...
My dog has long history of middle ear infection, and she had partial face paralysis in 2005 - had antibiotics course and antibiotics drops. Now we are cooking nice beef soup, and chicken white meat , we are going to clinic to try to hand feed her. We are very upset as this dog was BORN IN OUR HANDs, and we brought her to Canada from Russia, she is my daughter, :-(( I only pray that my baby-girl will be ok. Also I wish all other dogs get better and will live long happy life.

My 12 y.o. female German shepherd diagnosed with this syndrome on Friday Nov 07. My dog started to vomit, head tilt , her eyes started to "run" from side to side in a rhythmical manner. She is like a drunk - cant walk normally at all - can only seat for a wile, laying down, cant even lay down with straight head - she wants her head to turn all the time..She is still in the hospital. Dont eat, dont drink, she is on IV, antibiotics, anti-dizziness/vomiting meds..Doctor think that she must stay for 2-3 days .Blood work is fine. Urine test is not so good- they found a bit ob blood in it and also some bacteria - now it is pending for bacterial infection - to identify the type. Also they took ear culture and stool.
My dog is very different - she is staying in the clinic and looks like she dont care anymore..She would never stay anywhere before - she would cry and bark ... I dont recognise my dog.. I am so upset to see her like this...
My dog has long history of middle ear infection, and she had partial face paralysis in 2005 - had antibiotics course and antibiotics drops. Now we are cooking nice beef soup, and chicken white meat , we are going to clinic to try to hand feed her. We are very upset as this dog was BORN IN OUR HANDs, and we brought her to Canada from Russia, she is my daughter, :-(( I only pray that my baby-girl will be ok. Also I wish all other dogs get better and will live long happy life.

So sorry to hear about your dog. With the history of ear infections her prognosis is not as good as for a dog with no such health history. Hopefully your presence and the tasty food will perk her up. If the dizziness gets under control she will feel better but that takes a bit of time. The antibiotics will help with the infection and the fluids will keep her from getting dehydrated from the vomiting. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

I just lost my 81/2 yr old English Setter, whom I loved dearly....to these same type of symtoms..Blood tests and xrays of this back end showed nothing. I first took him in for the lethargy and a twitching on his right side he was also having some slipping issues on the hardwood floors. first Vet did xrays and observed him for the day at the vet hospital. He didn't believe his twitch was neurological. Thought it may be a reaction to the pain he had on his back right side. Put him on anti-inflammatory and pain meds. The following week he still acted the same had a hard time getting up or didn't want to get up, would eat if i coaxed him to the bowl. Took these meds with cheese, but just wasn't himself. Exactly a week after the vet visit he decided he didn't want to eat at all. We even brought the food to him, didn't want to take his meds either. The next day after moaning all night, took him to a different vet, took blood to test for Lyme and other diseases, check the stool and observed him for a few hours. Nothing showed up on the blood work. He tried to walk and fell down had to be carried out on a blanket. Got home and he walked a little around the yard, but was a little lopsided. Still won't eat or drink, fed him baby food and water with eye droppers. Wet himself started vomiting , barked all night and stopped breathing early in the morning. We tried everything we could think of, we had an appt. for a scan that day, he didn't make it . I am so happy to read these articles about dogs being as bad as mine, but pull thru. Now I wonder if I didn't react fast enough or if I could have done anything different to save his life, because I sure would have. I miss him terribly.

I just lost my 81/2 yr old English Setter, whom I loved dearly....to these same type of symtoms..Blood tests and xrays of this back end showed nothing. I first took him in for the lethargy and a twitching on his right side he was also having some slipping issues on the hardwood floors. first Vet did xrays and observed him for the day at the vet hospital. He didn't believe his twitch was neurological. Thought it may be a reaction to the pain he had on his back right side. Put him on anti-inflammatory and pain meds. The following week he still acted the same had a hard time getting up or didn't want to get up, would eat if i coaxed him to the bowl. Took these meds with cheese, but just wasn't himself. Exactly a week after the vet visit he decided he didn't want to eat at all. We even brought the food to him, didn't want to take his meds either. The next day after moaning all night, took him to a different vet, took blood to test for Lyme and other diseases, check the stool and observed him for a few hours. Nothing showed up on the blood work. He tried to walk and fell down had to be carried out on a blanket. Got home and he walked a little around the yard, but was a little lopsided. Still won't eat or drink, fed him baby food and water with eye droppers. Wet himself started vomiting , barked all night and stopped breathing early in the morning. We tried everything we could think of, we had an appt. for a scan that day, he didn't make it . I am so happy to read these articles about dogs being as bad as mine, but pull thru. Now I wonder if I didn't react fast enough or if I could have done anything different to save his life, because I sure would have. I miss him terribly.

Last summer my then 12 year old Chow Chow developed a bad ear infection and was successfully treated with drugs prescibed by the Vet. All was fine. This April Dakota suddenly became ill while walking a few steps, vomitting frothy foam and had trouble breathing and was gasping for air at this time was in distress and lost control of his bladder while walking. We went to the Vet. and they did an X-ray of his lungs and they thought he might have an alergy or chronic bronchitis. He was on allergy pills,then we tried apeo-theo and predisone. A few days later he got really sick and vomitted and was crying. After a few hours he settled down and we decided to take him off the medications and take one day at a time. He got better but this summer I noticed a head tilt. Last week I found him on his side crying with his eye moving rapidly from side to side, unable to get up on his back legs and he was shaking. We moved him to a more comfortable spot and he lost control of his bladder . I thought it was the end and called the Vet. but they were closed. By the time I found an emergency number Dakota was coming around. A 1/2 hour later things seemed to have passed and he looked better. He had another epsiode a few hours later. The next day he had another epsiode that was short and not so scary for him. A week passed and he has just had another short lived episode. I think he might have Canine Vestibular Syndrome.
He is eating well, his back legs are very week with arthritis. Any thoughts????

So sorry about your English setter. I grew up with the breed, our female setter literally helped raise the four of us kids! But not every dog recovers so please do not be hard on yourself. It is likely the outcome would not have changed.
As for the ChowChow, canine vestibular syndrome is a strong possibility. As I have emphasized before, good nursing care and support are the most important things for helping a dog through a vestibular syndrome episode. I would check in with your veterinarian to ensure that other health issues are not contributing to the problem. Best of luck!

My english spaniel/golden retriever mix of 18 years had "this" happen to her last december. One of the tragedies here is that to get a true diagnosis differentiating this from stroke, brain tumor, vestibular disorder is that you need to get an MRI. Has anyone else experienced this dilemna? They are over $2500 easily. Anyway as for my dog she got better within a week and we took her on a family vacation. Then it happened again in late July. She's never been the same since. Yes she can walk in the front yard, but has a significant tilt to the right, she also has lost weight, and has recurring bouts of urinary tract infections that we fight occasionally. So basically we have a soon to be 19 year old dog that we love to death, but who is basically. This memo doesn't even begin to do justice to how much time and effort we've put into caring for her (a couple thousand dollars, daily dog walkers when we are at work, countless pee and poop episodes, and a number of half days off from work in the early stages) since August. In any case, if it's any consolation, the vet "thinks" we have a neurological thing going on and not vestibular, but both he and his partner even say there is no way to know for sure without an MRI. Has anyone else had to deal with this? Has anyone gotten an MRI?

My english spaniel/golden retriever mix of 18 years had "this" happen to her last december. One of the tragedies here is that to get a true diagnosis differentiating this from stroke, brain tumor, vestibular disorder is that you need to get an MRI. Has anyone else experienced this dilemna? They are over $2500 easily. Anyway as for my dog she got better within a week and we took her on a family vacation. Then it happened again in late July. She's never been the same since. Yes she can walk in the front yard, but has a significant tilt to the right, she also has lost weight, and has recurring bouts of urinary tract infections that we fight occasionally. So basically we have a soon to be 19 year old dog that we love to death, but who is basically. This memo doesn't even begin to do justice to how much time and effort we've put into caring for her (a couple thousand dollars, daily dog walkers when we are at work, countless pee and poop episodes, and a number of half days off from work in the early stages) since August. In any case, if it's any consolation, the vet "thinks" we have a neurological thing going on and not vestibular, but both he and his partner even say there is no way to know for sure without an MRI. Has anyone else had to deal with this? Has anyone gotten an MRI?...ah yes, 1 other irony is that she is slowly getting better, but just soooooo slowly. Nothing like the 1 week it took last year. Even the slightest progress is measured in weeks not days or hours like last time.

Our Aussie cattle dog, appprox 5 years old, seems to have this problem. It started about 3 weeks ago, and she has become progressively worse, although there were a few days where she seemed to be doing better, a bit more active, willing to eat, etc. Now she seems completely drained of energy, lays down all day long, and will only eat very small amounts by hand feeding. The vet was reluctant to diagnose it as CVS, and of course recommended a battery of tests which are simply beyond our budget, and based on what I've read so far, will likely come back negative anyway, leaving an untreatable neurologic condition, or cancer or something like that. We got her from the animal shelter in June, and they did say she had a cancerous tumor removed from her belly. I'm concerned the cancer may have returned very aggressively given her rapid decline over the last few days. Thankfully she does not seem to be in any pain, and appears to rest comfortably. Any ideas or just words of encouragement would be appreciated!

Rick

I wish there were lots of encouraging things to say at this point but with the history of cancer and lack of improvement, I am less hopeful for your dog. Your concern that the cancer has spread is very valid. However, as she does not appear to be in pain, you can continue to nurse her on the off chance that it is something that will resolve. If not, she was a lucky dog to have found people who would take such good care of her in her last days.
My thoughts are with you

Hi all,
I just found this site, and after reading the success that many have had after treatment, I now have a glimmer of hope.:)
My 13 1/2 yr. old dog Buddy (a mixed breed), had an episode approx. two weeks ago. This is the very first time this had happened so I was very worried, as I had never seen a dog go through this before. Buddy has all the character symptoms of Vestibular Syndrome (loss of balance, eyes moving uncontrollably, head tilt to one side, vomiting etc.).
When his episode occurred, it was late in the evening on a weekend, so I didn't know what to do as I wouldn't be able to see a vet until Monday. After reading online that dogs were put on antibiotics I figured I'd try that as I happened to have some PenG penicillin on hand. After the second day on the PenG he appeared to be doing a bit better, he was starting to eat and was walking without falling over.
Since he was responding to the penicillin, I continued it for a week. By the end of the week he was pretty much back to being his active happy self. But now after 5 days being off the PenG he has had a relapse with all the same symptoms all over again.
I took Buddy in to the vet and after examining him the vet concluded that it could be Vestibular Syndrome, or possibly a brain tumor. He took Buddy's temperature rectally and found that the temp was a degree lower than normal. The vet prescribed 68MG Baytril Taste Tabs and Otibiotic brand ointment for his ears. Just so you know, my dog has a history of inner ear problems (since he was around 3).
Do you think that the Baytril tabs and ear drops will (might) be enough to treat the Vestibular syndrome? Or do you think Baytril along with Prednisone would be recommended? I asked the vet about Prednisone but he didn't comment on using it. Because if it will be beneficial in helping treat my dog, I will see about getting the vet to prescribe it.
Thank you in advance for any advice you can give.

Hi, my St Bernard had just presented the symptoms described for Vestibular syndrome, but he is not even 2 years old. It is night time now and i have called the vet who said to bring him tomorrow morning. I am so worried that it will be something more serious. Is it possible to happen to a dog so young? What can I do to make it better for him?

To answer the question regarding the use of prednisone/prednisolone or other steriods-these drugs can reduce the effectiveness of the antibiotics so your vet may want to give a few days of treatment without them to get any infection under control. And canine vestibular sydrome has not been particularly responsive to steroids. Supportive care and 'tincture of time' seem to be most important.
For the young Dog- vestibular syndrome is less common in young animals. Things like ear problems including foreign bodies in the ear would be more likely. Hopefully by now you have some clearer answers from your vet.

Thank you "very" much for your reply. ;) I now feel a bit better knowing that not getting prednisone from my vet wasn't a negative thing.

I'm happy to report that my dog Buddy is showing some signs of improvement. His eyes are no longer jerking and his balance is starting to come back. He still has a pretty aggressive head tilt, still walking pretty slow and is a tad wobbly when he urinates. His appetite is coming back though,and he is now starting to eat some solids again.

I now feel so much better knowing that he seems to be on a road to recovery.

Thank you once again for your most helpful info. :)

i have a question
my 7 month old geriatric dog got hit by a car this evening and is exhibiting the exact symptoms.
it can be caused by head trauma i read. he stumbles to the right and cannot stand. he has an appetite but can't keep it down. i checked his body over for any signs of broken bones.
the only wound he had was on his lip is there anything to give him for the nausea or to help him out?
i have buried his father not too long ago and he is all i have left.

My dog had an episode of vestibular syndrome at 3am thursday morning. She had her head tilted to one side and the eye movement. I took her to the vet, who diagnosed her but said that she also has a weaker heart than last august. I have ask if she had a heart attack and he insist she didn't, however its saturday and she is still at the vets, he just says she is being taken care of. I have to call today and fight for me to take her home. With the symtoms being the same as a stroke i don't understand how could her heart weakend so much in 3 months if she didn't have a stroke? Also for what i see here people get their dogs back right away and this dr insisted on keeping her.

Dawn -

Great article. Thanks for the info. Our 14 y/o Eskie got hit with this a couple of weeks ago. Looked like a stroke to us and we were afraid he was lost. Found excellent tips to aiding recovery here and our dog is on his way.

There are some pages on the 'net that refer to "acute" and rapid recovery from this condition. It has not been our experience. Our dog, Sam, was completely bed-ridden for about five days before he took to his feet again, but he is now making steady progress every day.

Don't be discouraged if your dog doesn't spring to his feet or back to his old self in the 72 hours offered by some sources. Also, the recovery appears to ebb and flow during the day, but with an overall upward trend. Hang in there! Don't forget to push lots of fluids with the food. Plastic syringe for water or, if he's throwing up, Pedialyte, slowly and in small doses, very useful.

Our 16 1/2 year old 55 lb lab mix has been in great health except mild kidney dysfunction for which she is on special diet, still taking long walks although slower and stiffer, but had a few isolated seizures over the past 6 months or so from which she recovered rapidly. On 11/17 she "clustered" and had 4 seizures, so 11/18 she started phenobarbitol 60 mg. She was totally immobilized, tried to get up but couldn't, had to be held up to squat, couldn't walk without support. No nystagmus at that time, just very weak. We cut her back to 30mg 11/20 at the vet's ok and she could walk again, although like a drunk, hindquarters very weak, crossing hind legs, dragging right hind foot, lying down to rest every few feet. We were told it can take up to 2 weeks for pheno side effects to even out. Then today she can't even support herself at all, lists to the right, and started having nystagmus. No nausea, in fact her appetite is great except she can hardly hold her head upright long enough to eat. Had to be carried outside and held upright to pee. So the big debate is whether this is temporary or permanant, coincidence or a result of the seizures or meds or even stroke, and whether treatment will help or not. One comment was sometimes vestibular syndrome can even trigger seizures. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? And the BIG debate we're trying to deal with...how much waiting should we do and treatment should we do/try at her age?

Amazed that so many other dogs and owners are going through what we are. Thank you all for your advice. I am just very worried because our golden cross (approx 12 years old?), with heart murmur, had textbook vestibular syndrome a week ago. He made a good recovery but then had a relapse a couple of days and is even worse than before. (Nystagmis has gone, not vomiting, but can hardly stand and head tilt so severe he looks as if he has broken his neck. Little appetite).Vet says they don't usually have relapse and so I'm very scared that it's maybe something more serious like a brain tumour. I don't want to do MRI to find out because I don't think I could cope with the bad news but on the other hand I want someone to tell me that my dog is going to get better. Could it still just be ideopathic VS and he can still recover? I'm utterly heartbroken thinking we're going to lose him. Thank you.

For both of these dogs, the fact that there are other health issues clouds the picture but since the vestibular syndrome type symptoms have been of short duration, I would give it a bit more time. You should see regular (this may be slow) improvement if it is canine vestibular syndrome.

Thank you so much for your informative article and message board.
Our dog suddenly developed all of the classic symptoms of this syndrome two weeks ago. The emergency vet diagnosed CVS, as well as an ear infection and high blood pressure, and prescribed an anti-nausea drug, blood pressure medication and antibiotics for the ear infection. During a follow-up visit with our regular vet, we learned that the symptoms might have been brought on by: 1.) the ear infection; 2.) idiopathic "old dog" CVS; 3.) stroke; or 4.) a brain tumor. The only way to diagnose a stroke or brain tumor is to do an MRI, but this requires general anesthesia and doesn’t change the course of treatment for the first three possibilities. Our vet’s advice was to wait a while and see if our dog improved before subjecting him to additional medication or tests. Improvement was slow but steady and our dog is now (almost) back to his old self.
It is absolutely heart-wrenching to watch a beloved pet suffer, knowing that you can’t do much more than keep him warm, fed and hydrated while you wait for improvement. If it is CVS, though, improvement will be steady and relapses are apparently (please God) uncommon.
Hope everyone else here has the same positive outcome that we did.

Thank you so much for your informative article and message board.
Our dog suddenly developed all of the classic symptoms of this syndrome two weeks ago. The emergency vet diagnosed CVS, as well as an ear infection and high blood pressure, and prescribed an anti-nausea drug, blood pressure medication and antibiotics for the ear infection. During a follow-up visit with our regular vet, we learned that the symptoms might have been brought on by: 1.) the ear infection; 2.) idiopathic "old dog" CVS; 3.) stroke; or 4.) a brain tumor. The only way to diagnose a stroke or brain tumor is to do an MRI, but this requires general anesthesia and doesn’t change the course of treatment for the first three possibilities. Our vet’s advice was to wait a while and see if our dog improved before subjecting him to additional medication or tests. Improvement was slow but steady and our dog is now (almost) back to his old self.
It is absolutely heart-wrenching to watch a beloved pet suffer, knowing that you can’t do much more than keep him warm, fed and hydrated while you wait for improvement. If it is CVS, though, improvement will be steady and relapses are apparently (please God) uncommon.
Hope everyone else here has the same positive outcome that we did.

Our 11 yr. old German Shepard suddenly was not able to stand. We took her to the vet who diagnosed the problem as "old dog vestibular syndrome". We are keeping her in the hospital for a few days to see if she improves. She is alert and seems fine, except for being disoriented. The vet said she is probably suffering from motion sickness due to the stroke. Hopefully we will get her back.

Hi, December 3, 2008
Our 13 1/2 year old Beardie with severe hip arthritis had a morning spell of inability to use back legs. it passed but Monday evening, after an active day, she toppled over and was unable to get up. I managed to get her to door where she collapsed--dead weight. During this she lost bladder and bowel function. There was no vomiting, but rapid eye movement. We assumed "her time had come", but emergency vet said it was definitely vestibular syndrome. It is now 48 hrs and vet said she was worse, but better, meaning we got her in for help about 48 hrs before most dogs are seen. So after 48 hrs, they feel she is at beginning of 3 day recovery period. She is eating and drinking, has severe head tilt, and was oblivious to our presence. I know she knew we were there, but maybe just too dizzy to respond. She is still unable to stand and even with brace under belly, it takes a strong person to help her. She is staying at clinic as I am unable to physcially help her until she get some footing on her own. I have two concerns. I know there is a "3 day" turnaround time, but do some dogs just take a lot longer? Also are there any adaptive devices and tips to help her recover when she get home. She is a 60 pound dog. Do you restrict her area, crate her, or what? I want to make her recovery as optimal as possible. it just seems like there are management tips that can help. I am not concerned re food or water as that isn't a problem now, and I can manage that should it become so. I'm more inerested in helping her move and keeping her unstressed. I am so grateful for this site and appreciate any suggestions.

Restricting her area should help. That will prevent her tripping over things, falling down stairs and things like that. Sometimes holding the head steady when the dog is getting up helps control the dizziness that gets worse with movement. Hopefully by the time you can bring her home from the vet clinic supporting her with a towel under the body will be enough to help her walk.
Just letting her rest as much as possible will speed the recovery. And, yes, although 3 days is a common time frame, every canine vestibular syndrome case is individual. Recovery time will vary.
Good Luck!

My chi has had this for 2 months and is still on medication for this. I hve not heard of any dog having this for this long, is this normal?

It is fairly unusual to have Canine Vestibular Syndrome symptoms go on for more than a few days without improvement. If you are seeing regular but slow improvement that is ok. If you are not seeing improvement, it is time to consult with your veterinarian again

I am probably premature in considering Canine vestibular syndrome here, so please forgive me for posting in the midst of my anxiety. A week ago I took my 10.5 yr old Scottie to the vet because she has been lethargic and somewhat depressed (we lost my other Scottie 7 months ago and it has been very hard on her). Before seeing the vet, I had her nails clipped, and she started limping and holding out her right front paw - although we could not find any injury and when the vet examined her, she showed no sign of pain in that foot/leg. She limped only a short while. Within a couple of days she started occasionally limping and holding up the LEFT foot. A week later, she became quite ill, refused to eat, and barely moved all day (she was drinking). I got her to the vet this A.M. by which time she had a fever of 105.5. Blood work showed elevated liver enzymes - a problem she has had for over a year, making the vet suspect Cushings. She does not have the classic symptoms of Cushings (drinking a lot, eating a lot, urinating a lot, etc., and elderly Scotties are known to have elevated AP levels that are unrelated to Cushings. Todays xrays showed that her liver is enlarged. But the vet felt that we should try to deal with the probable infection causing the fever before doing more liver tests.
The possible Canine vestibular syndrome issues started after I got her home tonight. When I put her on the grass to urinate, she fell over and didn't move at all on her own. Of course a super high fever would cause some disorientation. Then inside, she ate a little chicken and rice. I put her on the floor to get water and she could not coordinate the movement of all 4 (or even 3) legs to move forward and finally sat in frustration. She bent down to get water but her head bobbed in an odd way, with perhaps her nose touching the water - but she couldn't get coordinated enough to lap water. She fell over sideways a few times. Her fever is probably still high, and if she has an infection the type is a mystery. No nausea. I guess she could be a little delirious from fever. Until I see her able to lap water, I will only be feeding her soft baby food because it seems her muscle coordination is so off that she could choke. As my last dog had cerebellar abiotrophy, I've dealt with a lot of movement problems. I had to do a search for something that might fit my baby's symptoms. THank you for this great website (even if I am in the wrong place!)

Our 13 yr old Chow Chow has displayed symptoms of CVS, head tilt, rapid head movement from side to side, vomitting, excessive barking from time to time since the summer
Back legs have been very weak...2 days ago he could no longer stand on the back legs. He drags them behind. We can support his back end so that he can get outside.
My question is I have heard that with CVS the animal is not in any pain, I am sure he is anxious and does not understand what is happening. Do you think his legs will come around so that he can be mobile or have we arrived at the end. He is still eating (hand fed at the moment). He has not been well since April, more goods days than bad, but this issue with his legs is very serious.

The loss of use of the back legs might be related to vestibular syndrome or it might be canine degenerative myelopathy or other spinal degeneration. If the chow has had bouts of CVS, it is worth giving it a few days. If there is spinal degeneration the dog won't regain use of the legs. None of these syndromes are painful as the nerves are what is going, unlike hip dysplasia where the bones pinch nerves. As i have commented to others, at this point you know your dog best and must decide whether he is comfortable with being unable to walk. There are carts to support the dog's back end but that is not the right thing for every dog. Talk to your vet before you make any decisions. Good Luck

I wanted to share the good news that our 16 1/2 year old lab mix I posted about on Nov 23 has been recovering well, nystagmus ended after the first week, her rear end is still weak but she has been walking farther unsupported each day, to the point where a few days ago she took her first real walk down the street since this all started. What a relief.

my 15yr mtn cur jumped off the bed the other night as i called him to go out and as he hit the floor his legs went out from under him and as he laid sprawled out on the floor he urinated all over the place.as i called again and helped him up he walked to the door but at the stairs he fell again.i picked him up took him inside and laid him on the floor where he laid on his side not moving for about 5 or so minuites.at which time i called to him again and he got up and came to me.there has not been another incident since.does this sound like a symptom? there is or was no noticable head tilt..also i should mention that i also have a female in heat at this time and before the incident he was very attentive but since he walks by ,sniffs and keeps going .thanks --fred

Fred-
It is not likely that your dog has suffered from Canine Vestibular Syndrome but it does sound like a neurological problem. The lack of head tilt, dizziness and nausea suggests that the head/inner ear are not involved which would be the case in vestibular syndrome. You should have him checked by your vet for back injury-nerve damage as that is more likely in this case.

Three weeks ago my 10 year old rottweiler had an episode of vomiting with yellow frothy stuff, dizziness, head tilt, and unable to walk. She went to the vet and he thought she had a stroke. After some research my husband and I found out that she had vestibular syndrome. The vet agreed with us. After three days of being at the vet, we were able to bring her home. She is taking prednisone, one pill t.i.d After about a week of TLC she started to improve. We have also been taking her on short walks two times a day to help improve her gait.
She still wobbles sometimes and is uneasy on her feet.
This morning when I let her out to potty I think she took a tumble, because she is not putting any weight on her left front paw. I think her front left paw came out from under her. I also noticed that she was shvering a little bit after I had taken her outside this afternoon. She was shivering as if she were cold, her teeth were even chattering. She has never done this before. Is this part of the vestibular syndrome? Will she continue to have episodes of not being able to hold herself up?
Thank you for any advise.
Belinda

One of the problems with determining what symptoms are vestibular syndrome and what are not is that older dogs often have other degenerative issues-arthritis, hip or elbow dysplasia for example.
You also don't mention where you are-if the weather is cold where you are the shivering may be normal-older dogs will often be more sensitive to cold.
But since shivering can also be an indication of pain and you mention trouble with the left front paw it would be wise to check with your vet and ensure that the problem with the foot is not severe.
As for continuing balance problems, if you read through some of the other comments you will see that some dogs have chronic problems while others will have one episode and be fine. It is impossible to predict how an individual dog will react.

Thank you, Dr. Smith, for creating this website, and to all who have posted to it. For those whose dogs are recovering, best wishes, and to those who've so sadly lost their companions, our sympathies. Like so many of you, just 24 hours ago we were thinking that our dog Moose had either a brain tumor or a dog stroke. Early this afternoon, however, he came back home with us, and he's been resting comfortably since. Thanks to all of your comments, though, we know that the next several days will be difficult, and perhaps even beyond. Those difficulties, however, are far better than what we thought initially would be the alternatives. When Moose suffered the symptoms yesterday morning that we all know by now so well, minus the vomiting/nausea, we rushed him to an excellent emergency/referral clinic here in Columbus. Thankfully both my wife and I are on vacation, as it took both of us to carry him to the car(he's a 75-pound Lab mix). When we left him at the clinic around 1 p.m. yesterday, our only hope was for something like the Lyme disease or others that have been noted. Although CVS had been mentioned, he had a couple non-conforming symptoms, so it wasn't considered likely. By mid-afternoon, however, my wife had found this and another helpful website. When the emergency vet had the results of the bloodwork and a surgery consult by around 6 p.m., she was leaning that way too, and an internist's consult this morning went that way too. When we brought him home around 12:30 this afternoon, he still can't stand, but can at least be supported by one of us holding his harness in front, and the other a lifting strap in back which we had from his leg surgery a few years ago, and this alone was a major improvement from yesterday. The second adventure was to successfully get him out to urinate, which we did about an hour after getting home. A bm trip later this evening must surely loom, but there it is . . . This afternoon, we had a chance to read through all of the postings here, many of which brought tears to our eyes. We are very lucky to both be on vacation when this happened and until this Monday, and thank you all for the advice and range of experiences here, which have been more helpful than even the most dedicated vet could be in terms of readying ourselves for the aftermath. Best wishes and merry Christmas to all.

Thank you Dawn for your response.
We live here in southern New Mexico where the temperatures have been between 50-65 degrees everyday.

Again, thank you for responding to me.

Belidna

Dear Dr. smith
Our 14.5 year old Australian Shepard mix is having his second bout of CVS. Last Aug he started falling down and our vet in NH told us to keep him comfortable and help him eat with baby food. He had a full recovery over about a month and was his old self going on long walks even running up hill. A couple of weeks ago he started losing his balance again, panting a lot and vomiting. We took him to the vet in FL. and he did blood work and said he had very low blood sugar. He wants to do a lot of tests to rule out Addisons disease, or pancreas /insulin problems, etc. Do you have any idea about the low sugar and what to do? Also he is not able to defecate. What is best for constipation? Thank you, Susan

Our little papillion,Kiwi, had an episode yesterday. I walked into the room where my 12 yr old was reading at the table and behind her Kiwi was laying on her side, on the floor. (we have 3 other dogs) I joking said, did you knock the little dog out? When Kiwi did not instantly get up hearing my voice, I called her name. Nothing. She was stiff, her tongue was turning blue, with the edges being white. Her eyes were slowly going back and forth as if looking from me to my daughter. We rushed her to the vet. (which is 25 mins from us as we live in the middle of nowhere) She was like this for approx. 15 mins. when she lifted her head, 5 mins later she sat up and was breathing in hard, short bursts. We had to simply leave her with the receptionist at the clinic where we were told the doc would need to watch her. Several hours later we picked her up. They said she was fine the whole time she was there and that he thinks she had a seizure. Her affect was very flat all evening. The left side of her face seems droopy. Her left eye is watering alot. the tip of her tiny pink tongue is sticky out. She looks like she has a major head ache. I don't think she had a stroke, which is why I am researching. Please give feedback if you have any. Thanks alot. Kiwi is only 3 yrs old.

In Kiwi's case, Canine Vestibular Syndrome is less likely but can't be ruled out yet. An epileptic seizure is a strong possibility. Animals suffering from epilepsy will often have 'aura' periods before and after where they are not themselves or seem 'out of it'. Unfortunately, epilepsy and canine vestibular sydrome are both difficult to definitively diagnose. You will need to work closely with your vet, possibly keep a log of any episodes-when, how long, what happens-to help pin down the problem. On the positive side, some dogs have one seizure (or seizure like episode) once in their life and that's it. Let's hope that's Kiwi's case!

I adopted a beagle/coon hound mix from the pound several years ago. My best guess is she's around 9 yrs old, but could be a bit older. In August 2008, we had our first run-in with vestibular disease. She was perfectly fine in the evening, but the next morning she woke up with many of the symptoms discussed here... no coordination or balance, falling over, wasn't eating well, seemed very tired, etc. She had an accident in the house, but in hindsight I attribute that to fear and confusion from the other symptoms. Fortunately, there was no vomiting, little to no nystagmus, and only a slight head tilt. I took her to the vet and they suggested the wait-and-see approach rather than immediately pursuing costly tests. Her improvement was slow but noticable over the first 3 or 4 days. For the next couple of weeks after that, she continued to improve until the only remaining symptoms were tiring out more easily, occassional trouble navigating stairs, and periodic "knuckling" (where a front paw would kind of roll forward, making her stumble). By November, she was pretty much back to normal, except she didn't seem to have the energy for the super long walks we used to take.
Everything was fine until now, when the same thing happened again. She was fine Tues. night but had most of the prior symptoms Wed. morning. I took her to the vet again since the fact that this was happening a 2nd time scared me immensely! My vet is even more convinced she is suffering from vestibular disease. She suggested I give her dramamine to help with the dizziness and balance issues, and a lot of TLC. She is already starting to improve. I went from having to lift her up the stairs yesterday to her cautiously going up them alone today. Still no vomiting or nystagmus, and she is eating ok (elevated food/water seems to help). There seems to be a bit more head tilt this time and her balance is very bad. I'm hopeful she will make the same type of recovery as before.
Thanks to all who contribute to this site. This is a heart-wrenching experience, but seeing how others dealt with it and hearing that other dogs recovered is SO encouraging. Also knowing other dogs have had a recurrance like mine gives me hope. Long live our 4-legged best friends!!

Our vet diagnosed our 13yr. old german shepherd almost immediatly. She went to bed fine & the next morning seemed paralyzed. She lay completly splayed out unable to even lift her head. She tilted badly to one side, her eye & mouth drooped & she was drooling. When I frantically explained that I thought our dog had a stroke the vet seemed to know. Apparently the symptoms are the same. Because she is 80lbs. & was not able to help us help her at all she needed to be hospitalized for 4 days. She was give fluids intravenusly in addition to "bonine", which is like dramamine without the sleepiness. Her recovery was amazing, although it took a full 2 weeks for her to be somewhat normal & 3 more for her to be her old self again. Unfortunetly she is now experiencing her 2nd bout with this. At least we are not quite so afraid this time & it doesn't seem to be as severe. We are able to care for her at home. I purchased a hip harness for her & it greatly helps with her balance for walking & going to the bathroom. She will use the harness to walk while she wouldn't even budge when I tried to use the towel around her abdomen. The harness wraps around each of her back legs with a handle for the human. It's a bit like working a marionette when she's on her leash for a walk. The harness doen't replace the regular leash, it aids her ability to walk & balance. But she can walk & take care of business, so it's so worth it. We are hoping for a recovery from this latest bout.

Our little 12 year old Bichon Roxanne suddenly became lethargic, sad and did not want to eat or drink and only wanted to wander and walk around the house aimlessly - pacing back and forth and not really interacting with us at all. After a day or so she is now walking in circles along with the pacing and head tilt. The first couple of days if she laid down she would cry and moan like she was in pain. After 3 vet visits and a number of blood tests - ruling out kidney failure and other things our vet thinks it is canine vestibular syndrome. Her eyes do not appear to be moving but she stares vacantly into space. She needed intravenous fluid and our vet gave her an antibiotic shot along with pain and nauseaus/anti-anxiety shot. It seems like if we can confine her to her crate or hold her next to us on the couch she has finally started to relax without crying. She prefers walking in circles however. She has not had any vomiting. It has been about 7 days and while she appears a bit better - she is still circling and does not want food or water. Can she have vestibular syndrome and not be having all of the symptoms?

Yes dogs can have Canine Vestibular Syndrome and not exhibit all of the symptoms. While nystagmus (the eye movement) is common it is not always seen in vestibular syndrome. The fact that your bichon is making slow but steady progress would suggest that your vet is on the right track.

Our 14 1/2 yr old Bichon Frise had an episode on the morning of Jan 19/08. He was walking in circles, confused, head titlted to one side and falling over when he walked. His eyes were moving side to side, and he would roll over in our arms when we lifted him up to do the stairs. He had tremors and didn't eat or drink for four days. We had to feed him soft food from our hands, and bring him a bowl of water to encourage him to drink. We were devastated, and thought he was having a stroke. The vet diagnosed him with Geriatric Vestibular Disorder, however some young dogs get it as well. The vet said they did not know the cause, but placed him on prednisone. The vet , and everything I read on the internet alluded to the fact that most dogs recover from this on their own, even without the prednisone. Well, it has been just over two weeks now, and I wouldn't have believed it, but he is walking without falling, takes the stairs inside and out, although carefully, and is back to eating and drinking normally now. He still has some residual dizziness, and his head tilts to one side but he is pretty much back to his old self. He can jump up and down off the couch again, but has some difficulty coming down a long flight of stairs. He seems to have less energy for walks, but we take him out anyway, and he loves it. It is a miracle, but if you just wait it out, your dog will probably recover. We were so scared we would lose him,my husband and I cried. WE were not ready to say goodbye. We can now leave him alone in the house and not worry that he will fall down the stairs. Mt vet said that what function he doesn't have in 6 wks, he will never have. He seemed to start showing improvement 8-9 days after the episode. If he never gets any better than he is now, it is good, and he is living a comfortable and happy life. I sure hope this helps anyone whose dog has this disorder. Apparently it is quite common. Good luck!

I have a 1yr, 9 mnth old female Avant rednose pitbull. She had 7 puppies in August 2008 and had an infection that was corrected through a spay. In the midst of all that, she began to lose her sight and as of now she is totally blind or that is what it seems. She has spiratic behavior such as waking up as if she was living in a nightmare she was having. Retreating as if something was after her. She also twitches her mouth and nose alot as if something was stinging her in the face and mouth. Does anyone have any advice or clue as to what is going on with my "Reeses?"

My 13 y/o Princess Head (poodle), Melissa... when she walks down the steps, it's almose like she "leans" against the wall on her way down. I haven't noticed the eye irregularities, but she certainly does have balance issues and vomiting a few hours after she eats. I just noticed all of this yesturday and have an appt. w/ her Dr. tomorrow. Being anal as I am, I need to arm/brace myself with as much (sometimes too much) information. She is very uneasy on her feet and walks oddly, she also arches her back tremendously when she walks. There is only a slight head tilt. Again, no nystagmus or facial disorder. I (as much as it saddens me) can't really afford an MRI or CT scan. Are there any other diffinitive tests the Dr. could perform to resonably diagnose CVS -v- stroke?
Thank you so much!!
CJM

While the tests can rule out some possibilities, in the case of both Canine Vestibular Syndrome and stroke, the most important thing is that dogs often can recover to a great extent from either. So, while it is would be great to know the diagnosis, if your funds are limited your efforts should concentrate on making the dog as comfortable as possible, providing supportive care (nutrition and hydration, massage/acupressure and the like).

It has been so comforting to find this site. Last week my 14 year old springer spaniel out of the blue started to stumble around, fall, had the eye nystagmus and my first thought was a seizure. When it was apparent to me that he wasn't having a seizre my next thought was a stroke. Within 5 minutes the episode was over and he was acting totally normal. A quick search on the internet led us to believe it was Vestibular Syndrome, although he didn't experience any vomiting. I called my vet the next day and they told me that no it was likely a seizure which could be a reaction to an antibiotic he was one for an anal gland infection. I'm an RN so I was skeptical that this had been a seizure, but they are the animal specialists, they should know. Now a week later he has had more of these episodes although not quite as bad but at this time still has trouble with balance, falling down, head tilts to the right side and he's terrified to go down the 6 to 7 steps to get outside and has to be carried. And he won't take any food or water. I have a call in to my vet to explain the situation further, let them know that I think this is the problem he's experiencing, not seizures and get their take on it. It seems like I'll need to wait it out for a couple more weeks. Thanks for all the info.

I have an 8 year old Min. Pin. About 2 years ago she had this systom with stiffing of the legs eyes wide , loss of balance, It lasted abiout 10 minutes. Then she shook alot and layed down for 45 -60 minutes. Then she seemed normal again. This happen about every 4-5 months untill this month. She has had 4 of these episodes in the past 3 1/2 weeks. They only last 10-15 min. then she gets steady again. But now she is vomiting some too. We thought it was seizures but now that I have read all this on your site, I'm pretty sure it is Vestibular.
I can not afford all the tests the Vets here want to run and they do not seem to know what it is. I think because she is always fine when we take her in as I said they only last a short time but are getting more frequent. She eats fine acts fine . We have changed her diet but it has not seemed to have helped. I think it is in her ears , she does not scratch or wine when you rub them and she really does not have a head tilt. The articals I have read suggest a bacterial antiboitic and a sulfur drug. I do alot of my own treatments as I have horses and keep alot of meds on hand. My Vet for the dogs passed away this year and my horse Vet said to find out what I needed and he would get it for me. Can you help me with what the names of the drugs that i Need.

Hope in Waco, Tx

Thanks for the most comprehensive article on CVS on the web. My 15 year old Shepherd mix Jolly likely has vestibular syndrome. He collapsed on the street and couldn't walk. When we got home I noticed the rolling eyes and turning to the right. The vet thinks/hopes it's CVS and not a stroke. It's been 4 days. The nystagmus is gone. Yesterday he held up his head. But we've also had some setbacks: the first 30 hours, he ate fine. Then for 2 days he threw up everything. Today he won't eat, but he at least can keep water down.
I hate to see him suffering like this. He's alert, but miserable.
Does the above count as progress?

For Jolly, yes that is progress. The willingness to eat will vary with the level of nausea. Try adding some baby food or bouillon to the water to add some nutrition. While it is difficult to watch our pets struggle with canine vestibular syndrome, as long as they are making progress, it is worth it.
For the Min Pin- while I am not a vet, it does seem more like seizures than vestibular syndrome. Perhaps your horse vet can help with this. There are no specific antibiotics for vestibular syndrome, just supportive care.

Dear Dawn,

I have a 12 1/2 year old female Border Collie and she has all of the signs of vestibular disease, including the sudden onset, nausea, vomiting, nystagmus, and head tilted to the right. This started two weeks ago tomorrow and while her nystagmus has subsided and she is taking food and water by hand, her head tilt is still very bad. I am becoming concerned that this could be a brain tumor and not the self-correcting vestibular disease because she is still debilitated after two weeks. Is it abnormal or unheard of that she might still be suffering from vestibular disease and not correcting her head tilt after two weeks. The head tilt causes her to circle to the right and to bump into things. Most websites say that dogs show improvement after 3-5 days and are fully recovered within two or three weeks. She is being treated by a vet and has been taking prednezone (but, i would like to wean her off it as it seems to cause unpleasant side effects). Should I be getting more concerned or just give her more time to recover? Any advice you can offer will help. This has been an extremely traumatic few weeks.

Thanks, Tracy

Since you have seen improvement, canine vestibular syndrome is still a possibility. Remember that recovery from vestibular syndrome may take more than two weeks. The numbers given are averages. Some never completely recover from the head tilt but that does not seem to concern them (only us). Many who have a permanent head tilt lead pretty normal lives, although your dog's tendency to bump into things is a concern. If you are able to afford testing for possible brain tumor that would go a long way in determining what is going on in this case.
If you are unable to do the testing right now it might be worthwhile to wean her off the prednisolone and see how she does. That may give you some insight into whether her progress is linked to the anti-inflammatory drug or whether she is progressing on her own. That may also help you and your vet to plan a course of care.
Good luck!

My maltese is probably about 12 (she's a puppymill rescue and we're not really sure of her age), but about two weeks ago while she was in the yard I noticed her falling down, then I noticed drooling, and her eyes twitching from side to side. I rushed her to the vet and they did all the blood test and everything and think it was either Vestibular Syndrome or a Brain Tummor. The drooling stoppped slowed then stopped after a few hours the rapid eye movement went on for a couple of days but slowly got better. She wouldn't eat for about 5 days, then she started getting better and got to the point that she only had a small head tilt (that all took about a week and a half), then 3 days later the head tilt got much worse, though she was still eating and eating like she felt fine, then I noticed she was having trouble seeing out of one eye, but still acting like she was well. Also I was out of town for a few days before she had the seizure and my roommate said that one of the dogs had been throwing up, but she couldn't pinpoint which one (I have four). What do you think?

While Canine vestibular syndrome is certainly a possibility in this case, the seizures may be an indicator of something else. But it is not unusual for dogs to relapse (see some of the comments above), especially having the head tilt return.
It would be good to consult with your vet to get input on these changes.

My 13 year old Bichon Frise started with this last Friday. My vet suggested
one half of a Drammamine tablet in the am and a quarter of a Drammamine tablet in the pm. This has stopped the vomiting and he seems to be improving. He does still suffer from the side to side eye movement and his gait is still unsteady, he falls over when he tries to shake his head/body. He doesen't seem to want to up or down stairs either. He also was diagnosed with cancerous mass on his lung about a month ago. We've tried rice and boiled chicken with a little chicken broth and he can tolerate it in small portions. Some of the time the food drops out of his mouth and he doesn't seem to be able to chew. Anything more we can try? I'm just sick about this!

If your dog is having trouble chewing and swallowing (coordination may be slow to return even though the dramamine is helping with the nausea) try baby food or put his food in the blender to make a puree. Get a feeding syringe and squirt small amounts into his mouth, making sure he is swallowing and not taking the liquid into his lungs. It may also help to hold his head up slightly if he is unable to do so himself. It may take some time to recover from canine vestibular syndrome but supportive care goes a long way to shortening that time.

i have a 5yr old Shih Tzu and she is haveing problems the vet seems to be guessing as to whats wrong. first i noticed she was drowlling alot, the next day she was having trobles walking, seemed to be circling abit, now she is falling all over the place and noticed that her spine seems twisted and that right rear leg seem real weak and is turned under her. her left eye is buldging and sagging,the right seems fine. she can't use her tounge well, she eats strips of food out my hand and most of that ends up falling on the floor. the vet has said it could an ear infection, a stroke, brain lesions, neurological problems, he did no blood work or x-rays,

It is important that you talk to your vet-did the vet look in the ears to rule out an ear infection? Did he discuss doing any other testing? While time will help to determine if it was a stroke, vestibular syndrome or other neurological problem eliminating the possibility of an ear infection is pretty straightforward.
When you talk to the vet don't hesitate to ask lots of questions and be sure you are getting the care you need for your dog.

Looking for help for my Lab!
I have a 6 1/2 yo female lab who has been very healthy. About a week ago we noticed she seemd to be slipping around on tile floor (more than normal). A week ago yesterday she became ataxic and started stumbling aoround like she was drunk. Vet gave her deramaxx and said we would check the following week for hip displaycia. By the next day she could not walk at all. ER vet said could be various things but was leaning toward stroke or GME. In addition to the inablility to walk her left eye was showing symptoms of Horners syndrome. She went back to the vet 6 days ago and was started on prednisone. THe vet also started her on dycycline (?) in case she had been bitten by a tick. She is now home and has started walking again but still is wobbly. She actually runs better than she walks. She also tries to walk on top of her left foot and tends to drag that leg some. The eyes have cleared up. Could this be vestibular syndrome? With the eye symtoms could it be IVDD? I really cannot afford the $3000 neuroligical testing. Someone suggested if it IVDD that a canine chiropractor could help. Thanks for your input.

The symptoms you describe your lab as having might be associated with canine vestibular syndrome but given the variety of symptoms it is hard to rule other things out. As the neurological testing is out of the question for you, time will be the best help in figuring out what happened to your dog.I am not a vet but if it were my dog I would think about waiting until she has finished the medications (antibiotics and steriods)before starting a course with the chiropractor as it would be difficult to tell what helped her if you do everything at once. Once she is off medications, if the problem persists then a chiropractic (or other alternative medicine) evaluation might be of value.

My 14 yr Chow/Huskey mix had vestibular syndrome about a year ago and recovered the worst symptoms after a week 1/2. The vet told us it would not come back, and that she learned to compensate for the unsteadiness. Well she is worst now, the vet said she either had a stroke or the vestibular syndrome is back. Either way there was no treatment to suggest except TLC. Her head is almost sideways, she is falling over and so scared of the stairs. She was eating well the first day but was sick last night. The vet told us her heart was not strong. I guess my question is do dogs always recover with vestibular? I just a little scared this time that she won't get better this time. We are going to build her a ramp for the front door.

Unfortunately, canine vestibular syndrome can recur and sometimes dogs do not recover enough to lead a healthy life. If the relapse has just occurred I would suggest giving her some time to see how much progress she makes. Usually the most significant progress occurs within a few weeks. Give her the supportive care recommended by your vet and see how she is doing in a week or two.
Good Luck!

I have a 14.5 year old female sled dog who has gone "down hill" in the last 9 months. She has had lower energy and withdrawn from socializing with people and the other dogs. She is thin despite eating more than twice the food she would need when she was younger. She also has some fecal incontinence. We tried Anapryl for two weeks and it made her more energetic but she is spending a lot of time walking in a circle (always to her right). When she is standing or laying down sometimes she will just move her head back and forth from center to right as though she was still mentally going in a circle. She will stop circling if she has something to focus on, for example if someone enters the room. It is mostly what she does when her mind is idle. We stopped Anapryl and giving an antibiotic to clear up an infection in her mouth. Again she is more active but spends the energy walking in a circle. She eats great and rarely throws up and there are no urinary housebreaking issues. She is still very physically strong.

My vet suspects a brain tumor but with the mouth infection (which may have been for a long time) and the fact that she *can* stop the circling I am wondering if she has some sort of infection in her inner ear or brain. I get labrynthitis sometimes and my Dr gives me a small dose of diazepam and it helps a lot. I am wondering if that or a dose of steroid could give us a hint if the circling is being caused by some infection/inflammation. Is there any hope that this is not a brain tumor? What kind of treatments can we try to explore other explanations? She gets eye discharge (more in her right eye) and her face has gotten a little droopy.

Thanks so much.

Amy

In the case of your sled dog the concerning thing is that fact that she was going downhill, losing weight and had behavioral changes (withdrawing from contact, none of which is consistent with canine vestibular syndrome. Since infection is a possibility it would be worthwhile talking to your vet about a course of anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics. Unfortunately your vet is right, given the symptoms you describe, to be concerned about a brain tumor. Let's hope that's not the case

Otis, our 5 year old cairn/lhasa mix just started with mild symptoms of vestibular disease yesterday. He only has a few of the symptoms: nystagmus, lethargy, loss of appetite. He is not showing any signs of head tilt, circling, he is able to walk, maneuver up and down stairs just fine etc... I have two thoughts: either this is a mild very mild case of peripheral vest. disease or are these signs indicative of the more serious central vest?
Thanks for any input you can provide!

Not every dog will have every symptom of canine vestibular syndrome. Because we don't know a lot about the etiology (cause) of vestibular syndrome it is hard to say that this is or isn't just a mild case. However, as a habitual optimist, I would lean toward mild case and just see what time brings. Chat with your vet and see what his/her thoughts are as well.

Our 14 year old sweet female black lab had a bout of vestibular syndrome in June which we initially feared was a stroke, arriving home to find her incontinent, drooling, trembling,nystagmus and unable to sit up. IV fluids and an antiemetic enable her to walk out of the vet's office 2 hours later. Just this morning we witnessed another attack, exactly as the first and once again after the same treatments she has recovered enough to get to her waterbowl and outside. I will give her subq fluids and meclizine the next couple of days, but it is amazing, the onset of crisis and rapid recovery (even after 32 years as an R.N.) I have witnessed in her with each episode.

I have a three year old pitbull that had a severe inner ear infection that caused her head to tilt and she showed other symptoms such as rapid eye movement, falling down, and loss of appetite. When I took her to the vet she said she thought it was an ear infection and put her on pretnesone and tribissen 960 for a week. The next day she got worse and couldnt stand or eat and drink at all. She would roll over constantly and whine. I hand fed her and gave her pedialite to hydrate her along with the medication and by the end of the week she was back to normal. About two weeks later I noticed her face drooping and she was walking in circles when she was outside. I called the vet and told her the infection was coming back and she put her on the tribissen for 3 more weeks. Its been 4 days now and the condition hasnt changed. Is the tribissen an appropriate antibiotic for this and should she be placed on a longer course than 3 weeks? Thanks for any information you can give me.

Your vet is the best person to determine the appropriate antibiotic for an ear infection.If you are concerned about the possibility of canine vestibular syndrome, you should have a talk with her. It is more unusual in younger dogs like yours. If there has been no response at two weeks into the antibiotics, then you again need to talk to your vet about whether a longer course of tribrissen or a change of antibiotics would be best for your dog.

My 14.5 year-old basset came down with this syndrome February 13. I had her to the vet the following morning. Like many others, I thought certain I was going to lose my old girl to a stroke. I was relieved to hear that it was likely this condition. After a terrifying first few days of spoon feeding canned food and forcing snow into her mouth, Lady began to return to normal. Walking was tentative at first, and then better. However, she seems to be recovering in fits and starts. During the second week or so, she seemed almost like an Alzheimer's patient in that she didn't really seem to recognize me, had to be led to her food and water, and had forgotten all of her daily rituals. Gradually, most of her personality has returned.

I am concerned, however, because she now seems to be having trouble with her legs, particularly her hind. She will not go down stairs or steps, she just freezes. At first I reckoned this to be anxiety. However, she will now climb up stairs to come looking for me if I am away too long; this seems to cause pain however, as she will usually cry for a good half-hour or more after doing this. I have seen no mention of these types of symptoms on here. Also, it has now been a little more than four weeks- is this too long? All of the symptoms until now have been pretty much spot-on with this diagnosis. Thank you for this great forum

The initial description does seem to be like canine vestibular syndrome but, as you noted, the hind limb weakness (or pain) is not typical of vestibular syndrome. One possibility is that her lack of activity during the recovery period has left her stiff and sore. Or that there was back or rear leg arthritis prior to the vestibular syndrome episode that has now worsened from the lack of movement.
Talk to your vet about this new development to see what can be done to make her feel better.

Hello Dawn! I wrote a comment several days ago about my 6yo lab. (March 8 - Looking for help with my Lab) Just an update and a question/concern. She has responded fairly well to steroids (30mg prednisone) although she still has some ataxia and knuckling on her left rear paw. The vet is currently taking the dosage down to see how she reacts. My concern today is another dog/another issue I would like to get your thoughts on. My son had a 5 month old yellow lab puppy. She was a very healthy and a big lab already at 50 pounds. Extremely playful lots of energy. Dog went out this morning and was running and playing in the backyard along with two other grown labs. About ten minutes later my son went out into his backyard and found the puppy dead. No apparent trauma, does not appear to have choked on anything. Your thoughts??

So glad to know the vestibular syndrome lab is responding and improving. And so very sorry for your son. About the only way you will ever get an answer as to why the puppy died would be to have the vet perform a necropsy/postmortem exam. If that is not possible the few things that spring to mind are congential (from birth, not necessarily always hereditary)heart defect of some type or a freak accident- he might have gotten slammed into (or did the slamming into) in such a way that a major blood vessel ruptured causing him to bleed out? Talk to your vet as well there might be other possibilities.

Hi, We have a 13 yr old terrier , he been diabetic for 2 yrs ,we give him insulin and is stabilized,so thats OK he also got blind , apox 6mths, but has found is way around the house, using the walls, and different feels of tiles /carpet, so thats OK and doing great
last week notice head tilt and symtoms of vistibular syndrome, hes eating great, and drinking water , we have to lift him outside to do his business, Vet has him
on medication and have seen improvement ,Hes in NO pain and normally doing great question does the swaying go away, and would he possible walk straight again ?

As you can see by some of the other comments, in many cases the balance problems do go away but it may take some time. Be sure your dog is eating and drinking ok and help him get around so he does not waste energy that he needs for recovery. Good Luck!

Our dogs ["the girls"] are both approaching 13 yrs old this summer. they are mixed breed aussi-shep mid-sized, approx 60-65#'s. Easter Sunday on our way back from a short hike (2+ miles, with elevation gain and hills) one of the dogs appeared to trip up herself as we completed the trail. It took her a moment or two to eventually stabilize herself. Since we were on a slight slope on natural terrain/trail, I thought she had simply lost her footing, since she was also looking up behind us at a few kids who were just above us on the trail. Yet, as we watched her, we started to think she maybe had a stoke, as she seemed a bit disoriented, stumbling some. It took her a few moments to regain her footing, and we could see it was one-sided, she was listing left. After approx. 1-2 minutes she was steady, appeared fine, and we were on our way home (another1/2 mile walk neighborhood). The rest of the day she seemed normal, eating, normal movements, etc. However, Monday morning when the dogs came to the kitchen to eat, she involuntarily peeded on the floor while standing at her dish. this was out of character and I felt that it had something to do with her episode on Sunday. During the day she appeared fine, walking stairs, etc. Then by Monday lat afternoon she went down the steps to the landing by the front door, she often likes to sit there and watch the world thru the glass. Yet she never sat and was moving in circles and again had involuntarily peeded on the floor. Ironically, I was just finishing a conversation with our vet as this was taking place. As it was very late afternoon I was not sure we could get her in to be seen. I hung up, and let her outside and watched her behavior - again she was disoriented, stumbling as she tried to walk. We took her in that evening, and they diagnosed her with Vestibular Syndrome. The vet ruled out middle ear infection, though this could cause the same condition/symptoms, the vet pointed out the tell-tail eye movement,they move like windshield wipers, and her head was clearly tilted to the left. Unfortunately, her condition degraded so much while we were there that when we we left she could no longer walk by herself, she literally would just fall over. With assistance from the vet tech, we carried her into the car, then I carried in from the car into our home and set up a space for her downstairs in our home. Good signs were that she is alert, coherent, and recognizes us. She wagged her tail when my husband came home that evening. By comparison, those are examples of behaviors and awareness that one would not necessarily see in behavior of an animal who suffered stoke.

It's important to know this is a sudden onset type condition, it's symptoms can worsen at alarming rates, and while prognosis is good, it's duration and recovery time vary from animal to animal, without any rationale. The best thing we can do for our pats under circumstances is be patinet, make them feel the love we always have for them, care for them best we can, and keep them in a smaller contained and "safe place" while recovering. In our case, as example, we took all potentially hazardous objects from the room and placed pillows where we could not move things. If/when she tried to get up she staggers and stumbles into things so we want to minimize any risk of physically injury she could cause to herself as best possible as she tries to regain use of legs and body.

We've also learned there is not really much they can do for Vestibular Syndrome, each dogs situation is handled slightly differently. In our case, the vet has suggested Benadryl daily to assist with any potential vomiting and dizziness (she had/has not vomited and actually has a good appetite through this). It can also cause drowsiness, which in this case can help calm her down. Pets under these circumstances are afraid, panicky, and need calming. The balance is effected by inner/middle ear, but in this case, it is neurologically driven symptoms, not driven by infection, but treatment is similar. As for prognosis, we were told that it could be a few days to a few weeks for her to overcome this episode, but no no really understand this syndrome and it effects dogs differently. Though prognosis is reasonably good, we won't know if she will fully come back or be left with balance/head-tilting issues (apparently very common, but permanent residue effects) until we wait it out with her.

Though she has a very good appetite, we cut back her food quantity to a 1/3 to1/2 of normal amount in morning, then add in few small treats afternoon and evening. She has not evacuated bowl yet, and one concern the vet had was not to allow her to become constipated. I am wondering if the Benadryl possibly causes this. I am giving her also, a dog multi-vit and 250mg of vit-c to encorage things to move as normally possible. My husband carries her to the lawn morning and night holding her up and encouraging her to go. She has peeded, and we clean up as we go with that. I keep a folded towel under her during day and change it out if/when she goes. She has not gotten up on her own in 2+ days now. I had considered baby diaper, but realize there may be move mess if things are loose than if she just goes on the towel and we clean up afterwards. Plus, she's the type of dog who would try to get a diaper off her body.

She is eating and drinking with our assistance of bringing her bowl to her face, I set it up higher using a folded towel to her left side, as she is better at getting tot he dish that way. And, today [Wednesday], we see her slightly beginning to lift her head up using her forepaws to do so. She tried to sit up to get a cookie/dog treat, so those are encouraging signs.

Through all of this we try to make her feel like it's business as usual, not to upset the daily routine any more than necessary under circumstances. Her sister (they girls are litter mates) has been right along her side, camping out with all of us downstairs. Of course they both are being pampered, and that's perfectly fine by us. We just want her to have every opportunity to bounce back from this. And we are on the take it one-day-at-a-time plan until we get there, with understanding she may not make full recovery. We know we have to deal with things as we go.

It is nice to read everyones stories as sometime you find things very useful/ helpful and good insight to the situation. Thanks to all of you who have posted.

A few days ago, my parents brought their 15 year old dog to the vet for her annual shots and also to check out a skin problem she's been having. The vet gave her some antibiotics for the skin problem and also a cortisone shot. He also cleaned her ears. When he was cleaning one of the ears, she yelped and he said the ear looked inflamed. He gave her some ear drops and also eye drops because her eyes had been watering. She was fine for a few hours when they got back but in the evening she suddenly fell over and was experiencing all of the symptoms in this article - darting eyes, vomiting, not eating or drinking, inability to stand or walk. They brought her back and the vet said it could be Vestibular syndrome or a brain tumor or a number of things. The next couple of days, my parents forced her to drink and hand-fed her chicken and she has gotten a lot better. She's eating and drinking on her own and can walk (although not straight). She still gets dizzy and stumbles. She also tries to shake her head a lot (like there's fluid in her ears?). They have stopped giving her both the ear drops and the eye drops in case one of those could have brought it on. Could it have been brought on or made worse by the drops or by the vet going in her ear with the q-tip? Also, she has not had a bowel movement since this first happened 3-4 days ago. Is that something to be concerned about?

It is hard to know what role the treatments your dog got might have had as we know so little about what causes canine vestibular syndrome. The fact that she is shaking her head may indicate that there is still inflammation or infection in that ear. Your parents should talk to their vet about putting her back on the ear drops (if she has another episode then the ear drops might be a problem) or trying a different ear drop to clear up the problem. She may not have had a bowel movement because she is not eating much and is less active but again have your parents talk to her vet about this.

My 8 year old springer spanial was diagnosed with vestiblur Syndrome last year. She continued to have her dizzy spells every now and again, however in November she had her first seizure. I took her to the vets after she had about 3 fits in one month. The vet suggested Epilepsi and she is now on medication. The problem is she is still very dizzy on every walk we have, although the fits have decreased. The research I have done suggests that vestibular syndrome only lasts a few weeks, however my dog has had symptoms for over a year. Thank you for any advice you can give.

In the case of your springer spaniel, it would seem that this is more than canine vestibular syndrome. Seizures are not considered a part of the syndrome. Epilepsy, as suggested by your vet seems much more likely. It often takes time for epilepsy medication to reach therapeutic levels. And doses often have to be adjusted or different types of medication tried before an epileptic dog is stabilized. You will need to work closely with your vet on this.

This past Tues morning...9 yr old Shih Tzu Andy ate breakfast...came downstairs to the family room. Jumped up onto the ottoman for a snooze and soon after started to whine. I picked him up and he seemed a bit limp so I put him down and he had no motor skills...just flopped over. I noticed his eyes darting from side to side and rushed him to the ER at the vet hospital within 5 minutes. Dr. gave Andy a shot of cortisone and valium...put him on IV and meds for stomach coating. Within 1 hr...Andy was sitting up in his cage watching all the goings on in the surgery where they keep all boderline animals for constant watching. Next morning our vet called to say Andy could come home. Andy is on clavamox for the next week. The vet said he was very shocked that Andy came around so quickly and his thought was that this episode was not an inner ear issue but more something on the outside? Once Andy is off the meds time will tell if he reverts. He is perfectly normal as tho the episode never happened. After reading all the comments by others I wonder why Andy is not and has not shown any other symptons as most all the other animals have. We are so frightened that something is going to happen to our Andy. Has anyone else out there had their pet respond so fast with no ill effects. It has been 4 days now and we are still very frightened.

I have a 12.5 yr old shepherd/pincher/hound mix. He's had the start of hip problems over the past year. Saturday, after taking a nap on the cool garage floor, he awoke when my husband came home, and he had trouble getting up; when he did, he stumbled around like he was very drunk, walking into things, had trouble keeping balance. He still took a treat, though, and we rushed him to the vet. He was a little better by the time we got him to the vet, and the vet pointed out the darting eyes; said it was most likely a small stroke, and possibly even a brain tumor. He gave him a steriod shot, and prescribed a round of Dexamethasone. It has been not quite 48 hours; he still has trouble walking - his eyes are still darting, and he is still eating small meals of softer food. He seems to still have vertigo, and outside of staggering out to do business, perfers to lay on the floor in the garage for hours . . . doesn't even want to come in the house. I found this website, and am cautiously hopeful that maybe it is the condition you describe herein. I see that some improvement is typically seen in 72 hours. Are there cases where it takes longer to improve, and should I try Prednisone if there is no improvement? We are very very worried about our friend, and any comments would be most appreciated. Thank you!!

For the shih tzu, its hard to say right now what happened. This is not typical of canine vestibular syndrome. I don't want to worry you but one other possibility would be a seizure-that does not necessarily mean epilepsy (where he would continue to have these episodes)-there are many dogs who have one episode such as you have described and never experience anything like it again. Another thing to check into is where he was just before it happened. Is there any possibility he could have gotten into something mildly toxic? Have a check around the house and yard just to be sure.
For the shepherd mix, yes in some cases it takes more than 72 hours to see real improvement but if it has been a week with none at all it is time to chat with your vet about other possible causes and potential treatments just to be sure you are doing everything you can for him. Remember too that when a dog is disoriented(vertigo/stumbling)he will be reluctant to move and possibly to eat so it is important to help him get up (if he is struggling) and to eat (soft foods may be easier to handle for example. Good luck

can this affect wiener dogs because my dog has the exact same symtoms

Canine vestibular syndrome affects all breeds (and mixed breeds) of dogs

Hello, Dawn. Thank you for this article.

My 13 year old mixed breed dog, Shadow, had an episode earlier week (which I didn't see -- my boyfriend was home). We'd initially thought it was a stroke or seizure. We took him to the vet immediately, but initial blood tests came back completely normal, and the vet couldn't make a diagnosis. He recovered completely within a couple of hours.

He had another spell this morning, crying, seeming dizzy, staggering and bobbling his head. I sat with him, trying to keep him quiet and calm, and he again recovered in about an hour and a half. It didn't seem like a seizure to me (although possibly I didn't wake up until he was only suffering from the afterefects). His symptoms seem closer to your description of vestibular syndrome.

However, I'm wondering if such a "quick" recovery would mean that it is something else... do some dogs return to normal after only a couple of hours, and experience recurring episodes?

Thanks for your input.

Best regards,
Kristen

Kristen,
It is not usual for canine vestibular syndrome to be so suddenly reversed. I would talk further with your vet about the possibility of epilepsy- seizures can take many forms so it is a possibility. And the sudden onset and recovery are more like epileptiform seizures than vestibular syndrome. Chat with your vet and good luck
Dawn

Our 14 year old Dobbie/Border Collie mix is having trouble standing up all of a sudden. She ate some food this morning and then got sick all over. She was wobbly in the hind quarters and drooling for about 2 hours. The drooling as since stopped but she still has the problem with her back legs and she looks drunk when she is up and walking, can't do the normal circle and plop down because she looks dizzy. She doesn't have and erratic eye movements or facial twitches. Could this be canine vestibular syndrome?

Hi...i have an 8 year old lab and she hasnt been well for quite a bit...she started almost 2 months ago with seizures that were caused from her eating some sort of poison. we started her on phenobarbital pills to stop seizures. that has worked but she still looked weak,head tilt but was eating and drinking and she looked to be getting better.from thursday she has looked worse now she cant walk seems to have lost feeling in all he left side, her eye is droopy, bites her lip hard and doesnt realise it i have to open her mouth and take it out. most worrying is that she doesnt eat or drink and she hasnt urinated for almost 2 days...what can i do to help her and what do you think she has? my vet said all we can do is wait and that she probabbly banged her head somewhere and caused bleeding in her brain.

Hello, my toy poodle Tiffany that is 14years old has been having difficulties and has brought this website to me...so thank you very much! About 4 days ago my dog woke up at 3am wed with constant vomitting for 1 1/2hrs. I just thought she had some sort of bug. She has been very healthy previously. Well...the vomitting continued but then the wobblyness and could not walk or stand up happened. I then rushed her to the ER at 5am. They stated that she could have CVS and or a tumor. The ER doctor gave her a antinausea shot. I had to transfer her to my regular vet at 8am. I left her at the vet for the day while I worked. I was ready to put her to sleep because of the heartache. I didn't want her suffering and didn't want to see her in this condition. A month previous I had to put my 12year old poodle to sleep due to Congestive heart failure. I treated her for a year then she started having kidney failure and after several hundreds of dollars later began to suffer. I had to put her down so that she would not suffer. Needless to say I am still heart broken from my other dog and now broke that I thought I could not go through this again. The doctor just said that we needed to be patient with this situation and see what happens. She has been getting sub q fluids and has had a antibiotic shot with antinausea shots given to her. I have actually started to see an improvement slightly. She can stand up now but doesn't move alot. I have kept her in a crate (which I hate...I feel like its jail for them and never have liked it) but was told that they really need that along with rest. I am really concerned now because my dog just started to drink a little water but will not eat at all!! The doctor has tryed to force feed her but she clamps her mouth shut and freaks out if anyone tries to mess with her mouth. I have heard of the babyfood trick and gave her chicken to eat but still no luck. I was not okay with her condition until I read your website and made me feel that there is hope with her. The only thing that I am concerned with is her not eating and don't know what to do at all??? Please help! I love this little girl so much! Thank you!! Tammy

My dog is about 13-14 yrs old, she had fallen down the stairs one night and I checked her out and everything seemed fine. About 3 days later she was starting to fall her back legs would just give out. I took her to the vet and he did some blood work and x-rays and the x-rays showed she had arthritis in both hips, her blood work was good that was on a Thursday by saturday my poor dog could not even stand and was shaking, I rushed her to the vet and the vet thought she might have vestibular disease and sent me home with ear medicine, antibotics and dramamine. She started doing better but when her antibotics were all done which was 5 days by the Saturday her head is tilted to the left side and she is back to fallen and leaning to the left. Her vet said maybe she needed to be longer on antibotics so we are on another round of medicine. I have read the comments people are leaving but I'm just wondering if anybody has had the same experience with a dog getting better and than seven days getting worse? My dog is eating and drinking but sleeps most of the time and is hard to get her up or less she hears me in the kitchen. It is very hard to see her like this I don't know if she is in pain or not, I have pain medicine I can give her but I don't want to drug her if she isn't in any pain. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have an 8 1/2 year old cocker spaniel female, Twinkie, that started out about a month ago with a head tilt. Since I have struggled with ear infections with her, my vet and I thought that's what the problem was. There was no nystagmus in the initial episode. We put her on a week long course of Baytril and pred. She seemed to steadily improve and the head tilt was very slight at worst. Then a week after the improvement, she got a worse head tilt, overnight, and within a day I noticed the nystagmus, with her pupils falling from upper left to lower right, diagonally. We put her back on pred, antibiotics and a baby aspirin, thinking possibly stroke or CVS, although she has never lost her appetite or vomited. It has been about 4 days since the second episode. She will not go down stairs, just stands at the top and has her head tilted all the way up and down, looking down, wagging her tail. We carry Twinkie down. She goes up stairs great, bounding up. When we carry her, she seems more disoriented and struggles for a couple of seconds when we first put her down to get her balance back. After that she trots away, fairly straight but with her head tilted. She seems happy, and like I said, never misses a meal or treat! Do you think this is CVS, stroke, or inner ear infection. Her ears are not red or painful and have no discharge or smell at this time. We are baffled and want to follow the best course of treatment for Twink.

Hi,

I need help with diagnosis please. My 11 yr old golden retriever had a pyo and was operated on 7 days ago. She recovered well from the op but last night when I cam ehome from work she could hardly stand on her left hind leg and her right eye had 'dropped" ( the eyelids) and this morning she even slightly walks funny on her front left foot. She is sitting and puffing a bit too occasionally like in a sort of distress. She ate and drank this morning ( from my hand) . Is this the vestibular syndrome or stroke. My vet has no idea!!! Also, what would be the treatment in either case if any.

I would appreciate a comment please, Thanks a lot ,


Silvana

I have an 8 1/2 year old cocker spaniel female, Twinkie, that started out about a month ago with a head tilt. Since I have struggled with ear infections with her, my vet and I thought that's what the problem was. There was no nystagmus in the initial episode. We put her on a week long course of Baytril and pred. She seemed to steadily improve and the head tilt was very slight at worst. Then a week after the improvement, she got a worse head tilt, overnight, and within a day I noticed the nystagmus, with her pupils falling from upper left to lower right, diagonally. We put her back on pred, antibiotics and a baby aspirin, thinking possibly stroke or CVS, although she has never lost her appetite or vomited. It has been about 4 days since the second episode. She will not go down stairs, just stands at the top and has her head tilted all the way up and down, looking down, wagging her tail. We carry Twinkie down. She goes up stairs great, bounding up. When we carry her, she seems more disoriented and struggles for a couple of seconds when we first put her down to get her balance back. After that she trots away, fairly straight but with her head tilted. She seems happy, and like I said, never misses a meal or treat! Do you think this is CVS, stroke, or inner ear infection. Her ears are not red or painful and have no discharge or smell at this time. We are baffled and want to follow the best course of treatment for Twink.

This is truly a helpful site. My 8 yr old heeler cross started acting wierd yesterday, this morning would not eat, disoriented, turned around & fell twice. Very healthy, ball-driven dog. Head tilt, dizzy,back legs out of synch. I went thru this once but with an 18 yr.old,which never got better. I will watch & post. Thanks to all.
Tony in Albq.

The symptoms described for the Dobie/Border collie could be vestibular syndrome but your vet should be consulted to rule out other possibilities.
The situation with the lab is different as there may have been permanent damage from the poisoning,there may be idiopathic epilepsy or there may have been a stroke.If there is no improvement in a few days talk to your vet again to see what else you might need to consider.
For Tiffany, the poodle,if she is drinking any fluids or if you can drip fluids into the corner of her mouth, try using clear soups-chicken or beef. If she takes that, then try adding a little of the baby food to it-keeping it mostly liquid. She may not want to eat because she is nauseous. You can also try holding her head steady while offering food to see if that helps.
For the 13 yr old dog who has had a slight relapse, yes it can happen. Give it a little more time to see if there is going to be a good recovery.
For Twinkie-do have the vet check her ears and give her a once over just to be sure it is not something else but it seems very like canine vestibular syndrome. She is probably reluctant to go downstairs because that requires more balance and she can hold her head up when she goes up stairs. Good Luck.

Hi - this is the owner of the Shepherd/Pinscher/Hound mix. You were so kind to quickly respond to my comment (4/27), and I thought it might be helpful to give an update on my dog. It has been a week and three days since he had his episode. I must say, the first three days things looked bleak - he was extremely lethargic; head-tilt; darting eyes; barely walking; would eat, but unenthusiastically. He seemed confused and frightened. By day 3 there was a glimmer of hope, and although it has been a slow process until today, he is much, much better. I discussed the possibility of peripheral vestibular syndrome with my vet, and although he did not rule it out, he still leans towards a stroke. While there is a slight head tilt, and he still sleeps more than he did, he has retrieved the paper twice now (his most favorite activity), is excited once again if my husband or I come home (there was no enthusiasm towards anything in the beginning), he is demanding treats between meals, and wagging his tail. His happy demeanor seems to be returning. I am thankful for this website that stressed time is something that should be exercised - the same advice given by my vet, who said in cases such as these he likes to take a ‘wait and watch’ approach, provided the dog is eating, and not in pain or extreme misery. We feel hopeful and are so very thankful to have our stinky old man working his way back into a creature that enjoys life and brings us constant laughter and companionship. Thanks again.

A week ago my 9-year old golden retriever mix seemed lethargic and was worse the next day. In the evening she stumbled and had a hard time getting up. Up to this point she has been in great shape with no arthritis issues. I took her to the vet that night and they took a blood test which came back normal other than her potassium was low. She did not improve over the next week, wasn't really excited about food which I had to hand feed to her. On Monday she had a seizure so I took her to the vet again. That night she had another seizure. They put per on prednisone to reduce inflamation. I picked her up Tuesday afternoon and between 10:50 pm and 2:45 pm the next day she had three seizures. She is now on phenobarbitol. I have spent alot of time reading and came across vestibular syndrome. My dog has the classic head tilt, she had a sudden loss of balance. She walks sideways at times. She also has some sagging on the left side of her face (eye is not normal). She has not had a siezure since starting phenobarbitol. I noticed alot of brown discharge in the ear which she tilts her head towards. Up to this point my vet never mentioned inner ear infections or Vestibular syndrome. She has only suggested bleeding in the brain or a tumor. A second blood test after the first seizure came back normal. She appears to be more alert and not as unsteady today, but how do I know if this is the result of the drugs or because she is recovering from vestibular syndrome? Any input would be helpful because the drugs have the unfortunate side affect of making them thirsty....therefore they drink and pee more. Thanks for the info

In the case of the golden-it may be time to consider visiting another vet for a second opinion. Whether or not it is related to what is happening, the discharge from the ears should have been noted and treated-inner ear infections can result in some of the symptoms you describe. You do not say whether the low potassium was addressed either. Since vestibular syndrome is often diagnosed by elimination-ensuring that no other possible cause is present, it would seem you need to get further help in knowing what is going on.

Dawn,
I have done a lot of on line research on Vestibular Disorder over the past 2 weeks. Our dog (13 yr old Chow\golden\ Sheltie mix) has been diagnosed with this problem. The signs are all there. We have ben giving him Rimadyl, tramadol and solixine (Kindney rx) for the pain. My question is this. I see there are some so caled "remedies" on line. Do any of these really work to treat this condition? Second, has anyone you know of tried acupuncture to treat this problem? We are considering it as an possible treatment if it has been shown to work? Please let me know.
thanks,
Alex W.
Roanoke,VA

I would be very wary of 'over the counter' or 'online' remedies as it is hard to know what is actually safe to use.
But as for acupuncture and other aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine for treating vestibular syndrome- go for it. This is where TCM comes into its own. Western medicine can only treat the symptoms of canine vestibular syndrome but a good Chinese Medicine practitioner can work on the root of the problem based on the sign/symptom complex the individual dog shows.Find a practitioner that does herbs as well as acupunture-they should also address diet in their evaluation of your dog. Good luck!

My 15 yo Yorkie CIRCLES 24/7 (literally) and has been SINCE AUGUST 2008! Is it possible it could be Vestibular Disease if he's been circling for almost a year now? Plus I never noticed the eye nostigamus that Vets say to look for. I have taken Chewy to numberous Vets and Specialists in Missouri, Kansas and Florida and no one can come up with any answers. I have done extensive research online and read books, etc. and I'm assuming it's either Cognitive Disfunction or something to do with his inner ear....as he always circles to the left. If anyone shares this same situation with their baby...please post! I figure we have to be our own doctors these days and be proactive. I'll never give up on my Chewbud. Note: He seems completely content circling all day & all evening every day, he eats well and does his business on his walks each day...so he's almost normal (despite that he's fairly anti-social these days, but I attribute that to being 1) 15 yrs old; 2) blind and 3) deaf. Any comments would be much appreciated! ~Shelby

While canine vestibular syndrome is one possibility, inner ear (as you suggested), canine cognitive dysfunction or brain injury are all possibilities. What matters most in a case like this is that there are no health problems that could be solved-infection being the only likely one at this point. Once you have ensured that you have done everything medically possible then making his life as easy as possible, given his advanced years is what you should concentrate on. As he is blind and possibly senile, make his life as routine as possible so he has little to worry about.

Hi there. I have a 15 year old Boston Terrier who started pacing the house about 3 weeks ago. Then Tuesday 5/19/09 she started stumbling, falling down, walking in circles and tilting her head down and to the left. I took her to the vet because the first thing that came to mind was "stroke". Her vet looked her over and said that it could be a few different things, but he thought it was her vision. She is completely blind in her right eye and sees little out of her left eye. He also mentioned Vestibular Syndrome. She doesn't vomit and her eyes don't really move around erratically, but stay fixed and to the left when she is up walking. Also, she is compelled to walk around for hours until she gets too tired to stand anymore. My question is --> how long do the acute symptoms last? It's been almost 7 days. She seems strong in the morning, but by 3 PM she is full panic mode.

About the little Boston, The symptoms can last several weeks. You should see some improvement but it might be tiny increments.If she is getting agitated in the afternoon you might talk to your vet about something to calm her (Rescue Remedy has helped some dogs) as she needs to rest to recover. Not all dogs have all the symptoms so the lack of vomiting or nystagmus-eye movement does not rule canine vestibular syndrome out but stroke or other neurological problem are still possible. Continue to work closely with your vet until this is resolved.

Dawn: I wanted to give you a sincere thanks for your response regarding my 15 yo Yorkie "Chewy". We certainly appreciate your time. Bless you.

I have a 10 year old German Shepherd dx with epilepsy at 1 1/2 yr - has lived a quality life on phenobarb and pot. bromide but periodically has seizures-I came home tonight and noticed she could not stand up and thought it was the after math of a seizure but had a gut feeling this was different-I noticed a head tilt and wondered about a canine stroke.
I got ready to observe her overnite; comforted her, hand fed her soft foods and brushed her. I was amazed when she eventually stood up and walked, although unsteadily. Got her inside, where she eventally ate dry food on her own, and climbed up on her dog sofa. I got on the internet and right away saw the articles on old dog vestibular disease-there were several pictures of German Shepherds with the tilted head and she was a dead ringer for this....I am going to watch her over the next four days but I suspect she will improve. I know she has neuropathy in her hind legs and I've noticed she is really slowing down and feeling her age-yet she has quality of life-will play with her toys and be happy to see me when I get home and see her companion rat terrier. At this stage of her life I don't plan on running a bunch of tests or treatments on her-she does get her routine annual health check up with rabies, distemper, heartworm and blood levels, but due to her age and health issues I think more in terms of doggie hospice /comfort care than subjecting her to hospitalizations or more intrusive measures.......Thank you for all the helpful comments and responses.

I have a 10 year old German Shepherd dx with epilepsy at 1 1/2 yr - has lived a quality life on phenobarb and pot. bromide but periodically has seizures-I came home tonight and noticed she could not stand up and thought it was the after math of a seizure but had a gut feeling this was different-I noticed a head tilt and wondered about a canine stroke.
I got ready to observe her overnite; comforted her, hand fed her soft foods and brushed her. I was amazed when she eventually stood up and walked, although unsteadily. Got her inside, where she eventally ate dry food on her own, and climbed up on her dog sofa. I got on the internet and right away saw the articles on old dog vestibular disease-there were several pictures of German Shepherds with the tilted head and she was a dead ringer for this....I am going to watch her over the next four days but I suspect she will improve. I know she has neuropathy in her hind legs and I've noticed she is really slowing down and feeling her age-yet she has quality of life-will play with her toys and be happy to see me when I get home and see her companion rat terrier. At this stage of her life I don't plan on running a bunch of tests or treatments on her-she does get her routine annual health check up with rabies, distemper, heartworm and blood levels, but due to her age and health issues I think more in terms of doggie hospice /comfort care than subjecting her to hospitalizations or more intrusive measures.......Thank you for all the helpful comments and responses.

Dawn I wanted to thank you for being so kind in answering everyone's questions. I am the one who posted about my 15 year old Boston Terrier (5/25). We are coming to the conclusion that she has a tumor or something much more severe than Vestibular Syndrome. The vet gave her a steroid on Tuesday and we've seen no improvement. The one thing I was happy about was the fact that she is eating and drinking. Three days ago she started to lose control of her tongue. Now eating and drinking are very difficult. I don't think we can hold on to her much longer. Again, Thank you for your help. This webpage is a wealth of information.

Vivian

My 9 year old rottweiler was diagnosed yesterday by our local emergency vet. He has not had nystagmus and only vomited once since this began saturday night. My concern is he is progressively weaker each time I get him up to go outside (he has not had any accidents in the house) he is eating bland foods by hand only but will not go near anything that has any smell to it, our vet started him on cerenia today and he was able to eat a fair amount and actually seemed interested in food for the first time but we are on day 3 and so far he seems to be getting worse rather than showing signs of improvement, I was wondering if this is normal to see such a decline before the actual recovery begins?

It is unusual to have a decline in dogs after the initial vestibular syndrome occurrence but each animal is individual and can react differently. One thing to check for is whether he is actually weaker or just more dizzy/disoriented, making it difficult for him to get up an down because of balance problems. The reluctance to eat, aversion to smells would make this a likely situation.
It would make sense to discuss this with your vet as well to see if anti-nausea medication of some type would be a consideration in this case.

My 14.5 year old malmute/lab mix was perfectly fine last night. He was up and around and eating and then about an hour later, he had all the symptoms you have all shared. I panicked and of course nothing is open at 11pm. I called an emergency vet and they told me he had Vestibular Syndrome. I of course googled it and found these blogs both comforting and sad as well. I had never heard of this before. It amazed me that it is so common in older dogs. I stayed with him through the night. It broke my heart watching his eyes. They were making me sea sick. I can't imagine how he felt.
I took him into the vet this morning. All 90#'s of him. He was unable to stand so it was very hard getting him there. Surpisingly, the vet said his color looked normal and his ears looked good. She was going to send me home with nothing and told me it would pass in a few days and it would never come back. I kept all of your messages in the back of my mind because you all have experieneced this. I made the painful decision to put my poor dog down. I am typing this as I've just returned from the vet. His name was Trooper and let me tell you, he sure held up to his name. He's got bad hips and I live in a quad level so the stairs have been an issue for some time. He still marched up and down them w/ me spotting him of course, got on the waterbed at night and even tried humping my other dog fresh back from the dog park. All this w/ bad hips.
It was a painful decision but I just couldn't take him back home in that car again and watch him completely not himself. I stayed w/ him as he passed. I thank you all for your courage and your endless love for your "old friend" going through this. For me personally, I felt I was buying time. I know he's running around up in heaven now playing w/ his friends that passed before him. I am heartbroken and miss him dearly. This part of having animals is the hardest. Had I have known this was going to happen last night, I would have spent the day before differntly.
Give your dogs a little extra attention today for Trooper's sake. He was worth it!!!!
Take Care,
Trooper's Biggest Fan

I HAVE A 13 YEAR OLD MIX BREED DOG. TUES WHEN I CAME HOME I FOUND HERE VOMITING AND HER EYES FLICKING AND HER HEAD TILITNG TO ONE SIDE. SHE HAVE DIFFICLTY STAND UP. AT IT SEEM LIKE SHE CONFUSED. BEING A NURSE I THROUGHT SHE HAD A STOKE. I TIRED TO GET HER IN TO SEE OUR VET BUT SHE WAS OUT OF TOWN. NONE OF THE VETS IN THIS AREA WAS WILLING TO HELP ME. I BEEN OF WORK DUE TO A BLOOD CLOT IN MY LEG. EVERY ONE WANTED THE FULL PAYMENT UP FRONT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. AFTER READING ABOUT STROKES IN DOG AND THEN I READ YOUR ARTICLE. THEN I REALIZES THIS IS WHAT HAPPEN TO MY BABY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. SHE IS GETTING SOME BETTER. HER EYES HAVE STOPED FLICKER, AND THE HEAD TILT IS ALMOST GONE. MEDICATED HER FOR NAUSEA AND NO VOMITTING TODAY. SHE NOT EATING MUCH AND DRINKING MUCH. BUT THEIR HOPE. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

We have chihuahua who is about 5 years old and experiencing many of these symptoms, particularly the head tilt, spinning in circles( slow & quickly), Nystagmus:eyes moving side to side quickly, excessive consumption of water & frequent urination (clear in color). The only time he appears calm is when he is either eating or sleeping.
He first experienced this problem in January of 2008 & was taken to the vet, examined and given antibotics which seemed to have fixed the problem. A year later his symptoms returned, he was taken back to the vet, recieved the same treatment & antibotics but still facing these symptoms 5 months later.It was first diagnosed as an infection but immediately ruled out.The vet is unsure what's causing this or how to treat it & suggest we take him to a university vet center for a CAT scan to specifically identify whats wrong.
We have already spent thousands of dollars in pet care this year alone and are looking for less-costly alternatives as soon as possible. At this point we have no idea what else to do help & are looking for some sigh of relief because not only do we hate seeing him like this but caring for him & making sure he doesnt get injured takes a great deal of time that we just dont have on some days.

While canine vestibular syndrome is common in older dogs, it is more unusual in younger animals. Also the fact that the symptoms keep recurring suggests something other than vestibular syndrome. A full neurological exam would be the next logical step. One other thing to discuss with your vet is whether they think, given that antibiotics seemed to help the first time around, that a long course (a month or more) of antibiotics would be a sensible option. I hope you are able to find some answers and help for your dog.

Our dog has the head tilt and sideways walk....eyes are normal. Vet gave prednisone - no change. Gave her antibiotic - no change. She has had these symptoms for at least six months. She eats normal. Do we do anything else?

My 11 year old German Shepherd, who is like a son to me, fell over the other day. He was alert, but disoriented, but wouldn't sit up right away. When he did, it was in a weird position. He wouldn't take a treat, and Ringo never passes up a treat. The next day he peed without warning. He did that twice, but hasn't done it lately. He doesn't feel like eating much. He tires quickly. Doesn't want to go up or down stairs. Lays down with his "arm" tucked in a position that must be more comfortable.

I thought he may have had a stroke, but it sounds like Vestibular Syndrome is more likely. I don't want to take him to a vet who is going to tell me exactly what the net tells me to do. He's alert and doesn't look like there is any brain damage. He did have a bit of a shiver to him yesterday while laying down. I'm nursing him, making sure he has attention and affection, hand feeding him small portions of tasty foods, and trying to wait this out unless I see him take a turn for the worse, which I haven't seen yet.

Any advice?

My 15 1/2 yr old Silky Terrier, Pippi, awoke the other night for her 3 am bathroom break and when taken outside fell to her side and started to violently twitch. We thought it was a seizure as she had her first seizure 10 months ago. After the first seizure we brought her to the vet and they said for her age she was in great health, even with her old age ailment of blindness, and that seizures are common in older dogs. This episode was different because afterwards she was very disoriented and had lost her balance and couldn't walk. Her head tilts to the left and she has no appetite, except for the occasional treat. Water seems to be ok. Her eyes were moving side to side but that has gotten a little better. She sleeps alot. She occasionally attempts to walk and when doing so has difficulty and sometimes walks in a circle. I live 2,000 miles away and she lives with my parents. Bless their hearts for taking care of her and the difficulties that come along with it in old age. As noted earlier, she is completely blind in one eye and can barely see out of the other. Her hind legs often fail her even before this happened. I am flying home tomorrow to spend some time with her and we are taking her to the vet to get her checked out. With her age and other ailments, now this, it seems her quality of life is not great. This website and all of the people who have posted have given me a glimpse of hope when there wasn't any. But it has also made me realize that there comes a time when your old friend is tired and keeping them around may not be what is best for them. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. But I am happy that she lived a long happy life and that she chose to be with me. She will never be forgotten. My sympathies to Troopers biggest fan. And for those that are experiencing this I wish you strength and courage because it is never easy to see a family member struggle.

This site has given me hope. My dog has all the same symptoms. The only additional symptom is he can't urinate. The vet had to give him a treatment to empty his bladder and a very hardy antibiotic. But she insists he needs to eat today and urinate. We hand fed him chicken and rice and he drank allot of water, but still has not urinated. We are walking him with a towel holding him up waiting for him to urinate. The vet has us taking him back tomorrow but the urination seems to be a problem. Is this a part of the problem with this disease? Please give me hope.

The inability to pass urine would be an unusual symptom for canine vestibular syndrome but because the syndrome is not completely understood and because there can be neurological reasons for the inability to urinate, it is possible.
Hopefully with the treatment your vet has given this problem will resolve.

This site has been very helpful. My 15 year old Yellow Lab Mutt scared me to death this morning. I woke and he was stumbling around crazily and falling everywhere. He was totally disoriented and then started vomiting. This went on for hours and I stayed home from work as I thought he had a stroke and this would be his last day.

He has started improving. Better balance (although still looks "drunk"), not drooling anymore, etc. However, his eyes are still rapidly moving.

The one thing that really scares me is this is the most vocal dog I've ever seen. He constantly barks and wines; literally he wines all day. However, since the incident he hasn't made a sound at all. Not a bark, wine, whimper, nothing. Is a sudden silence associated with CVS.

The incident happened this morning and it is now 7pm the same day.

Thanks!

Much of what you describe for Mutt fits well with Canine vestibular syndrome. His silence may be part of the disorientation, especially as he still is suffering from nystagmus(eye-movement). It is likely his vocal activity will increase as he feels more 'with it'. If you have not yet had him checked by his veterinarian, it would be wise to do so, just to be sure you are doing everything possible to help Mutt recover.

Dawn, I have a 16 year old male lab/shepherd mix. In June of '08, we woke up to find that he had vomited in the middle of the night and he couldn't stand. He had the head tilt to the left, and had the eye ticks. The vet put him on prednisone and after a couple of weeks he returned to normal. We were told that he had a stroke. Last December, it happened again and again he was put on prednisone. A week after the 2nd 'stroke', he suddenly lost the use of his back legs and was completely immobile for two days. We purchased a dog 'wheelchair' to help him move. After two more days of trying to use the wheelchair, he began walking on his own but definitely favoring the hind right leg. His hind right leg also looks like it has severely lost some muscle. He returned to almost normal, just having some balance issues and cannot take the stairs on his own. Two days ago at bedtime, he started whipping his head from side to side and the eye twitches were up and down instead of left to right. This episode lasted for about twenty minutes before he was normal again. I took him to the vet who said that it was a seizure, and it was okay as long as he didn't have more than one a month or so. Well, he had two more of the same type of episodes that same night. We had a liver panel done and now the vet has prescribed phenolbarbitol. My dog is even more unsteady and gets up and lies down like he's stiff. Are seizures common for dogs with PVS? Is there any way to determine if my dog was having strokes as opposed to PVS. Thank you for your time. ~Lianne

Lianne- Seizures are not common in canine vestibular syndrome cases and it is often difficult to determine whether a dog has had vestibular syndrome or a stroke without extensive testing. The main thing that will matter as a dog owner is how well the dog recovers.
Some of what you describe the first time seems more like vestibular syndrome but the second episode seems more stroke-like, especially given the hindleg weakness. The last episodes you describe seem to be true seizures as your vet suggested. The phenobarb may be contributing to his unsteadiness or the previous stroke/vestibular sydrome episodes may have left him with some damage, reducing his balance. Talk to your vet about whether modifying the phenobarb dose might help. You may also want to consider acupressure or physical therapy to help with the stiffness. Good Luck

We have a 13 year old pug/cocker spaniel mix dog. His name is Frisco and I believe he has "Vestibular Syndrom." Last week, I took him to our vet because he was showing signs of back leg weakness. The vet took X-Rays of his hip and said for an older dog, his hips were in good condition. She gave him doggie glucosimine and ibuprofen for any joint pain since he was showing tenderness around his tail area. Although now, his symptoms have gotten worse! I noticed that his head was wobbling even when I took him to the vet, but now his entire body wobbles just when standing in place. So far he has not vomited, but he's so not interested in food. I did get him to eat a little this morning (about three bites of wet dog food), but he also had an accident (went poo-poo) by the back door as I think he was waiting for me but I didn't get to him quick enough. I called the vet again this morning and have an appointment on Monday morning. Does this sound like I'm on the right track as to what he has? All the things I'm reading about Vestibular Syndrome are almost exactly what he's displaying. Now, I can't even get him to come out of his crate. I know he feels safe in there, so I hate to make him come out and hurt himself. I do need to get him outside soon so he can go potty again. Can animals get worse before they get better with this disease? What are your thoughts? Thank you sooo much! Leslie :)

Leslie- In Frisco's case you might be looking at vestibular syndrome or canine stroke. Stroke cases more often get worse before they get better but sometimes vestibular cases get worse over a short period of time before recovery begins.
With plenty of supportive care many dogs do get better. Best of luck to you both!

My 9 year old springer has recently developed symptoms. We've been battling a very tough pseudomonas infection in her right ear. One month ago, our vet. dermatologist sedated her and did an ear flush. Since then, she's been on prednisone and 500 mg of Cipro once a day. Her ear is looking great, but 3 days ago I noticed a bit of clumsiness in her walking. Her front legs would slide out from under her while seated on our wooden deck and she would stumble here & there. Also, I noticed trembling in her rear legs when she stood to eat. The next day, she was showing some facial paralysis on the right side - her face is drooping and she's not able to blink her right eye. She is also tilting her head to the right. She hasn't had any vomiting that I'm aware of and she hasn't done any circling or had nystagmus. The specialist thinks CVS seems too coincidental, but admits that there is no bulging of the eardrum to suggest a middle ear infection . Any comments in this situation would be appreciated.

You might also want to talk to your vet about a possible stroke-the facial paralysis and lack of nystagmus or nausea/vomiting reduces the likelihood of canine vestibular syndrome but does not completely eliminate it. In either case the main treatment is supportive care.

Hi, My 8 1/2 old maltese recently showed the symptoms of CVS. All the blood test and xrays were normal and the vet concluded that she could be having a brain tumor. The Ct scan is however very costly and they cant operate on my dog even if the scan confirms that a brain tumor is present. The vet prescibed prednisolone & advised us to monitor our dog. It has been a week. My dog has improved significantly. Is it really due to the effect of the medication? I read in other cases that most CVS will show improvement on its own. The vet told us that the steriod would make my dog eat alot and become fat in the long run & its would reduce my dog's ability to fight infections. How long should this medication be taken? Since my dog has recovered, Can we stop giving her prednisolone? Will the symptoms come back again if we stop it? If she is having a tumor, will it cause the tumor to swell? I am concerned about the side effects of steriod and hope to seek some advice here. I notice that my dog shivers alot and keeps drinking water. What could be the cause?

The prednisolone may help a bit in the early stages but I would talk to your vet about stopping it as soon as possible, especially if she has made significant improvement. In the case of vestibular syndrome the symptoms should not recur.
If there is a tumor, stopping the pred may cause the symptoms to recur, in which case I would talk to the vet about keeping her on it to make her as comfortable as possible as long as possible. Pred increases thirst so that would explain the water drinking but not the shivering.
I hope she does well once she is off the medication. That would be a good sign.

My 14 yr old golden/wheaten mix has had several vistibular syndrome attacks. Some full blown where he can't get up and once when he was hospitalized because of dehydraiton. Others barely noticable. But they only last a couple of days the most. Now we are going on the seventh day of him not being able to stand. I hand fee him, clean him up like I would a baby (he soils where he's laying)He seems so sad. Recently he had a cancer diagnosis with only about 4-5 months left if the doctor is right.

It may be the cancer has as much to do with how your dog feels right now, depending on where the cancer is. Savor the time you have left with him and let him go when it is time.

A few days ago my dog went to go out side and fell and got up and the fell again I was out of town so I did not actually see it, my dog sitter did. then on monday I noticed that when she was panting that the right side of her face was drooping so I took her to the vet yesterday and they said she is not showing the signs of a stroke but that most of her sigs are of an ear infection but the vet said her ears look fine, and she is also off balance and she wont blink her right eye, they gave her an anti inflammatory and Antibiotics and did a blood test but I wont get the results until tomorrow but said they dont know whats wrong with her, and she is only 3 1/2 years old. do you think it could be the syndrome?

Canine vestibular syndrome is certainly a strong possibility in this case. Did your vet discuss inner or middle ear problems other than vestibular syndrome with you? If not you may want to talk to them further about these possibilities. Most importantly with vestibular syndrome you should see improvement over time. Good Luck.

My 15-year old Aussie mix developed nystagmus and balance problems suddenly, went on a long course of antibiotics which did not help, and continued to have poor balance, walk in circles, run into door frames, and seemed disoriented all the time. She walked outside in circles all night, her choice (we have a dog door). After nearly a year of this, she fell into a large hose container and died there during the night. I wish we'd had her euthanized before that happened since she did not respond to antibiotics, did not get better, probably had a brain lesion or a stroke. It was heartbreaking.

I am so sorry about your Aussie mix. It is often hard to decide to euthanize a much loved dog. But in cases where there is little or no improvement, the most important thing is to look at the quality of life. This will vary from animal to animal and the owner is really the best person to decide as they know the dog best. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It may help others make the right choice at the right time.

One week ago today, I came home from work and fed my healthy australian shepard/golden lab mix as usual and let him outside in the backyard. When I went to let him back in he was laying in the back of the yard between the fence and the garage and would not get up. On the first day he had drunken staggering and vomitted. He was very lethargic and could only lay down. He would drink water and vomit immediately. The next day he was keeping down water, refused any food. Could only get up to move if I helped him. Just laid there all the time. Had these symptoms for about 4 days. On the 5th day he began to eat somewhat, needed to hand feed him. Day 6 ate a little more. Still just wants to lay around most of the time, but will get up with prompting. Seems very depressed. He did not have the head tilt. I'm not sure if he had the eyes drifting from side to side at first, but his eyes did seem to have a glaze over them. He is much better than the first few days, but still needs to be hand fed and only lays around. Do you think this is vestibular syndrome? Thanks.

This could be vestibular syndrome (not every dog has every symptom) or canine stroke syndrome-a consultation with your vet may help determine which it is. In either case, continue with the supportive care (hand feed, help him get around, etc) and see if he continues to improve.

Thank you for replying to my question about my australian shepard/golden lab (posted at 8:17am on July 30). After visiting your site I am hopeful it is vestibular syndrome. Unfortunately, I'm reluctant to take him to the vet because I figure they would need to do blood work and xrays, etc. I cannot afford to have this done. Doc is 12 years old, but he's my baby and I love him dearly. All I could do was lay with him the first night because I thought he would be dead in the morning. When I called my vet, all they could say was bring him in for an emergency visit. What would the symptoms of a stroke be and what would be his outcome? Thanks so much for any answers you could give me.

Symptoms of canine stroke can be very similar to vestibular syndrome, which is why it may be worthwhile to bring him to your vet to have him checked over. Let your vet know that you can't afford lots of diagnostic tests and see what his impression of your dog's condition is. While he won't be able to give you a definitive answer without a workup he may have some idea based on just the initial exam. Good luck

I have an eight year old dauchsund that just developed the vestibular syndrome yesterday and on many websites it says that there is no known treatment for this disease yet our veternarian gave us a prescription for meclizine which is a motion sickness pill and i just want to make sure that this is ok for my dog? i would really apprieciate any advise you could give me about this problem.

Your vet gave your dachshund the meclizine for the secondary effects of the syndrome. Because the ear is affected the animals may be nauseous from the imbalance this causes. By taking the motion sickness medication he is more likely to eat and rest (the drug may make him a bit sleepy but rest is good for helping the body to recover). Many dogs are upset when they have vestibular syndrome because they don't understand what is happening-this may cause them to be restless and agitated. The meclizine helps with this as well.

We just took our dog of 16yrs to the vet. she is a siberian husky mixed with black lab. large in size, but not in weight, definetly a lean dog.
her syptoms in order of occurance:
got up to walk outside, excreted bow movement as she walke to the door
once left outside (did not bark to come in unusual for her)
found laying on patio, did not get up, caried inside
layedon the floor, panting, kinda sleeping like,
noticed she tried to get up and faceplanted, vomitted
vet believes she has this vestibular syndrome. but she is already 16, anything else i could be?

It could certainly be canine vestibular syndrome. At her age other possibilities include stroke and brain tumor among others. With both canine stroke and vestibular syndrome you should start to see some improvement over the next couple of days. If not, or if she gets worse then a more serious neurological problem may exist. Work closely with your vet on this one.

My 13 yr old dog was struck with CVS today. Reading all this and it seems "inner ear infection" is the main culprit for this ailment. What signs should dog owners be looking for. My "love muffin" vomit yesterday, I notice he was sneezing after sniffing around for a that perfect spot (but we still have cottonwood and alot of dust around)and a couple of days ago he acted as if he had something in his ear but nothing was found. His back end was a little wobbly yesterday, however he is arthritic throughout and he hadn't been to massage therapy for a month. If/can the inner ear infection be treated? If so, will this stop another attack?

Inner ear disturbance is commonly considered a trigger for vestibular syndrome. It does not have to be an infection. Speak with your vet about treatment/management of the inner ear but there may be other things triggering the problem.

I came home from work last night to take my 9 year old Pomeranian out for a walk. When I first walked in the door, he was very calm, which was unusual. As soon as we got outside, I noticed and he was leaning/stumbling to the left, as someone would that spun around in circles then tried to walk. After about a block, he actually started falling. I carried him home and he fell again trying to get onto his pillow bed. I took him to the emergency vet, but while waiting over two hours, he had to go pee and I realized that he was fine. I made the difficult decision to leave the emergency vet, as it's very expensive, and took him home. I've also brought him to work with me today. I plan on taking him to his regular vet tomorrow, but wanted to do some research. This vestibular syndrome sounds like it could be the culprit, but a few things make me unsure, such as his episode lasted only a few hours with no nystagmus, that I could see. He also didn't throw up and had a normal bowel movement in the middle of all of it. As soon as we got home from the vet last night, he ran to his food bowl and chowed down. I'm worried and it could be neurological and I should have left him at the emergency vet. Is it possible that it's still VS?

You are probably safe to take a wait and see approach to your Pomeranian's episode. While canine vestibular syndrome is a possibility, the other thing to be aware of is epilepsy. But if you have not had your dog in to the vets recently you may want to go ahead and get a general check up and discuss the situation as your vet will know the dog's history better and will be able to guide you in how to proceed.

MY girl is 14 years old with kidney disease and has also suffered from pancreatitis. A week ago I had to hospitalize her for the pancreatitis and two days later she had all the symptoms you have been describing. For the last two days I have been battling with myself to put her at peace but as you know it is such a tough decision to make. I brought her home to spend a few last nights with her but she seems to have an appetite again and no longer vomiting but still to weak to stand. Do you think vestibular is something she might have and she could get better or it is probably related to the other problems she has had? I just don't want to give up if there is any chance that she could get better. I'm heart broken and sick over the thought. Please any advice would be so appreciated!! I don't know what to do for my baby.

With kidney disease and pancreatitis to complicate things it is harder to say how your 14 yr old will do. The vomiting can come from any of the three problems and toxicity from kidney disease can cause all sorts of secondary symptoms.If you have been working with the same vet for most of your dog's life it would be worthwhile talking to them about the situation as they will have a better idea of the severity of each problem and any other issues that may affect your decision. This is always difficult. Good luck.

We have a 5 year old black lab. Last Thursday she came bounding into the house and within 5 minutes she was walking toward me like she was drunk. I immediately called the vet and took her in. She walked out to my truck, but laid down and refused to even try to get in. Thankfully the neighbor was home to lift her in. She stayed at the vet all day and came home in the evening. She couldn't walk at all. She went back in Friday and stayed all weekend. The vet thought it was vestibular disease, but she did not have the eye movements and she is young. She started walking Sunday for him and has improved since she came home. She's still a little wobbly and her head is still tilted, but can get up on the couch and make it down and up the 3 steps to get outside. Her mental state has remained unchanged, she's still the same sweet, needy, happy dog as before. She is currently taking antibiotics and a steroid since the vet is still unsure exactly what the cause is/was and wanted to cover all the bases. From what I've read, the mri is really the test to run to rule out other causes, but that is just to expensive. We saw no other signs of illness before this happened. From your experience, does this sound like vestibular disease, or could the drugs be masking another problem? We'd like to be able to exhale this breath we've been holding waiting for the other shoe to drop. Thank you.

My 14 yr old Shih Tzu was diagnosed with this in July. After three weeks his symptoms had not decreased, and a vet neurologist was fairly certain he had either a brain tumor or encephalitis -- unwilling to put him down without knowing for sure (I didn't want to put the poor guy through chemo, radiation, etc.) I did a (very expensive) MRI and Spinal Tap. Turns out there was nothing there - no tumor, etc. So the diagnosis was still Old Dog Vestibular -- the next day he stood up and started walking. Now, it's about three weeks since then and, while he's still able to walk and pee and poop without help most of the time it's very rocky. He goes out for regular walks but I have to keep a close eye because he topples regularly so I keep the harness ready to catch him. To make matters worse, he's mostly blind due to cataracts and pretty deaf. I'd do the cataract surgery but my vets are worried he might not wake up. He's still very disoriented much of the time. His barking is not nearly as bad as it was but he does wake up periodically barking. I love my little dog but I worry about what kind of life I'm buying for him with all of this. Does blindness make this condition worse? Is there some diagnostic information I should glean from such an atypically slow recovery - our vet said it could be months and yet everything I've read seems to indicate that this usually resolves is a few weeks. Is it worth risking the cataract surgery so at least the poor guy has some quality of life? Right now he's blind, deaf, and disoriented. I can't imaging what that must be like. I don't truly know if I have it in me to put him down, but at what point do you ask, "am I just doing this for me?" Any advice or experience would be really, really welcome. Thanks!!!

isFor the last month and a half, my two year old Lab has been dispalying some bizarre symptoms. My lab seems somehow "sedated" or "Drug" The symptoms seem to come and go away and would last for a day or a bit longer. such a Symptoms include circling (when circling he would bump into things and his head would always be down to the right side), digging holes and eating the soil, Excessive drooling,tail down, a little shaking of his body,depression and lack of energy (when he is not having an episode). I took him to the vet twice already and at first,the vet thought my lab had been poison. Vet run some blood test and the test came back all negative. Now, the vet has suggest an MRI and some other neurological analysis. Could this be Canine Vestibular Syndrome?

Chris-the blindness will definitely add to your dog's difficulty with balance. As for deciding about quality of life, you and your vet know best how much of his time is good and how much is suffering. It is never easy to let a dear friend go but if you are starting to question it is time to chat with your vet about what might be best for your dog.

for the lab-the soil eating and some of the other symptoms suggest it might be worth talking to your vet about the possibility of exposure to some type of poison or a type of epilepsy in addition to canine vestibular syndrome. I hope you are able to find some answers.

My 13 year Golden Retriever hadher first attack last January. She was in the animal hospital for three days with little improvement ( She was unable to stand on her own). I brought her home and was able to help her walk by looping a towel under her to help her stand. She would not eat any dry food and would eat soap food only out of the side of her mouth. Her head was severly tilted. Over the next few weeks she recovered slowlu but it was a month and a half before she was nearly totaly recovered. She still had the head tilt for several months. She has had two more attacks each being less severe and recovery was faster. So be patient and enjoy your pet for whatever time she has left.

Hi Dawn, I don't know if you're still active on the comments, but I'm kind of desperate. My 13-yr old German Shepherd mix has been tentatively diagnosed with CVS. She hasn't stood, much less walked, for over 8 days now. I've been hand-feeding her & administering fluids through an IV tube.
My concern is that she's STILL immobile after over a week. She's been urinating on her puppy pads, but it's hard to keep her clean & dry. When you say improvement usually occurs in 3 days, does that include mobility?? The nystagmus is gone & she hasn't vomited, but she still has the extreme head tilt & only wants to lie on her left side. Can you give me some insight? I don't want my baby to suffer indefinitely, but I don't want to act prematurely if there's hope.
I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Yes I'm still active, hoping to give some help and insight when I can. For your GSD what you want to see is steady improvement. If it has been some time since you last saw any improvement it might be time to chat with your vet-you and (s)he know better than I how your dog is doing and what else may be affecting her recovery. The extreme head tilt may make her hesitant to stand and walk.If there are other factors such as cauda equina or degenerative myelopathy involved they will also affect her recovery.
Another factor to consider is how she seems-if she is not constantly struggling against her situation it makes more sense to continue. And you do have to weigh your ability to continue to function as intensive care nurse.
Good Luck

Hi, Dawn.
Our 6 1/2 year old Cocker Spaniel was fine at 10:30 and by the time I got home from work four hours later, she couldn't stand up, was trembling all over, her eyes were jerking and she was drooling and tilting her head to one side. I immediately took her to the vet and he put her in the hospital. He is treating her for vertigo or a head injury (but no physical evidence of this) - he is giving her Meclizine and antibotics. The closest place to us to get an MRI or CT scan to rule out stroke or tumor is 3 hours away and he is hesitant to do anything other than what he's doing. We are in day 3 of this.
Should she be getting a steroid? Thanks!

If it is canine vestibular syndrome steroids are not necessary as the problem tends to resolve itself over time. If your cocker spaniel is getting better each day then it makes sense to continue with what you are doing. If you are concerned it may be worth the 3 hour trip for a full diagnostic workup.

Dawn, thank you so much for answering. We visited Rosey (Cocker Spaniel who's 6 1/2) today and she is much improved. She can walk but is still a little unsteady and she went outside to the bathroom. First time since Friday! We hope to get to bring her home sometime later this week. Your website has brought me much comfort; thanks for taking the time to maintain it and respond!

For those of you wondering what symptoms to look for regarding CVS, let me tell you.

Look for your dog being disoriented (for example, if he goes outside, see how long it takes for him to find his way back inside.

Look for chewing or eating food on one particular side of his mouth.

These are just some of the symptoms I noticed my 14 year old toy poodle doing earlier this year and I just thought he was old and had bad teeth.

Well, like many of your stories, my dog also was find one Sat night and the next morninng had CVS.

My dog never recovered and I had to have my vet euthanize him on Aug. 25, 2009.

I am very sad and miss him so much.

CVS is not something to take lightly. Trust me I know and now I am grieving :(

Hi, woke up at 3 am my 5 1/2 year old GSD was trying to stand and jump up onto my bed but couldn't, I jumped out of bed to see what had happend he was just lying there with his head tilted to one side sort of taking little licks of nothing (hard to describe) he also seemed confused like he was still half asleep. I thought he had fallen and maybe paralized himself, just sat down next to him and held his head and stroked him. After about 5 minutes he half sat up and seemed okay but a bit shakey, 5 more minutes and he managed to jump up onto the bed with me lifting his back legs. 5 more minutes and he was running down the stairs outside for his business. All seems fine now. was this a CVS attack?

Hello there
We have a husky farm with 81 huskies. One, of fairly unknown age, started to go off his food earlier this summer. We thought at first that he was just getting old and started to give him tastier snacks than the others. We then moved him from the farm to the sick dog area by the house since he seemed to be becoming disorientated and was circling a little in his chain. At the house, we put him in a cage with some yearlings, thinking that, if old age, they might stimulate him. However, over time, his circling has gotten progressively worse and I would say that he has been circling to the left a lot now, for at least a month. He gets hand-fed dog / cat food from tins twice a day and sometimes eats OK, sometimes not. We would take him inside like other sick dogs but he circles even more obsessively in the house since he isn't used to it. Our vet suggested that it was probably neurological and suggested we put him down. We decided to give him one more week and self prescibed some pain medication in case he was in pain. And then I found this sight. Is there anything more that you think I could try, medication wise?

for the GSD canine vestibular syndrome is certainly a possibility. It might also have been a stroke but either way a work up by your vet should be considered if this recurs.

for the husky you might discuss the possibility of using steroids for a few days to see if there is any improvement. If he has had a stroke there is not likely to be any change. If there is some other neurological disorder it might help.
Good Luck

After reading ALL these posts, I believe our 12 year old Australian Shepherd/Bordie Collie mix may have CVS. She started out being very disoriented on Sat. nite; by Sunday she had slight head tilt to the right and threw up twice. She could however walk with assistance outside to go to the bathroom. By Sun. nite, she was much worse. Definite back and forth eye movements; more significant head tilt and, while she could stand, she would not walk. I have been giving her small amounts of water with chicken broth and sliced cheese (her favorite) and she has kept that down. She eagerly eats and drinks, but I don't want her to get sick. My problem is that she is so heavy that my husband or I have to physically carry her outside (the towel thing freaked her out). Once we get her outside she will not use the bathroom. It has been over 24 hours since she urinated. I know she is traumatized from us carrying her out and being so disoriented. I have postponed taking her to the vet because it sounds like if it is CVS, then she should improve.....HELP?

Your Aussie mix might benefit from a visit to the vet to see if things like anti-nausea medications might help as 24 hours without voiding is not good for her. The medications may calm her a bit, reduce the disorientation. The herding breeds suffer particularly as they do not like to be unable to 'manage' their world. Good luck

Thank you for this informative site. I now have a lead that I can pass on to my vet. 2 months ago I rescued a boxer from county shelter. they sent her home with anitbiotics saying it was kennel cough..she was 'hot' so much so that I knew it had to be something more, turns out it's distemper. Well my 1st vet immediately started treating her with Clavamaxx and demamaxx but didn't sound to hopeful.. I did a lot of research and have felt devestated for many reasons I worried about my other dogs and the possibility of having to put the new girl down. long story short in doing more reaerch i came across a you tube video [I can't access it from work or I would give the link , but look up distemper + homeopathic remedies and + dr. palmwquist and it will come up] so I saw this wonderful man on Saturday and he is now treating daisy - I am very hopeful that she will recover and if not I am know she is getting the best care- he is compassionate , a great listener, , extremely thourough [I wish I could see him as my own doctor/for myself]] he is one of an elite few who practice western and homeopathic meds - anyhow on monday I notice daisy back legs were giving out and it was like she was walking on hardwood floors with long toe nails [like the movie happy feet] - I panic thinking it is neuological damage due to distemper and called the vet with this new update - they assured me that while distemper could be a connected to this latest thing , that a lot of people who have a dog with distemper automatically assume the worse with any new symptoms etc, I am going in to get the required blood test xrays muscle test tomorrow and am to keep watching documenting everything , go to the nearing emergency if the condition changes [ palmquist is 80 miles from me]- as I am reading all these post I am sure she has CVS -- the vet [palmquist is out of town] his collegue who is also very thourough gave me a lot of time on the phone and was able to calm me down -- told me to the importance of talking to my dog and telling her not to be afraid , that I care about her etc.- the way these vets at Centinela Animal Hospital communicated their love for animals and compassion really moved me. anyhow I googled distmper and wobbling dog and this site came up - thank goodness. Knowledge is a powerful thing. I know this isn't a distemper site but if any of you get a chance check out that video , I think anyone will be encouraged by the story. Thanks for listening donna in the mojave desert

My chow chow Grizzley, was diagnosed with canine vestibular syndrome on Friday Sept 11th. He was being treated with a double ear infection for the past 3 weeks, he also has hypo thyroid and take .5ml of solaxine every 12 hours. Grizzley is eating and drinking without any vomiting, my concern is he has not had a bowel movement since this happened. He wasn't eating for the first 2 days, then slowly started eating small quanities of tuna fish (2.5 oz). Now he is eating 2 - 3 10 oz containers of Beniful soft food. I called my vet and she was not concerned about the lack of bowel movement. She said that he needs more to go in to push out the small amounts he was consuming. I am worried about this. He is urinating fine. As of today, Thursday 17th, his drinking has gotten less but he is still drinking. Any advice would be appricated. Thank you

Your vet is right about the food-he should start to go soon. In the meantime if he is not showing any discomfort there is no need to worry. Make sure he keeps drinking as that will help ensure the stool is easy to pass. If you feel he is not drinking enough you can try giving him broth-chicken or beef-to tempt him to drink more. Good Luck

Dawn,
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my question from August 25.
Just want to let you know that my 13-year old German Shepherd mix began walking after over 3 weeks of immobility from vestibular syndrome. Her prognosis seemed bleak; I had to hand-feed her, give IV fluids because she couldn't drink on her own, & she was unable to even stand for 3 weeks!

So for anyone out there in a similar situation, I want to let you know it MAY not be hopeless, even if your dog hasn't walked for a long while. I don't want to encourage naive optimism, but here's what I did & what I suggest...keep giving fluids (subcutaneously, if necessary), encourage walking by lifting from the tummy using a towel (only when the vertigo seems minimal), and try to stay sane despite feeling heartbroken.
Only you know how much you & your dog can handle, so the duration & probability of "recovery" is certainly case-by-case. I'm just terminally stubborn! & have a very lucky dog.

So she's back to her normal self, despite some "drunken" clumsiness. I hope she doesn't experience a relapse, but at least for now I have my girl back.
I wish everyone the best.

I have a 15 year old Aussie/Queensland heeler mix who came down with CVS on September 20th. She can't stand and her head is beyond tilted. She sleeps a lot during the day but not much at night. When she is awake, she is very restless. She rolls and flails her legs getting herself in to weird positions. I've been sleeping with her at night so I can calm her down. She is deaf, so I think the dark (plus the spinning) disorients her. She will drink water from a honey bear and she will eat small amounts of baby food. I'm also giving her antibiotics, anti-nausea meds, and benedryl.

My husband wants to put her down but I want to give her a chance to recover.

How long from the onset of the disease should I expect to see some improvement? I'm worried about her.

As you can see from other comments recovery can take several weeks. But if you are not seeing any progress after a week, the likelihood of improvement decreases. Good luck

Am reposting this comment as it came attached to a couple of others:
A message for this poster:
Guest : I have a 15 year old Aussie/Queensland heeler mix who came down with CVS on September 20th. She can't stand and her head is beyond tilted. She sleeps a lot during the day but not much at night. When she is awake, she is very restless. She rolls and flails her legs getting herself in to weird positions. I've been sleeping with her at night so I can calm her down. She is deaf, so I think the dark (plus the spinning) disorients her. She will drink water from a honey bear and she will eat small amounts of baby food. I'm also giving her antibiotics, anti-nausea meds, and benedryl.
My husband wants to put her down but I want to give her a chance to recover.
How long from the onset of the disease should I expect to see some improvement? I'm worried about her

I am the woman who lost her 14 year old toy poodle to Canine Vestibular back on August 25, 2009.
I don't want to sound harsh but the older the dog, the less likely they are to fully recover from Canine Vestibular.
I tried accupunture for my dog as well as steriods and he was just too old and too sick to make it.
It really sucks to have to make that decision to euthanize them, but in all honesty, I did my dog a favor by sending him to Rainbow Bridge.
I still miss my dog and it's been one heck of a lonely month but seriously think about giving your pet eternal peace in one month if you don't see any improvement.

Had to repost this as it came attached to several other comments but will add that massage or acupressure (see my article about canine acupressure) may help and it make take some time for her to start walking again as the balance sometimes recovers most slowly. Give it a bit more time before you make any decisions.
Good Morning Dawn:

My Bouvier, had this episode on Saturday, 9-26-09. She can't walk and her head is tilted. She has been at the Vet since Saturday. I plan to bring her home for recovery this Saturday. What can I be doing for her at home? Massages? I spoke to the Vet and he said she seems comfortable, relaxed and barks, but still can not walk. Is that a bad sign. I don't want to throw in the towel yet. Your website is the best, I don't feel so alone.

Hi Dawn,

I am the one with the Bouvier, she had an episode last Saturday 9/26. I thought she was dying so I took her to the Vet to be put down. The Vet told me it could be Vestibular syndrome and he has seen many dogs recover. Today I went to the Vet to take her home for recovery and the Vet said it does not look good. Zowie can not stand and he thinks it is due to problems with her spinal cord. Before the snydrome she couldn't stand for a long time. Her hind legs would start buckling (folding like GSheperd), then her stand would turn into a sit. Zowie is 13 3/4 years old. The vet said he is going to try her on predisone and if we see no results in 4 days ......well then chances are she will not recover. Do you think it is time. I love her so much, she is a big loving sweet girl who loved people and her pet therapy job. Therese

For Zowie- I think your vet has given you good advice=try the prednisone for a few days and see how she gets on at home.Spending time with her will help you make the right decision. You and your vet know Zowie better than I.
Good luck
(and by the way, make the best of these few days in case she doesn't improve)

Hi Dawn,
I am the one with Zowie,the Bouvier. You mentioned BTW make the best of these few days if she doesn't improve. The doctor does not think she should come home with me because she needs her rest. He does not think it is a good idea if I even visit her at the Vet because she will be very sad and agitated when I leave. So I have not had any contact with her since September 26. My heart aches. He does not think she would get her rest at home because it is only me, 2 indoor cats and Zowie's four year old dog friend. Thank you for listening.

For Zowie's mom-please have a long talk with your vet. You need to see your dog to know what is best for her. A short visit will tell you more than all the words in the world.

I so happy I found this site. My 12 y.o. Chow mix is going through much the same. She's also been hospitalized since last Friday nite when she started circling and trying to vomit. The vet thinks she has a brain tumor as everything else has mostly been ruled out. I cannot afford the ultimate diagnostic tool, MRI. It would also be a 2 hour car ride with a very sick dog. She's also been dx'd with pancreatitis so cannot get steroids. She is responding to that treatment but the neck tilt seems to be worsening. She cannot walk. She was able to stand at least the other day. She was supposed to have a spinal tap today or early tomorrow. I will talk to the vet about this possibility. He has not mentioned anything like this at all. He's an ortho surgeon though. I will also talk to our regular vet as he seems to have an open mind and will research. I've not seen her since Sunday and left her in good hands but sobbing uncontrollably. Her brother misses her as well and doesn't quite get it. Any advise / thoughts?

I have a nearly 15 year old corgi who had a CVS episode Thursday last week. He seemed to take a flying leap from the second bottom step on to the back patio embarking on our evening walk. He has cataracts, but still some sight and he is deaf. On landing, he fell/wobbled and was very disoriented on our walk. I was very worried. I gently led him home and when we got inside I noticed his eyes flickering/jerking just as described by so many here.

The next morning his eyes were still darting and when I carried him down to the back yard to toilet, he went around in circles (to the right). I thought he'd had a stroke. I took him straight to the Vet and he dx CVS and said to give him lots of TLC and make sure he can't harm himself if he wobbles or falls. At that stage he hadn't vomited and was eating well and drinking enough water.

He started to vomit 2 days later and the Vet put aside some Stemetil(anti-nausea) and Nandoral tablets for me to collect for him. He's been having 1 each of these morning and night wrapped in a little cheese (he loves cheese). He also has been having 1 dexamethosine morning and night...cut down to half morning and night yesterday and 1/4 morning and night today because the Vet thinks these might be causing him to be drinking a lot of water and needing to urinate every time he wakes up. The extra thirst seemed to start 2 days ago (day 6 after the episode).

He does not seem to have a "tilt" of the head but he turns his head to one side to eat. I have been giving him the suggested bland diet of rice and poached chicken which he loves (putting a little of the liquor in to keep it moist). He sleeps most of the time. He doesn't give his friendly hello when family members come home, but does "acknowledge" them. He looks down in the mouth...but he's still very much looking for food treats. Today is Day 9 after the episode. He is wobbly but not nearly as much. His eyes stopped the darting after Day 2 and my biggest worry now are his kidneys (with the thirst). I am keeping a watchful eye over him and making sure he's as comfortable as possible. I carry him up and down the steps..thank goodness he's only 13 kilos.

This site has been a wonderful resource. Although I can't bear the thought of life without him because he's been through so much with me over the past 15 years, I don't want his quality of life to be compromised and the comments here have helped me know that I won't let him hang on for my sake. God bless.

Hello to all!!
We just returned from the vet who stated my 16 year old eskie did indeed have old dog vestibular syndrome. It started yesterday with confusion/disorientation, walking in circles, eyes darting back and forth, etc. She vomited last night and had a bit of diarrhea. would not eat or drink. The vet gave her iv fluids, an anti-inflammatory injection, anti vomiting injection, plus nausea meds" Cerenia 60mg," to be started tomorrow.
she is resting now and she seems to be snapping out of this. Her tail is up and she started barking a bit. Although she still seems a bit dazed, I believe she's doing better.
Good luck to everyone out there!! God Bless

My dog has just been diagnosed with Vestibular Syndrome, unfortunately just over 7 months ago she was also diagnosed with lung cancer (metastasized from the lung) so she has a two-fold problem to deal with, she is an 11 year old Chihuahua. She eats very poorly & vomits every day, however, on her good days she still likes a little walk in the park & a chew on her chew toy, we have 4 other dogs too. Vestibular Syndrome is very alarming but I am worried that it will be just too much for her as she gets a little distressed when she can't get up, which makes her breathing more difficult due to the stress. I am trying to make what is left of her life as good as possible so any tips from anyone who has experienced this unpleasant condition would be great. Thank you.

I have good news to report. My nearly 15 year old corgi is much much better! He's still drinking quite a lot of water and until this morning was having accidents in the night, but he's fine. He even looks like his old self and although sometimes a bit wobbly, is managing steps quite well. It's 2 weeks today since his vestibular syndrome episode and I feel so blessed, he's nearly back to his elderly gentleman self. Hang in there with your adored best friends, they are truly furry angels. God Bless.

We have a 15 year old poodle mix. About 3 weeks ago she became very sick, her eyes were going back and forth rapidly, she was vomitting over and over, falling over whenever she tried to stand or walk, and her head was tilted way out of character. Took her to the emergency clinic as it was after normal vet hours where little Mandy was diagnosed with vestibular disease. As sad as it was for us to watch our little puppy go thru this, her turnaround was amazing. After just one night at the vet clinic, she was almost back to her normal self by 7 the next morning. She was still weak, had to be coaxed to eat but got progressively better day by day. This same thing happened to her 3 years ago when we first thought it was a stroke. The first time this happened to her it took her nearly 5 days to get where she could walk. She's 15 now and is pretty thin, around 13 pounds ( she normally weighs around 17 lbs ) but the vet says being thinner at her age is a good thing. I can tell you the first time you see a pet you love get sick with vestibular disease it will break you heart.. very hard thing to watch and not really much you can do other than have the vet give her meds for the nausea and sedate her so she would lay still and quit trying to get up only to fall again. Thank goodness our little mandy is doing well now...

Roland

Dawn M. Smith
Our lab Rascal was playing in the backyard with are other lab Buddy and my neighbor said he sall them collide while running. I then noticed his left eye was all red and upwards in his head. I took him to the vet and they said he had a herniated disk but now just his left side is losing mobility. and it seems to be getting worse. The predisone prescribed was 20mg after the first day I gave it to him he had diareha and blood in it. I imeadiatly took him off it and went back to the vet. The vet said after all the blood work that she thought he had Granulomatous meningoencephalitis and said she has seen this before in other cases. She never metioned canine vestibular syndrome to me. His symptoms are a droopy left eye he has a hard time gaing mobility on his left side including his front leg and back leg. He is always shaken his head for some reason and sometimes his head trembles and he makes a purring noise like a cat. Today I noticed he seems to be improving alittle bit but I am still feeding him soft dog food because he seems to have trouble eating hard dog food. My wife said he had a hard time standing up this evning. What is going on with him is my vet right? should I consider puting him to sleep? he is only 6 years old. He doesnt bark anymore and is very latargic. He is just not the same dog he used to be. Will he get better over time?
Thanks, Jason

If you are unsure about your vet's diagnosis, it may be wise to get a second opinion before making any decisions.

Dawn M. Smith

I agree with a second opinion on my dog Rascal, I have an appointment for Monday next week. Today I noticed an improvement in him and I feel like he is getting better. What is your opinion on what I am looking at by the symptoms I described earlier about him. His head is no longer trembeling and he finally had a normal bowl movement, however he is still lathargic and no barking at all which is out of his norm, he also has a little balance issue but not as bad as it used to be.
Thanks, Jason

Dawn M. Smith
One more thing I forgot too metion about Rascal is that he still shakes his head and has little sneezes on a off through the day. The predisone originally was 20mg but I cut it down to 5mg and haven't had any stomach issues since.
Thanks, Jason

The fact that Rascal is improving is a good sign. It would require specialized testing to know whether it is canine vestibular syndrome, a stroke or something else. Good luck- let's hope the improvement continues

I have a 4 year old Peke-a-poo who has recently suffered the symptoms the website has described. Shes not an elderly dog and shes in very good health otherwise, so im very concerned when the vet told me just to monitor her behavior. she started out with the head tilt and shaking and twitching of her legs. now its to the point where she cant even jump off the couch without her limbs giving out or walk to the door without cramping up in her back legs. her head still shakes really bad. is there any advice?? i will do anything to help her out. thanks.

for the little pekeapoo -you may want to talk to your vet about canine epilepsy or spinal column problems but vestibular syndrome can happen in younger dogs as well.

Excellent site. Yesterday my 8 year old sheltie lost control of his legs, head tilted to right, had nystagmus and we went immediately to the vet. Within an hour he was much better. Today he's walking eating and barking at the mailman as though nothing happened. Blood work came back normal. Is it possible for the symptoms of Canine Vestibular Syndrome to clear up so quickly? Thank you.

I have a minature toy poodle who is 17 years old and was recently diagnosed with Canine Vestibular Syndrome 3 weeks ago. He also has abssess teeth which are going to require surgery. Farley responded well to the prednisone tablets and antibotics the vet perscribed. My problem is after he ran out the vet didn't give me anymore for him and farley relapsed. His head is tilted almost completely sideways, he is circling again and can't walk well.

Is it possible he might never be the same again or that he may need medication for the rest of his life?

It is unusual for Canine vestibular syndrome to resolve so quickly but it is possible. The other possibility to discuss with your vet would be epilepsy.
for the poodle there is the possibility that medication might be needed longer term. Talk to your vet about how to manage this situation.

Joy Lawrence Nov 2, 2009 HELP. My 9 yr old cairn suddenly started walking funny, and is favoring the left side of her face, ear and neck. There has been no head injury to my knowledge. I have already spent $600 at the vet for x-rays, ultrasound, bloodwork and checkup, and still don't know what is wrong. She is having most of the symtoms that you all mention only she is acting as if there is pain on that side of the face. Is that possible with vestibular syndrome? She ate or drank very little at first, but is doing better now, only she is very picky about what she eats wanting mostly table foods. At this point if she will eat it I have been giving it to her. Could someone please comment on this for me. Thanks

Dawn:
This site really helped us out with our dog Shiba, a 14 1/2 yr old lab mix. She came down with CVS on Sept 28th while we were traveling in So Lake Tahoe. The Vet there diagnosed it right on spot (REM and thrashing around if moved). We had a rough time of it for approx 3 weeks, Shiba couldn't move without severe convulsing. She wouldn't eat and we tried many of the suggestions on the site. I just want people to know there's hope and the 72 hrs recovery time may take longer than expected. But after 3 weeks she could stand w/assistance and now is walking w/assistance.
Here's what we found that was helpful: Time - just let your dog recover at their own pace..Imodium - for the diarrhea - Benadryl - for the nausea. Tums - for gas & some calcium.
We saw incremental changes in Shiba and never gave up.. Today is her 5 week after the CVS. We purchased a walkabout harness that slips around her hind legs and helps her get up & walk as she around 70lbs and all the inactivity has played havoc on her.
So there's hope, and this site really gave us inspiration as I must of re-read all the post 10x the past 3 weeks..
Don't give up, as we're in the process of getting our family member back.. (she even lost the head tilt!)
thanks again for this site!
jeff, liana & shiba

My 14 yr. old Springer had an episode yesterday a.m. Rushed her to the vet and dx was CVS. Has anyone had any dogs that started exhibiting incontinence? She seems to want more water than usual-I don't know if that is from the benadryl which the vet RX 3 x day for a week. She eats and drinks--no vomiting, thank goodness she is a lucky one to be able to eat and keep the food down. I keep her confined in the living room with a big stand alone pen--and take her out and she always does urinate, even when wetting on her diaper pad. Also, does anyone know if it is better to keep them up and walking around or just let them lay until they are ready to get up. She seems to sleep alot, but is aroused when her breakfast and dinner is being prepared. Should I take her on short walks--she has started the head tilt today to the left and doesn't seem to fall as much as she did yesterday--she snoots around outside. I've called and left messages for my vet, however, I thought maybe some help could be out there for me. After reading everyone else's situation, I realize all are different. I have 6 other animals and just lost two in the past few months. I want to do everything to make her comfortable and any tips for her would be greatly appreciated. I have started massaging her neck and shoulders too--just how long is a good time to do this every day? Thank you all and I wish everyone the best of luck too.
Deb (and Katie)

for the springer-check with your vet re secondary bladder infection given the incontinence and thirst. Massage is good-you can continue down the spine in addition to neck and shoulders. 10 minutes twice a day would be enough. Exercise should be limited at this point as rest seems to be important in the early stages. Short walks, if she doesn't get tired are ok

P. Wagner - update from original post 10/8: Unfortunately I did not receive a dx of CVS with my chow Brandi. She was dx'd with pancreatitis and what my vet thought was definitely a brain lesion as she did not exhibit most of the other symptoms of CVS. She was hospitalized for 1 week over which time she rapidly declined and also developed vasculitis and started to bleed out. We had to make the ultimate sacrifice for her own good and send her off to the Rainbow Bridge to wait for us.

I'm terribly sad as is her brother. I wish the best of luck and happiness to all of you who are having more time with your kids with fur. I know in my heart that I gave her the very best life but it doesn't make it any easier to get over. Again, all the best for you with good outcomes.

Our 8 year old Boston terrier suddenly began to have balance trouble. It came out of the blue. He began to walk like he was drunk and fell over a few times. He seems to have the greatest trouble when circling to get in his bed. He also is hardly eating. The vet gave him an exam and said the heart seemed fine,temp. ok, breathing ok, etc. He sent us home with no answers, but to watch him and call if there was no change. It has been close to 48 hours since the first occurance and there is not much improvement. (The dog seemed almost himself at the vet, even jumping and very little balace trouble) We came across this syndrome while reseaching and it sounds like our dog may be suffering from this. He is constantly drooling however and no one has meantioned this side effect. He normally does not drool. Can anyone tell us if drooling is common with this problem? We love Rambo very much and would appreciate any help on how to help him most. Thanks so much! DWC

Drooling can be related to nausea from the head tilt/dizziness, may also be one reason he isn't eating much.

Thank you Dawn, I had thought about the urinary infection, however, it just seems weird that it happened right after this episode. She isn't drinking as much (maybe because I decreased the dose of benadryl to 1 caplet (25 mg) two times a day) and if I keep taking her out every couple/few hours, she is okay during the day. When I get up, she has soiled her diaper.
I just wonder if I should continue the benadryl as she does not have the rapid eye movement any longer, is walking pretty good, does stumble when she shakes her head. She has made good improvement.
The vet is over 1 1/2 hrs away one way-- and my husband has called and left a message with him too, (in addition to my message) and we have yet to hear from him. I do have antibiotics on hand for UTI in the dogs and cats that I take in.....I've checked to be sure there is no blood in the urine visible to sight--as in the past I have had another dog that had blood when urinating and it was a UTI. I wonder if I should give her the antibiotic or wait a couple more days to see if she continues to improve with the incontinence.
The vet didn't even suggest a follow up--I probably will take her back in a couple of week as long as she doesn't go down hill, then I will take her back asap. When these dogs have CVD, do they ever get back to their "normal" self? I know the head tilt will always be there, but will she ever be able to jump up on the couch again or get up and down the stairs without assistance? Thank you so much, I cannot tell you how much you have helped me. Deb and Katie

Try slowly weaning her off the benadryl (go to once a day then if she is still improving stop giving it). I wouldn't start her on antibiotics without talking to her vet.
As for improvement, it varies from dog to dog-some recover nearly completely. Only time will tell. But her steady improvement is certainly a good sign.

Dawn, just re read your responses--and wondered, have you ever heard of a dog having incontinence issues with CVD? Has anyone else had this problem with a dog that had the incident of CVD or am I the first?
Thank you,
Deb (and Katie)

I have a 14-year old shepherd mix who weighs about 40 pounds. Very active and looks a lot younger than what she is. As with almost everyone else who has commented, Bella was acting perfectly normal. All of the sudden, she was stumbling, lost control of her bowels and her eyes started a horizontal twitch. The vet told me that it is possible that she had a stroke or has vestibular disease. I was able to take her home that night, but I had to have my brother carry her up the stairs for me (I live on the 2nd floor). She has her head tilted to the right. I hand feed her and she does eat. This all happened two days ago. Her symptoms haven't changed except that she cannot stand on her hind legs anymore. She doesn't give a warning when she has to urinate so she has urinated several times on her bed and on herself. I gave her a half a can of food yesterday and today she has eaten another half a can. She has not had another bowel movement. Should I be concerned or is this normal since she is eating so little.

Hi Dawn, I also thank you for your article. We have a Mini-Schnauzer that was a Puppy Mill Rescue at 10 yrs old when we rescued him 2 yrs ago. He had been horribly abused for years & is now mentally challenged. Which was one of the reasons we kept him from fostering - we just love our Quinnie so much! He was "fine" on Friday (11/27) afternoon, taking his nap as normal in his chair. But when we got him up to go outside before dinner, he couldn't walk, head tilt, circles and kept falling over to his left side. We immediately thought stroke & the crying began. The only "quality" of life Quinn has is he LOVES eating, can drink on his own, wander around our main level on his own, and can "run" in our yard. (He had never been out of a cage & had NO idea what grass was, so he can't really run, he kinda moves like a rocking horse. It is very sweet.) But with this stroke, we felt his quality of life was no longer worthy & were ready to let him go. Then, I found CVD on the internet & then your article & we have hope! We will be at our Vet's office at 7AM Mon, 11/30 & are hopeful we will have a few more years with our Quinnie. Goodness knows he deserves a few good years, being carried up&down stairs, fed, warm, safe and HUGELY LOVED to try & make up for the horror's he lived through. He had such bad plaque on his teeth & they had abscessed so badly he had a hole in the roof of his mouth that went up into his sinus' & had a massive ear infection.He also had a severe bladder infection & enlarged prostate. The rescue vet said he had to have been in unimaginable pain for a VERY long time. Thus, the mental/emotional impact. All his teeth were removed, the hole "fixed", prostate removed & neutered-along with massive antibiotics for several weeks to get rid of all the infections. He is good now, and we love him so much-and were devastated at the prospect of losing him too soon! Our other 3 Mini's take good care of him, too. So we are all so hopeful we will have him "back" with us after we see our vet tomorrow. Thank you so much for the information - and to all your guest's who've posted their stories. We now know it is not a given we'll overcome this, but we have HOPE! Thanks, Jean & Lee for our Quinnie!

Our 15 year old mixed breed just came down with symptoms Saturday morning. Thankfully the vet we took her too seemed knowledgable about Vestibular Syndrome so we had a probable almost positive diagnosis almost immediately. After reading the statements here, I am even more thankful as it seems it could be much worse. Dispite the fact that I am a Registered Nurse for people, it is still very hard to go thru this with our "best friend". She has improved some within the last 24 hours and since it would not as severe as some of the stories here I am hopeful she'll be around a bit longer.

No need to worry about the bowel movements just yet but stay in close contact with your vet as questions arise.

Hello, On Tuesday December 8th My family's golden retriever of 13.5 years old started falling over we were shocked because he was fine just earlier that day and we got him when he was a puppy and hes been in my life for as long as i can remember but were moving in a couple days due to foreclosure and the vet we called wont tell us anything without money, On the 9th i found that he wet his bed and struggled trying to get up through out the night when we first saw him fall the night before we got him in his bed and brought his water bucket to him, he drank quite a bit of water then proceeded to spit it up but now on the 9th we comforted him he didn't try getting up at all and we get him to sleep for about a hour and a half then he started changing positions a lot seemed to be unaware he was laying on his back legs then he started making loud crying noises with every breath he took which went on for about 20min he seemed to calm down and feel better when we petted him and comforted him we finally got him to sleep around 4PM on the 9th and his breathing got a little better but its very faint and he has a history of skin and ear infections from a past ear mite case this probably didn't help him much, He still hasn't woken up since yesterday at 4PM and it is cold we live in a spacey house that is hard to keep warm his legs are very cold regardless he has been under 2 blankets since he fell asleep he seems to be in some sort of coma and wont wake up he just sleeps there with his mouth open breathing its sad because were poor and can't afford to get him help from a vet especially since we have to move in a couple days which will take up any money we might have had i mean it costs 200$ just to put him down alone and we can't afford that we don't want him to die but it seems its the only path for him now as he sleeps if we move him with us not only is he sick the new place has 3 flights of stairs and hes a pretty heavy dog were running out of options and we don't what to do if hes still hanging in there when we have to move, at least for now he is at peace in his sleep and not in pain like it seemed earlier when he was crying its so hard because i can tell he wants to live but just doesn't have the strength to fight it off and now he has to slowly die because we can't afford to put him to rest and we don't want him to die but if he is going to we hope he does before we move so we can give him a proper burial we don't know what to do, please try to shed some light on these dark days. :'( (In my opinion i think they shouldn't charge you to put your best friend out of his pain and suffering he was such a awesome dog to.)

Check with your local animal shelter or humane organization. Some of them offer assistance for people like yourself who cannot afford veterinary bills.

Thanks for your advice but its sadly too late he passed away this morning December 10th at 6AM in his coma like sleep R.I.P. D.O.G. The best family dog you could have.

Glad we found this site. Our 13 yr old Golden was diagnosed with this, but we are being told to put him down by the vet. We don't want to let him go, of course. It's only been less than 48 hours since symptoms started and less than 16 hours since he started his course of meds. He stayed overnight in the hospital, but was unresponsive and also sedated, so they said we should think about just putting him down. Well, we brought him home and he chipped right up. He's eating bread out of our hands. He drank a bowl of water and kept it down. He still can't stand yet, but he keeps trying. He keeps his head up now for long periods of time, is wagging and seems to focus on me and my husband without the drunk look. He has the head cock every once in awhile, but his eye shifting seems less and less. I don't understand why they would not give it more time to see if he gets better. Seems like most of you on here are saying it takes a full 72 hours to a week or even more for them to recover. They did think is was more brain tumor related, but couldn't tell without MRI if that makes a difference. Which I guess it might, but I need some encouragement here. Any thoughts? Thank you

Do some dogs just never get rid of the head tilt? My dog had what we think was Vestribular Syndrome almost a year ago and the head tilt never went away, she still is a little wobbly and still seems to circle whenever she needs to change directions. She never had any of this issues before her episode. My vet is torn between VS and brain tumor. What do you think?

Some dogs who have had vestibular syndrome don't ever lose the head tilt. Brain tumor is still a possibility but if there has been no significant worsening of symptoms, it is less likely

very informative article just what i was hoping to hear and i will mention this to my vet when i take her tomorow.Her ears are not doing good,they were full of wax the other day and i cleaned them out.I put medicine in the one ear.I thought i poisoned her with flea spraying the house.Still this sounds like the diagnosis.

Hi Dawn - Our almost 8 y/o Golden came home from the groomers yesterday with a pronounced head tilt. I immediately thought stroke. I called the groomers and they said they also noticed the head tilt, but she was able to correct it when they talked to her so they dismissed it. She is having trouble walking, sort of side-stepped, but she has not fallen down and has been going down the stairs OK, not great, but OK. She is eating fine, and using the bathroom, but you can tell something is definitely off.

I brought her to the vet this morning and the Dr. thinks it is vestibular disease. She checked her ears and said that one side was fine and the other had some gunk in it, so she cleaned them out and checked for bacteria. There was a small amount so they sent her home with abx, and I was told to call back in a few days if the symptoms haven't improved.

The part that has me scared is she titlting her head to the right, but the bacteria was found in her left ear. The vet thought she would be tilting to the affected side. She also has rotational nystagmus. Can you have a mild form of vestibular disease? I am praying that it is not a brain tumor. She is a 3 year survivor of hemangiosarcoma, so she is already defying odds. We adopted her from a rescue at 9 months after being abused for the first few months of her life. She has had a tough road, and I am hoping it is vestibular disease...

Thank you in advance for any input.

The ear infection may be completely unrelated. If you see improvement over the next few weeks it is likely vestibular syndrome. A brain tumor usually results in worsening symptoms

Dawn:

Just a quick update on Shiba, our 14 1/2 collie mix who came down with CVS on Sept 28 this year.. She can now get up by herself, if we're not around, otherwise she looks at us for help..which of course we do.. she now can walk by herself and I would say she's about 95% back.. We are so blessed and just want to again thank you & this site for it's suggestions and just knowing there's hope.. So for all of you in this situation, there is hope and try to hang in there..

We have an 8 year old Pomeranian who came down with what the Vet is calling CVS on Christmas Eve. At first she was just having some issues with her right hind leg, and then her head began to turn to the right. We started her on anti-nausea meds and anti-biotics on Christmas night after a trip to the emergency vet. My concern is that she has more than what I would describe as a head 'tilt'. Her little head is turned so far to the right that her right eye is basically tucked right up against her body. She will only eat and drink via oral syringe and cannot sit or stand upright at all. When we pick her up or put her back in her crate she twists violently to find a position that works for her, but looks incredibly uncomfortable. Today we noticed her right eye is very bloodshot and is looking down to the right most of the time. I'm also concerned that she has not had a bowel movement in the past 2 days, but we haven't been able to give her a lot of food either as she spits it out after we've given her a bit. Has anyone experienced these symptoms? It breaks my heart to see her like this and my Fiancee is so stressed about it. Thank you for any help you can offer.

Our Lab was diagnosed with possible vestibular disease in August and made a full recovery. She was on steroids and antibiotics. She had a recurrance two months later and we did a short course of steroids. It wasn't as severe as the first attack where she couldn't walk for 3 days, she just had a drunken gait. Two weeks ago she had a bladder/urinary tract infection which was treated with antibotics. The night of Christmas she got a nosebleed. There was no sneezing and it only bled a little, it wasn't pouring out and no blood clots. Then the next day she had the drunken gait again, but she seems to be getting steadier today. With the second attack we thought it was a brain tumor, but the vet seemed to think it was too long in between attacks and non-steroid use. He thought the symptoms should have shown up sooner. Without the mri, they really don't know what is going on with her. Do you have any ideas? Could the vestibular disease recur? If it is a tumor, would the symptoms go away and come back? Or would they just keep getting worse? Thanks.

A big hello from The Netherlands!
I was absolutely thrilled to find this article and can't thank you enough Dawn, for clarifying the terror we've been going thru this past week.
Our (nearly) 2 year old Spanish Water Dog - no not the Obama one, they have a Portuguese Water Dog! We called her Hojita and she came to us at 9 wks. She developed an allergy as she was growing, markd by little red bumps on her tummy, armpits and ... left ear etc - all the marked places. Took her for allergy skin and bloodtest, results are 2-3 mites and a herb (all Dutch names that I can't translate jsut now). Will start desensitizing therapy in January.
Anyway, she was flapping her ears quite markedly the last 2 wks. I know to keep regular checks and how to clean with special gel from vet. Brought her to groomer last Saturday and the gunk was really thick and heavy. The groomer cleaned it out too. By Sunday she was tilting her head to the left, the bad ear side. Took her to our vet on Mon, ear was examined and abx was prescibed. By Wed evening she kep falling over. Back to vet for emergency examination, external ear cleaned up, vet cannot quite see the ear drum yet. Xmas eve she couldn't walk, eat or drink and had convulsion like ' attacks'. Xmas day another trip to vet, Cefaral abx was changed to heavier dose Baytril and Synulox together with anti inflammatory Carpodryl (all Dutch names!!) Nothing worked and Hojita had started shaking all over het body, not closing her eyes at all. She can't sleep and her head seemed to pull to right side (other side of bad ear). Shaking left front leg and nystagmus in left eye. We were frantic by now and I thought it was maybe an allergic reactions to abx !!?? Vet stuck with CVS diagnosis. No sleep for Hojita at all and we're helping her with all the attacks all during the night. Vet is great but has never sen such a hefty reaction what with the shaking all over the body etc!! Last night (Sat) he IV Prednisone and prescribed Diazepam rectally to let her get some rest. She's obviously affected but still keeps eyes open en shaking does NOT quite stop. But after another frantic night she got up this morning + wanted soem food and water. Her eyes are brighter too and she waggs her tail even more. Forgot to say all neurological tests were OK (almost) ruling out RMSA etc etc. So this has given us some hope but the shaking will NOT subside, even after another Pred IV today.
So, we're so happy with all your CVS info and all the repsonses. But we + the vet are worried about the shaking not subsiding. She still has those circling and curling up spasms too.
MY hubbie + I now understand we have to be patient and we take turns sitting with her, feeding her by hand etc. Any thoughts on the shaking and not sleeping/closing her eyes (for 3 days and nights now)??

Kindest regards from Leiden in Holland! Vera for Hojita

For the Pom, a return to the vet for a further workup is indicated- there might be other neurological issues.
For the Lab, CVS can and often does recur. Tumors often result in progressive worsening of problems, not intermittent episodes.
For the Spanish water dog, you might want to work with your vet on sedating her more heavily at night for a couple of days. The shaking is unusual for CVS so you might want to talk about reducing/stopping the various meds to see if she improves.

My mom's 12 year old mutt seems to be suffering from this syndrome--today she was vomiting, falling down, has nystagmus and head tilt and perhaps some facial nerve problems. After she rested and slept in one position for about 6 hours I tried to move her to get her to go out and empty her bladder and she wouldn't/couldn't stand up. The nystagmus continues, but she will not get up. I have given her water and no food. Will hope to see some improvement in the morning.

We are currently dealing with diagnosed Vestibular Disease in our nearly 13-year old Border Collie mix. Her onset was on the way in the door from a leisurely walk and presented with stumbling, head tilt and excessive drooling. We were able to get her to the vet within an hour of onset, for which we were grateful because we were just positive that she had had a stroke. So glad we were wrong!!
She has had steady improvement in the first 72 hours, just as the vet suggested would happen. She can now stand and walk fairly well, though turning corners still causes some loss of traction and coming uphill through our yard is a strain that will cause her to lie down ASAP when she gets in the door.
Our vet suggested giving her Bonine or its generic as opposed to Dramamine since it doesn't usually cause the same acute drowsiness and I think this was a really good call. It encourages the dog to rest and relax without conking her out, so she still can feel a part of the family activities and not feel sick. Also, the drooling stopped within 90 minutes of giving her the Bonine, so I know that it addressed the nausea quickly. She was able to eat plain rice with chopped up chicken within 3 hours of getting the Bonine and kept it down, so another testament to the quick action of this medicine.
We were advised to feed several small meals/day instead of her usual 2xday routine and this has worked well for the most part; I gave her too much at one feeding on the second day and this brought on the nausea again and she upchucked the whole business.
The general instruction to let her rest, feed her small amounts of simple food ( even if it requires cooking for her), and the use of Bonine have really helped our girl. She now walks independently around the house and no longer fears being by herself - to the point that we could leave her alone for 3 hours yesterday ( 5 days after initial onset) with no upset to her at all...she got in her favorite sleeping spot under the desk and snoozed the whole time we were gone.
Patience is the key, for sure, so just hang in there.

I have a 4 year old lab cross with a history of uncontrolled epilepsy. I just recently started her on Keppra and we are now 5 weeks seizure free. But 9 days ago I noticed right sided facial drooping. We have been to the vet, she said her inner ear has no signs of infection. She thinks it could be idiopathic or possible brain tumor. I am giving her antibiotics, to rule out possible inner ear infection.
About day 5 of facial drooping, I noticed her getting wobbly and falling, depth perception seems to be a problem. But I haven't noticed any worsening of symptoms.
I am debating on getting her an MRI of the brain, but it is the expense and not sure if there would be much change in the course of treatment.
If this is a brain tumor what would be the timeline to expect to see worsening symptoms?

It is hard to give a time line for a possible brain tumor but with Canine Vestibular Syndrome you will usually start to see some improvement within a couple of weeks, sometimes sooner.

very helpful, informative, thank you!

Just wanted to give an update on the Pom from my post on 12/27. We don't have the money to get a full neurological work-up (MRI, CT etc), so we have just been caring for her daily feeding her via syringe, and giving her the meds the vet gave us. Good news is that after some tough days she has been steadily improving on a daily basis. We were scared the first week after watching her condition worsen, as we had read that if you don't see improvements within the first 72hrs or so than you may not see them. She is now able to eat more solid foods right from our hand, drink water from her bowl, balance herself upright, and last night we found her standing and walking when we returned home. We hope she will continue to get better as she still has a very pronounced head tilt, although she can put it straight when she tries. We were wondering if this is still a neurological symptom or a muscular issue at this point, given that her neck has been cramped in the same spot for 2 weeks now. Do you think there would be any benefit to massage therapy or would we just be wasting our money? Thanks you so much, this site has been incredibly helpful. I hope this story give some hope to people that have dogs that don't look like they'll ever recover.

Great news on the Pom. As for massage, you could even do that yourselves and it makes sense. Start with gentle pressure just where her head meets her neck, evenly on both sides. She will let you know if it feels good. If you are using too much pressure she will pull away. If she likes it she will push into your fingers.
Good luck

Our 15 year old bull terrier/border collie cross (Magoo) had an episode of CVS a couple of nights ago. Was incredibly distressing. He had made a full recovery 12 hours later. We went to the vets about it anyway as conveniently he had an appt that day for his monthly pentosan injection. He is also on deramax (quarter tablet) daily. Both the pentosan deramax are to help with degenerative spinal conditions which effect his back legs. With these treatments he does not have any mobility problems other than what you might expect in an older dog.

Four years ago we had another dog (same cross breeds) (Hayley) who passed away, aged 13. At our first consultation with the specialist vet we were referred to because 'something was just not right', I also mentioned some behavioural changes she had been experiencing. He said that although they could be caused by a brain tumour, that that particular type of tumour was very rare, and most likely her behavioural changes were the result of old age. In the end, after 10 days of testing, an MRI found an inoperable brain stem tumour. The behavioural changes I had noticed were the primary symptom for this tumour.

Here's where I'm worried. Magoo is also displaying altered behavioural patterns. Our vet has advised that CVS can be caused by something in the brain putting pressure on a certain spot in the brain (layman's terms). I want Magoo to have an MRI. However an MRI is not indicated for his current 'physical' symptoms. The thing is that if my concerns in relation to Hayley's altered behaviour had been addressed earlier, there is a good chance the tumour would have been picked up earlier and although still inoperable, within the limits to have a good success rate with chemo. If Magoo (I know the odds!) has the same type of tumour, I figure the sooner we find out the sooner we can make a decision about chemo. If we don't go down the chemo road, at least we will know what to expect in the coming months.

In Australia a canine MRI costs upwards of AUD $7,000.00. I think that is why the vet (the one we saw was not our regular vet, as she is on holidays) was reluctant to refer us to the specialist clinic for Magoo to have an MRI. We're not concerned with the cost. Hayley and Magoo have been and are our children. What do I do? Am I being over the top????

This article and comments are very reassuring that my 14 year old lab mix can recover. She started showing symptoms early to mid December and it took a week or so to dx and start treating the nausea as vestibular disease. My problem is she has lost a lot of weight and I am running out of things to feed her. We do chicken, cheese, cottage cheese, rice, and canned dog beef stew which she liked for a day. She drinks well, is happy to be around us and doesn't act sick just confuse. We can see her ribs and spine. She acts hungry but doesn't always want what we have to offer. Any other food ideas?

For the lab who is losing weight-try mashed potato, you can even use the instant stuff. Add chicken or beef soup for extra flavor.
For border collie/bull terrier cross- given your experience it is not a surprise you are anxious for an MRI. Talk to your regular vet but if you are ok with the cost and want to know for sure re a brain tumor. go for it.

My eight year old German Shepherd (who was full of life and perfectly fine two days ago) suffered stoke-like symptons yesterday. It was devastating. He is my child. The back half of his body would not work, he could not stand. He could not see and had no idea who I was. As I lay crying on my vet's office floor with my "son" I debated all of my options. All I knew was that I could not let him live "this way". I told my vet to do whatever he could do to try and help him and make him better. I didn't care how much it cost. They said they wanted to treat him with steroids for the night and would call me periodically and let ime know his status. They said if there were no changes we could discuss other "options" in the morning. After returning home, I jumped on the internet to search for anything that might give me a little hope. The articles I read on this site gave me hope. Today, I walked into my vets office and everyone there had a smile on their faces! He was better!!! Yes, he still has problems, but he is better. He has trouble walking and eating, but he's trying. His sight has also come back. I know it will take time, but I'm so happy that I didn't do anything rash, especially after reading your articles. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

This helped me with what I went throuth this week. It is very scarey. Yet, my dog has vasitely improved. It is reassuraging to find out more.

Hi Dawn... our 13 year old female Border Collie suddenly started having stroke-like symptoms.... thanks to you and this forum I now believe it is CVS. Thank you and all the contributors for the info.

Scarlett my 13 year old GSD could not get up on Monday evening around 10.30ishpm, she was wobbling and shaking! We rang the emergency vet and they told me to give her metecam; which we did with chicken. Around 1.30am she woke up being sick about 3 times and was shaking and her eyes were twitching uncontrollably and her head tilting to one side! We rushed her to the vets and they told us she has most probably had a stroke and her chances were poor! We had the option of having her put to sleep there and then or sending to a Vet Specialist for an MRI, we opted for the latter. She stayed at our local vets overnight and they made a referral the next morning to the Vet Specialist. We drove to Hertfordshire (hour and a half drive) the next morning. The specialist confirmed after tests that she has Vestibular Syndrome; they did mention that they would like her to return to double check xrays for her chest! Also they done a spinal tap, we have not got the result yet but if it was meningitis she would not be getting better, which is. She is sitting up and moving her head. She will stay at the vets until she is able to walk. Which I hope won’t be longer than a week. This is great site and has told me a great deal about VS. Can you give any advice what will happen next when I get her home? Will her head tilt get better; will her walking return and how long will this take!
I’m worried as when I’m at work my elderly mother ((76 and is being treated for Cancer) looks after my two dogs while I’m at work! Any advice would be so appreciated.
Jan, Scarlett & Marley x

The safest thing to do with your GSD is to confine her to a small area with bedding on the floor and little or no furniture while you are away. Then your mother will just have to let her out to toilet.

my puppy is only 3 months old, he can stand but barley walk, almost like he is drunk. He had 4 episodes of drunk puppy like, vomiting, drooling, stiffness and head tilting to the side. It only usually lasted about 30 minutes and he would go back to cute playful happy puppy. Then a couple days ago he did it again but this time the vomiting and drooling lasted 3 hours. Its been 3 days and he stilll acts like a drunk puppy but he is really happy and acting normal.....i dont know what to do and vet is giving me the only option to put him to sleep. please help me

Same thing happen to my 13 yr old English lab. We woke from a night full of playing and rubbing her head and ears with her wobbling across the yard in complete confusion. What heart ache! Yes, we at first thought it was a stroke and took her to the vet and was told for the fist time of Vestibular Neuritis.
We always take her to the lake and thinking it was due to water in the ears but the vet assured that it was not the cause, but an upper inner ear infection that would be labeled as such. We took her home and seemed to have gotten better just with in hours but I still noticed the eye twitching to this day. As the twitching occurs she then almost falls forward but catches herself as almost coming out of it. And if lying down and her name called she does just as such, comes out of it. (If that makes sense) I really don’t know what that means but she has always had a great life and its killing me to see her go through this. Other than that she’s happy as she has always been except for less energy. Good luck to all and always love your pets! They are the one thing in life that will always be there for you during good and bad!
Complete Sadie Bell lover!

Our dog Hannah started with a head tilt and stumbling around the end of November. She was brought to the vet and given antibiotics and predisone. The ear drum was in tact and no sign of infection. Toward the end of December her head tilt improved but she was still stumbling and falling down. She also started bowing and Yelping in pain. She is still bowing down and yelping and stumbling around. Today she was diagnosed with vestibular syndrome. I am just wondering if these sound like vestibular symptoms. I was reading some of the other posts and it seems like the other dogs recovered more quickly.

I just sent a message about our dog Hannah I forgot to tell you that she is only 2 years old

my 9 yr old yorkie had shown sign of vestibular. took her to vet and diagnosed she has had 2 rounds of antibiotics and 21 days of steroids. the improvement has been very very slow. her right side has been mostly affected still not walking or standing and her right eye seems to be bulging my concern is how long can this last its been 1 month and 3 days

CVS is not a death sentence, but if your dog in not going to regain use of all four legs, it is not fair to keep him/her alive. My 14 year old Bouvier never gained use of her legs, she could not walk, and I had her put to sleep. It was hard, but she had no quality of life.

Hi my dog had what the vet called a stoke, she has not had a CT scan, but her head is tilted/turned she was very sick and had trouble standing. She is however much steadier on her feet now but her head is still tilted, she can't jump up as she did, and is very tired, she has a need to be close to me but I love her so don't find that a problem. She is however wanting to go for walks so I have been taking her keeping her on short leash and giving her lots of re-assurance. Do you think that I am doing right? She is only 6 years old and it has been a week since she took ill. The vet says to take her back in a week and if there is no change to the tilt I will have to make a decision on weather I think that is will have a good quality of life as she is. From some articles it says that it can take 3-6weeks to resolve. Do you think I should give her more time than 2 weeks?

As long as you are seeing some improvement, it would make sense to give her more time.

Have just scrolled through so many poignant stories about this mysterious and distressing disease. Our 13 year old border collie, Jack, has had CVS for a week. He's slowly improving - more able to navigate outside on a flat surface, less frightened but still needing lots of reassurance. Anti nausea meds stopped the vomiting but he has to be hand fed (scrambled eggs, baby food and expensive vet formula). He's losing weight and very weak but trying so hard to pull out of this 'tailspin'. Very useful to read these comments. My heart goes out to you all. Thank you.

This article has been a huge help to me,This just happened to my dog a few minutes ago,I googled his symptoms and this came up.It would seem I immediately did all the right things by instinct.

My daughters 1 yr old Shitzu mix had what the vet assumes was a Brown Reclus bite on her neck. It became infected and they did surgery 3 days ago and since then she has had what appears to be Vestibular Disease falling over and circling. He did a swab on her ears and found mites and thinks she may have an inner ear infection causing this. What do you think her chances of a quick recovery are? Shes pitiful but is eating when handfed and does go to the bathroom without problem. Thanks for any advice.

As you can see from all the comments, time of recovery varies but many dogs return to a good quality of life.

For the cavalier, the most important thing is whether he is making any progress. If in nearly a week, you are not seeing much change the chances for return to a quality life are lower.

Your article was a great help to me.

One the morning of Jan 15, my dog exhibited the 1st three symptoms of canine vestibular syndrome. I took her to the vet who gave her a shot of cortisone. She was dizzy and disorientated for a couple of days but seemed to be improving daily until today, the 2 of Feb, when she again exhibited the same symptoms. Could this be a relapse?

Relapses do occur with vestibular syndrome so it is possible

something very similar to these posts has just happened to my dog, i got up 2 let her into the garden, on her way to the door she kept falling into objects, her back legs keep going and she's been sick twice. And her eyes keep flickering from side to side. I was both petrified and heartboke to see my old friend like this (she's a 13yr ol cross breed) I've managed to get an appointment with the vet first thing in the morning, but after reading these posts i'm wondering if i should put her through this (she is petrefied of the vets surgery, she shakes and slavers whenever i take her for a check up and it usually takes her a few days to get back to her old self, she seems a little more settled now than earlier, although her eyes are still moving all the time. :(

I just rescued a 10 yr old Golden who's owner brought him to a animal shelter to be put down. He has severe ear infections (is now on Baytril) and head tilt. His balance issues seem to come and go. He angle of his head tilt coincides with his balance; the more tilt...the more he's off balance. At his foster home, she did say the vomitted twice. He hasn't w/us.....but we've only had him for 2 days. The vet wants to do at least a 2 mo. antibiotic course.

Thank you so much for this information. My 14 year old large dog had all these problems/symptoms this morning and I was prepared for the worse. She got better this afternoon and she's almost back to normal tonight; though she is a little wobbly still.

My 12 yr old boxer had a fit on me shaking and vomiting after he was unable to walk. Seemed to have loss of hearing and balance I thought his face had slightly fallen to one side and his eyes were slightly flickering to side to side. I didnt notice his head fallen to one side and he hasnt gone of his food not sure if he has had a stroke. At first he was walking in circles but over the last couple of days he is walking better and doesnt seem as distant.

I too very much appreciate your article and this site. My 3 1/2yr old pug/brussels griffon mix seems to have come down with this as well. I've not seen the nystagmus, but he is displaying all the other symptoms. My questions would be 1) is there a definitive test that can be done to prove that this is indeed what he has, and 2) are there treatments that have been proven to help? He is currently on antibiotics, steroids and vitamins, and we are just waiting and watching for improvement. At least he is able to walk, eat, and drink, but certainly not back to normal. His symptoms started 2/4. Thanks for your thoughts!

Unfortunately there is no definitive test for vestibular syndrome. Treatment is generally supportive care.