Does anyone have any experience with Vestibular Disease?

[Moby and Barley's Mom]

I am almost certain my soon to be 13 year old lab had an attack of this on Thursday and is recovering now.
Idiopathic or “Old Dog� Vestibular Disease | The Bark

Did my dog have a stroke? Signs of Vestibular Syndrome | Greasergrrls Surprise Machine

I had never heard of this and thought Moby's back went out - coupled with arthritis - but he was walking as though drunk, stumbling, falling and his head is tilting to the right. He is very needy right now as well and will look confused and stare into space a bit. His ability to walk has certainly improved since Thursday - but I know that the vet would want to do an MRI to see if he had a stroke. After spending $8,000 in April on two surgeries for a mast cell and spindle cell tumor - we do not want any more invasive and expensive tests and want to manage any discomfort with love, massage and medication if possible.

Has anyone heard of this - or have any experience with it??

[Snowshoe]

A couple here have first hand experience with it. My sister's dog had it. Laddie could not walk for a month but recovered with only a slight heat tilt that gradually diminished till only those who knew him well could notice it.

Head tilt and the eyes are classic symptoms but you might check with your Vet anyway. Sis's Vet was sure and did not suggest an MRI.

[LuckyLuna]

My daughter's lab mix had this problem when it was 12 years old. The symptoms came on all of a sudden and it looked like the dog was gravely ill: could barely stand up or walk straight and you had to feed it out of your hand.

They took the dog to the vet who diagnosed it with this vestibular condition without doing any expensive tests. Over a course of 10 days there was gradual improvement. No further problems after that. It truly is an un-nerving thing to watch but wasn't serious. Hope Moby recovers soon.

[MikeLynn]

Have no experience, just thought you might find this link helpful:
Vestibular Disease in Dogs: Symptoms and Proper Treatment

Sending good thoughts and hugs for Moby. M&M

[Berna]

No experience but sending good thoughts for Moby. Hoping the meds will help.

[dogmom]

Diagnosing vestibular disease does not generally require expensive testing. It is pretty straightforward. We hospitalize/treat this disorder weekly. Some forms can be severe and lengthy, some brief and easily resolved. It is not uncommon for it to recur. I would certainly recommend a Vet visit due to her age and there are other things associated with those symptoms that would require treatment as well, ear infections, abscessed teeth, etc.

[Annette47]

Jolie had it - scared the CRAP out of me. I thought she was seizing, but she was just trying to stand up and couldn't tell which way was up or down, so ended up flailing around frantically in a panic. I got her to the vet and they took one look at her eyes, which were darting side-to-side and said vestibular (apparently that is pretty much diagnostic). They gave her shot of Dramamine which made her sleepy and let her stay there for a few hours. When she got home, she was wobbly but much improved and was back to normal after another day or two. She never even had the head tilt which many dogs are left with. She lived another year and a half or so afterwards and her death was not connected to the vestibular at all (she had a splenic mass).

[Moby and Barley's Mom]

Yes! It is really scary! We are on day 5 since this happened - and it was a sort of gradual attack. I don't recall seeing the eyes darting in the beginning as I was so concerned with the mobility but since have seen him try to focus and the eyes shift a bit. The walking has improved a bit - but not nearly like I hoped. I am, of course, worried that he will stay like this! Everything that I have read and heard from all of you is very promising and I appreciate you taking the time to write it! Thank you for letting me know that there are not a lot of expensive tests - we just can't do any more of those on Moby right now - 4 months after his surgery but I think a vet consultation is in order. I hope he can get back to some walks!

[BogeyBaby]

Buddy had it twice before he died.

The first time it hit was in the middle of the night. He started to growl--which he NEVER did. I got up to see what was wrong and he threw up. And then he couldn't get up to get away from the vomit. I knew something was very wrong. At the vet in the morning he was diagnosed with ideopathic vestibular disease. I was told he'd always hold his head at a tilt, but that was the only symptom that persisted. It took about a week or two before he was able to eat or drink much without vomiting. I guess the vomiting and inability to stand up or walk was from the dizziness that the disease causes. It's an inner ear thing.

The second time he got it he got better within a couple of days instead of a week of vomiting.

Good luck. At least it isn't a horrible thing like cancer. Typically dogs do well after the initial symptoms go away.

[JenC]

Annette, thanks for mentioning the eyes. We went through a lot of diagnosing when Maddy was ill and I brought up Vestibular and it was immediately ruled out due to the eyes.

We had head tilting, no ability to focus eyes (looked like she was blind), walking in circles, getting stuck head on at walls, falling over...it ended up being a brain problem. She was 11 1/2 and any treatment would have been too hard on her, we let her live out her days until it was too hard on her.