Doggy Vertigo

mbalbritton

mbalbritton

#@$%!
Joined
Mar 22, 2005
Location
Lakeland, FL
Don't know if anyone is a Vet, works with a Vet, had experience with this, or is just a general know it all.... But as best i can discribe what my Dog experienced last night was Doggy Vertigo. A Google brought up something called Vestibular Disease

Gus is a 90# Boxer. He's a Big Boxer, not Fat, just Big, Tall. Full of Energy, he's coming up on 6 years old. He's Healthy and up to date on shots. nothing that would alert me to anything that would be a problem.

Last night we were sitting around watching the TV and I heard him come walking from the Kitchen and it sounded like he was running/tripping over him self. His head was low and inline with his neck. his mouth was pursed up. he was walking like he was Drunk or Drugged and swatting at his face with his front paws and stumbling around. I took him outside incase he was going to throw up or something. He stumbled around the yard fighting to stay up. I would swear I was watching one of my Drunk College buddies, or Caver at Dixie Run.... except Gus wasn't babbling mindlessly.

His neck, and mouth were tensed up to teh point I couldn't open his mouth. He kept swatting at his muzzle so I was trying to inspect his mouth. He started coming out of it, walking better, standing up more straight, become more alert so I took him inside. I had him sit and look at me and I held upa treat to see if his attention was there. but he couldn't hold his head still. it was going in circles, like he was tracing a penny with his nose. His mouth was open now, his ears were perked up, but you could tell he wasn't seeing straight... that's when I thought Vertigo.

This morning he's doing fine. Only thing I could think of last night that was different was that I clipped his nails and cut a little too far into one and bled him for a minute. but only a minute. I can't imagine that would cause anything like this.
 
Did he happen to find a bottle of booze/beer laying around.. my dog did once and guess what she acted just like yours did :)
 
mbalbritton,

Could your dog have gottin into some rat poison, household chemical or sort?? I've cut a little too deep into the nails and never had that reaction.... I've never heard of Vertigo that bad. Hope the pooch is OK.

While we're on the subject of dogs..... I used to go to Animal West on Jonestown. Now North Davidson Veterinary in Welcome. I've heard the Vet my girlfriend likes at North Dav is going to retire soon. She insists on a new vet... again.... Any recommendation???
 
Canine vestibular disease is pretty common actually. Diseases like these are hard to diagnose because they are one of several idiopathic diseases meaning we don't know why they occur but instead what they can be a result of. (if that makes any sense :flipoff2: ) It can be a result of a glitch in the brain, misinterpreting nerve signals sent to certain receptors. Or it can be a problem with the hair cells on the inner ears, more specifically, the ones that detect gravity, acceleration, and spatial orientation. Does your dog have a history of ear infections? Try cleaning those bad boys out. If the problem persists I would definatley take him to the vet.
 
I'll give his ears a good checking tonight when I get home. He's never had any health issues. Ears were always clean. No Booze for him to have gotten into.. I already drank it all (note to self stop by store on way home for more beer). As far as poisons or chemicals, All that is kept in the basement where the Dog and the Girls can't get to it. I can't think of anything else he could've gotten into.

As for Vet Recomendations, the one I like is actually the one that Elliott used to work at, Old Town Vet on Reynolda.

If this shows up again, I will be taking him to the Vet. but like said, he seems to be fine now....
 
Google "Wobbler's Syndrome". Primarily affects a couple of breeds, and rare, but sounds similar. A friend's dog had it.
 
ya, the symptoms sounds very similar... but they talk as if it's a permanent symptom. all his symptoms are now gone. He seems to be fine and bouncing around now.
 
That's what my buddy's dog did, symptoms would come and go at first. I wouldn't assume anything at this point, but just be aware of it, especially if symptoms reoccur.
 
Wobblers is more of a muscular/ bone structure degenerative disease and usually affects the spine all the way up to the neck, so spastic motions like Brent said he had would have probably been painful. Not saying it couldn't happen but it would surprise me.
 
I'm not going to say it wasn't painful for him. When his head was pointed down totally inline with his neck, his neck muscles were as tight as could be, I thought of a cramp. His mouth was locked down like it was cramped. He sure didn't look like he was enjoying it. It souns like it could be a possibility...
 
What heartworm meds is he on? The reason I ask is that we had our dog on one of the name brand chewables (I think heart guard, but to be honest I'm not 100% sure). Over the period we had him on that medication, he had a handful of episodes that sound very similar to what you're dog had. He would more or less lose control and want to fall over, his eyes got a glazed over look to them. In a few minutes he would recover and was fine.

We always attributed the episodes to him hurting his back when he was younger (he fell off the deck and compressed a disc). We figured his back was acting up so we would always try to calm him and rub his back. We just figured the back thing was going to be a recurring problem.

About a year and a half back, or so, we changed over to a generic heartworm preventative, just because we were being cheap. We were told it offered the same protection for a fairly significant savings. Recently we just happened to be talking to my Uncle and the topic came up that his dog had similar issues. He took his dog to his vet and she mentioned a known issue with sezures for dogs taking the same heart meds. His vet had him take his dog off the name brand and the seizures have stopped. When we talked about it, we realized our dog had not had an episode since changing over to the generic.

I'm not a vet and I didn't stay at a Holiday Express last night, but it might be worth talking over with your vet if you're dog's on the same heartworm meds.

Jeff
 
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