Accepted Answer

I'm sorry about the questions that seemed redundant. The additional information (age, already tried, etc.) was not visible to me when I sent my questions. Unfortunately, this is a very difficult situation. There are several causes of vestibular disease:

• Idiopathic vestibular disease- is a sudden onset of symptoms that gradually resolves over 7-10 days. The cause is unknown. I don't think your dog has this since things seem to be worsening rather than improving.
• Inner ear Infection- This is uncommon but would cause these symptoms. Typically it would respond to antibiotics and baytril is a good one so I tend to rule this out since improvement was not seen. However, it is possible another antibiotic might help. Diagnosis is usually made on x-rays or by examining the ear drums.
• Brain Cancer- Unfortunately this is probably the most likely cause since it is typically progressive and does not resond well to medication. The lump in the chest could even be the same cancer.
• Infections or inflammations of the brain- In this case it depends on the type of infection. Bacterial infection would respond to antibiotics so its not as likely in this case. Fungal infections need specific medications but are very rare. Parasite infections are also extremely rare. It is possible to have an inflammation of the brain tissues and this might respond to steroids.

Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done inexpensively to test this situation. The next step for testing is probably a spinal tap or a CT scan, both of which are expensive. Steroids are very inexpensive and can be used as a last ditch effort. If this is inflammation then she could get better quickly. If this due to infection it could get worse however. Brain cancer might improve on steroids temporarily but then would worsen. If you have more questions please let me know.

Expert:	Christian K.
Pos. Feedback:	100.0 %
Accepts:	746
Answered:	8/4/2009

Dog Veterinarian

12 years of veterinary experience in canine surgery, medicine and behavior