From time to time in practice I saw dogs which had suddenly become disorientated, had rapid sideways movement of the eye, and had a head tilt.
These dogs tend to be confused and stressed this is in part no doubt due to the sudden onset of the symptoms and they stagger about like sailors on a rolling deck as they are feeling vertigo. The owners of course are very concerned and just as stressed as their dogs, sometimes had made their own provisional diagnosis of a brain tumour and were gearing themselves up to suggesting their dog should be put down. Of course now and then the owners were right but more often than not things are not so bad as they seem and something can be done to help these dogs.
I will tell you what would be going through my mind if I was presented with such a case face to face in the consulting room. Symptoms such as this would be seen in a three man vet practice about once every two months or so.
1. The first thing to consider is vestibular syndrome, you generally see this in older dogs of large breeds. As far as treatment goes, in the literature they say there is no treatment for this disease except symptomatic treatment which is for motion sickness. Other vets will give antibiotics which if they do not do any good they will not do any harm. The good news is that most dogs will recover from ” normal ” vestibular syndrome but it will take between one to two weeks in my experience. Some dogs are left with some degree of head tilt. There is some debate and doubt as to the cause of vestibular syndrome but it will often present with all the symptoms I have described and then clear up on it’s own without treatment over the course of a week or so.
.2. Middle ear disease can sometimes present in this way as well. The balance mechanism of the body lies in the middle ear and if it is affected then symptoms of in-coordination can occur. This may be due to a blood borne infection or it may be due drugs having been infused into the ear when the ear drum had been ruptured.
.3. However you should be aware that there are other possibilities for dogs with these symptoms such as brain tumours or other neurological diseases such as strokes and these can closely resemble vestibular syndrome. Treatment may be possible but the outlook is guarded and specialist diagnostics such MRI may be required.
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