Wobbly Dogs

[dianed]

Maybe he has hurt his back and just needs a few days quiet and rest.BTW one of those tick cases the dog had never left Queanbeyan... odd

[Fourjays]

That is odd with the tick although we do get them up here through summer time and it's not been unknown for them to travel back from the coast in people's camping gear etc and dogs to then be affected by them. One good thing about the cold weather up here - no ticks and the slithery things go away too :)

Just going to keep the old boy quiet for a few days. He does have a sore back and problems with his back legs, but this was something very new and very sudden onset. Every time he shakes his head at the moment, he falls over (and is then most unhappy about that, poor boy)

Maybe he has hurt his back and just needs a few days quiet and rest.BTW one of those tick cases the dog had never left Queanbeyan... odd

[dianed]

That is odd with the tick although we do get them up here through summer time and it's not been unknown for them to travel back from the coast in people's camping gear etc and dogs to then be affected by them. One good thing about the cold weather up here - no ticks and the slithery things go away too :)

Just going to keep the old boy quiet for a few days. He does have a sore back and problems with his back legs, but this was something very new and very sudden onset. Every time he shakes his head at the moment, he falls over (and is then most unhappy about that, poor boy)

Maybe he has hurt his back and just needs a few days quiet and rest.BTW one of those tick cases the dog had never left Queanbeyan... odd

Where his ears checked?

[hortfurball]

GSPmadhouse, that does sound like vestivular syndrome (my old boy had it), although if his ears weren't checked, then that needs to be done to rule out an inner ear infection.

From my investigations:

• The main indicator is a head tilt
• The eyes can do their thing early on and by the time you find the dog, they seem normal again as the flickering is so minimal we can't see it, or is/was non existent (some dogs don't seem to get the eye movements).
• It is refered to as idiopathic for a reason. They don't know what causes it therefore it's very difficult to definitively diagnose.
• It can present differently in different cases, and varies in extremity, how fast the dog recovers and the degree to which the dog recovers. Sometimes they always have a bit of a head tilt after recovery

Keep your poor old boy downstairs for a few weeks, maybe forever, depending on how he's going.

My boy took a few weeks to come right and tended to always be a bit more unsteady from that point on. My vet described it as a breakdown in the communication between the brain and the balance system. Your boy may be feeling nauseous and go off his food, he will also be feeling a bit unsure and confused. Some dogs get a bit bad tempered with this confusion and nausea (luckily I had a doofus and he was just happily confused). My boy went on to live for about another year and a half after his episode of IVS.

This is my old boy after about a week (It didn't occur to me to get a video sooner unfortunately)

Click on the pic and it will play a short video (only 17 seconds)

You can find more examples on youtube.

This has some good info: http://www.vara.org/...larSyndrome.htm

[Fourjays]

Hi hortfurball and thankyou for all of that. My old boy is worse today and now does have a head tilt, which wasn't present yesterday. So yep, pretty much convinced it is vestibular syndrome. He is now also having trouble eating and is much wobblier today too, am also wondering if he is having some eye sight problems too. Thankfully he is happy to be helped out and seems quite thankful for the help to stand up properly and help with eating too :) We will just take each day at a time and hopefully he will be a lot better soon. Did you find that leaving a light on for your boy at night, helped him?

Oh yes, he did have his ears checked, as ear infection was first thing that came to mind with the loss of balance. But all was okay there.

So here is hoping he makes some improvements soon

GSPmadhouse, that does sound like vestivular syndrome (my old boy had it), although if his ears weren't checked, then that needs to be done to rule out an inner ear infection.

From my investigations:

• The main indicator is a head tilt
• The eyes can do their thing early on and by the time you find the dog, they seem normal again as the flickering is so minimal we can't see it, or is/was non existent (some dogs don't seem to get the eye movements).
• It is refered to as idiopathic for a reason. They don't know what causes it therefore it's very difficult to definitively diagnose.
• It can present differently in different cases, and varies in extremity, how fast the dog recovers and the degree to which the dog recovers. Sometimes they always have a bit of a head tilt after recovery

Keep your poor old boy downstairs for a few weeks, maybe forever, depending on how he's going.

My boy took a few weeks to come right and tended to always be a bit more unsteady from that point on. My vet described it as a breakdown in the communication between the brain and the balance system. Your boy may be feeling nauseous and go off his food, he will also be feeling a bit unsure and confused. Some dogs get a bit bad tempered with this confusion and nausea (luckily I had a doofus and he was just happily confused). My boy went on to live for about another year and a half after his episode of IVS.

This is my old boy after about a week (It didn't occur to me to get a video sooner unfortunately)

Click on the pic and it will play a short video (only 17 seconds)

You can find more examples on youtube.

This has some good info: http://www.vara.org/...larSyndrome.htm

[hortfurball]

I don't remember leaving a light on for him but once he was settled on his bed at night there was no way he was moving if he could help it! Like you I also helped him to stand up and to walk. In his last year he didn't have the strength in his rear end and I often helped him to get up off his bed.

From page one of this thread...(I left all the tips in case you find something useful but Tip 4 refers to the IVS)

Tip 1: I built a wide, low extra step at the back door so that Kuges didn't have to take the big step (for anyone who doesn't have a handy B-I-L to build them ramps)

Tip 2: I found that Kuga's back legs slipped backwards when he ate, particularly as his head was down to eat, so I moved his dinner bowl from the tiled laundry and set it up on the raised hearth so that he was standing on a rug and didn't have to lower his head so much to his bowl, which seemed to help his balance. As he worsened, I held the bowl on my knees at his nose level tilted slightly towards him so that he didn't have to put his head down at all. In the final weeks, I encouraged him to stay in a drop position and placed the bowl between his front feet and held it still for him so that it didn't slide away.

Tip 3: In all honesty he had very few walks in his last 6 months as he wasn't really up to more than 100m. By the time we got to the park in the car he'd pretty much had his excitement and was ready to go home. Don't feel you have to walk your old dog if they don't seem that keen. Sometimes they'd just rather rest and it doesn't make you a bad owner if you don't walk them regularly at that stage.

Tip 4: (for VERY unsteady dogs) When Kuges had a bout of geriatric vestibular syndrome, which meant his balance was way off, I would always walk beside him on the patio, leaning over enough to have one hand by his far side until he got to the grass, where it was softer if he fell. That way, while we were on the paving, if he swayed one way my leg would steady him, and if he swayed the other, my hand would steady him.

Kuges stopped lifting his leg too Sheridan. He adapted to something that resembled a slightly stiffer legged version of the puppy squat.

I think it was the IVS that stopped him wanting to walk so far. He was always a little more unsteady on his feet after it and seemed to tire more easily. The IVS episode stopped me taking him for regular walks, and we never really picked it up again. He seemed to satisfy his exercise needs just going out as far as the lawn to toilet.

The eyesight problem you mention may just be confusion. Also, bear in mind, if he has IVS, his world will be spinning, like being drunk. Hard for a dog to figure that out.

Hope he recovers well.

[Fourjays]

Thankyou for all of that :) Tip 2 is good also, I have been putting his food bowl up on a stool as he was falling over if he put his head down. Also am using a non slip mat underneath him when he eats, and I stand and steady him also - this seems to be working well. He seems quite nauseous at times too.

Have had to start leaving him downstairs though He doesn't even want to tackle the stairs now. Was able to leave him in a nice sunny room today though, whilst I was at work. He does seem to be getting worse with each day Back to the vet tomorrow to see if we can't do something about his back end to make him a bit more comfortable. He is very sad looking today too So hard seeing him like this

I don't remember leaving a light on for him but once he was settled on his bed at night there was no way he was moving if he could help it! Like you I also helped him to stand up and to walk. In his last year he didn't have the strength in his rear end and I often helped him to get up off his bed.

From page one of this thread...(I left all the tips in case you find something useful but Tip 4 refers to the IVS)

Tip 1: I built a wide, low extra step at the back door so that Kuges didn't have to take the big step (for anyone who doesn't have a handy B-I-L to build them ramps)

Tip 2: I found that Kuga's back legs slipped backwards when he ate, particularly as his head was down to eat, so I moved his dinner bowl from the tiled laundry and set it up on the raised hearth so that he was standing on a rug and didn't have to lower his head so much to his bowl, which seemed to help his balance. As he worsened, I held the bowl on my knees at his nose level tilted slightly towards him so that he didn't have to put his head down at all. In the final weeks, I encouraged him to stay in a drop position and placed the bowl between his front feet and held it still for him so that it didn't slide away.

Tip 3: In all honesty he had very few walks in his last 6 months as he wasn't really up to more than 100m. By the time we got to the park in the car he'd pretty much had his excitement and was ready to go home. Don't feel you have to walk your old dog if they don't seem that keen. Sometimes they'd just rather rest and it doesn't make you a bad owner if you don't walk them regularly at that stage.

Tip 4: (for VERY unsteady dogs) When Kuges had a bout of geriatric vestibular syndrome, which meant his balance was way off, I would always walk beside him on the patio, leaning over enough to have one hand by his far side until he got to the grass, where it was softer if he fell. That way, while we were on the paving, if he swayed one way my leg would steady him, and if he swayed the other, my hand would steady him.

Kuges stopped lifting his leg too Sheridan. He adapted to something that resembled a slightly stiffer legged version of the puppy squat.

I think it was the IVS that stopped him wanting to walk so far. He was always a little more unsteady on his feet after it and seemed to tire more easily. The IVS episode stopped me taking him for regular walks, and we never really picked it up again. He seemed to satisfy his exercise needs just going out as far as the lawn to toilet.

The eyesight problem you mention may just be confusion. Also, bear in mind, if he has IVS, his world will be spinning, like being drunk. Hard for a dog to figure that out.

Hope he recovers well.

[hortfurball]

Downstairs is safest for him. He shouldn't be allowed on the stairs even if he wants to until you're certain he has 100% balance back.

How is he getting worse? That's not an IVS symptom in my limited experience of it. As far as I know, when it happens, the dog is suddenly affected to the fullest extent and then very slowly recovers.

Is he only getting worse in his attitude (seems to be tired of feeling out of sorts and a bit miserable that it hasn't gone away) or is he getting worse physically?

[Fourjays]

He basically got worse for the first 3 days. For example, Saturday he had no head tilt present, but was obviously very wobbly, Sunday there was a slight head tilt and eating was very difficult for him and yesterday he had a very pronounced head tilt, was vomiting after eating and his ataxia was much worse too. Today though, he has improved quite a bit and I am feeling a lot happier - yesteday I was quite worried due to the fact he seemed to be getting worse. I know it seems weird the progression of it. Been back to our wonderful vet today so he now has anti-nausea meds, she took one look at him and said yep, it's vestibular alright (she hadn't seen him yet). He does seem generally happier today as well, so a few good signs today.

Downstairs is safest for him. He shouldn't be allowed on the stairs even if he wants to until you're certain he has 100% balance back.

How is he getting worse? That's not an IVS symptom in my limited experience of it. As far as I know, when it happens, the dog is suddenly affected to the fullest extent and then very slowly recovers.

Is he only getting worse in his attitude (seems to be tired of feeling out of sorts and a bit miserable that it hasn't gone away) or is he getting worse physically?

[Fourjays]

My vet also checked out his lower back and rear legs and they don't seem to be causing him too many problems, although he is obviously less aware of what his back legs are doing at present.

Most of the problems I am seeing are stemming from him trying to counter act how he is feeling and thus his stance is quite odd looking and his left side is the most affected as that is the direction of his head tilt. I was worried he was in a bit of pain in the rear due to the way he was standing, but it doesn't seem that way, so that is something good too. He has deficits, which aren't making this any easier for him, but at least they have't gotten worse also.