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my dog is 13 years old, and suddenly came down with the above sysmtoms. Her vets are treating her with streoids and montion sickness pills, but after 2 weeks, she still seems no herself. Although the eye movement has stopped she is still eating and drinking. i would just like to understand more about this illness
Can you tell me all of her symptoms and what has improved?
Did they run blood work on her?
Theresa
rapid eye movement, walked like a drunken sailor, could not stand up very well. They ran blood work on her, and identified that she is in the early stages of renal failure. But they said that this raid eye movement and diziness, and tilted head was some sort of viral infetion that happended in older dogs. i would like more information on this illness
What she has is vestibular disease. This is a common condition that can happen in older dogs. Causes of vestibular disease include inflammation of the vestibular system, ear infections, organic disease, brain tumor or toxic ingestion. They are treating it now as an inflammatory condition. It can take dogs up to 3-4 weeks before they are completely improved though a head tilt may remain. I was curious about a thyroid issue as this is seen also in dogs with hypothyroidism so if a thyroid level was not checked then I would request this be done. Also, start working on keeping her protein levels down in the food and increasing her fluid intake. Ask your vet about starting her on benazapril to decrease blood pressure which usually accompanies renal disease.
With this disease there is a lot of wait and see what happens going on. This is normal. She is improving so this is a good sign for her. Keep up what you are doing.
Here is a link that can assist you:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_vestibular_disease.html
Please let me know if further assistance is needed.
Experience: 19+ years experience in small animal medicine