Dutch Shepherd Forum

Does anyone have any experience with vestibular disease and vertigo symptoms in dogs? Odin had a rough 2 days here. He started falling over, had a ton of difficulty using his rear legs, and vomited a few times. I was at work at the time when everything started, but my husband was home with him. He took a big fall down the only 2 stairs in our house going out the back. I feared it was his spine/back getting worse, but when I got home I realized it was a balance problem and even when laying down, he couldn't keep his head straight and couldn't focus his eyes.

We went into the vet and they confirmed what I found online. He developed vertigo symptoms. The Dr. is hopeful that it will go away on his own and said we may not ever know the cause. Odin's already walking fine again. We put him on antibotics because he was showing signs of an inner ear infection and that may be the cause. Hopefully it will all work out in a few days and isn't something that will return.

Poor Odin!
Let's hope it was just due to the ear infection...

I never had an official diagnosis, but what you describe sounds a lot like what a dog of mine did. As time passed, it resembled seizures, but for years prior she would get tipsy, couldn't walk, legs might stiffen, all usually accompanied by vomiting. Her head sometimes jutted out, stiff at the neck.

A couple vets guessed neurological disorder/tumor of some sort. That's all I got. Even after rushing her in the middle of the night to the E.R. while having what ended up an hour-long, full-blown seizure--that, of course, stopped the second we pulled in the parking lot. (That was the worst one she'd ever had; she was an old girl by then.)

How did they confirm the diagnosis? It couldn't have been just because of the ear infection......????

Poor Odin. Glad he seems better. Fingers crossed.

I have a lot of experience with working with humans with vestibular problems... usually we suggest spinning in an office chair for 5-10 minutes, tracking exercises, and moving through space activities. As for how that could work with dogs.... I'd have to think. Makes since he has an inner ear infection and most symptoms should resolve as the infection clears up. Same thing happens to humans. If I get too much fluid in my ears I get dizzy as all get out.

For any episodes you'll want to be close by - he will have completely lost vertical so you'll have to "be" vertical and give him extra support. Off the top my head I would think short, slow walks would help, with him between you and a wall. Perhaps even with him up against you for that extra input. Think of it as if you were dizzy - what helps you? For me reaching out and touching something solid helps me reorient, as well as taking things slow or waiting out the worse parts. Let me see if I can think up some more stuff...

Owned-By-Hendrix wrote:For any episodes you'll want to be close by - he will have completely lost vertical so you'll have to "be" vertical and give him extra support.

Having a harness on Odin until the issue is resolved--grabbing the harness might be a quick way to help orient and steady him???

Yup harness and then a leg against him. If it's really bad I think the short, slow walks would be enough to build up. You can also have him track objects, like balls or toys, and make it a sort of game. You can also keep in him a down or a sit against a wall for that. The moving his head back and forth while tracking the toy should activate his vestibular system. You can also try standing on a bosu ball or balance ball (though this would be done when he isn't so dizzy he can't stand). The coordination and figuring out where he is in space will also help. Any sort of work where he has to figure out where he is in space and balance himself will help. Main points would be as he recovers just providing correct input so his brain will start to adapt to fight the vertigo. If you've ever been on a boat or cruise and stepped off and still had that "swaying" feeling, that's your vestibular system readjusting. Keep us updated!

Our previous pup, Hannah, (rescued Finnish Spitz) had a bout of this when she was really old. She had classic symptoms (head tilt, constantly rolling eyes, walking in circles, falling over, etc.). Symptoms lingered for nearly a week, but the worst of it was just a day or two. It cleared up after just one major incident, though she had a persistent slight head tilt thereafter. It was really scary when it was happening. We thought she was having a stroke! Everything I read at the time suggested just trying to keep the dog safe and comfortable until it passes. Very often a cause is never determined and it never happens again. If he's showing a possible ear problem I can see how that could certainly be the cause.

**Odin Update*
Everything seems to have returned to normal. He did an 8 days course of antibotics and the vertigo symptoms went away pretty quickly. We went to agility and nosework today. I'm not letting him do contacts or jumping now, but he seems to be able to handle weaving and going through tunnels just fine. Hopefully it was just an inner ear thing causing it all and the antibotics did the trick. He's not showing any lasting head tilt or anything either.

Thank you everyone for your advice and ideas. I'll definitely keep the harness handy in case he ever has problems again.