Know The Difference Between Stroke and Vertigo Vestibular Disease In Pets

What is Vertigo In Dogs And In Cats and What Are The Signs

Duke Allen 15 years old June 2015

This story happened about a year ago.  I had it on another site and now I have brought his story here.  Everyone should at least know what this insidious disease or condition is and learn the warning signs.

I thought that my dog was having a stroke. He was fine in the early hours when my husband takes him for a walk to do his business at 4:30 in the morning. By 6:30 in the morning he was trying to get up and had trouble getting up and staying up. His left eye was twitching and his pupil was going back and forth.

I got him to go outside because he had to pee. That was odd in itself because after he does his business at 4:30 in the morning he usually sleeps about 4 hours after that. Another thing that was odd was that he could not get out of the bedroom. Now, I heard him hitting the wall and did not pay any mind to it because he usually does that in his sleep when he is dreaming.

He has some arthritis in his back and I also just thought that he was stiff that morning. I also thought that rubbing and massaging the area would help him move a bit better. It did not do anything. So he went out and pee’d. It took me about 20 minutes for me to get him in the house. We have a ramp that goes from the driveway to the porch and it was hard fro me to guide him to the ramp. I did manage to get him on the ramp but then he fell over and fell of the other side of the ramp and landed up against the half barrel that the rose bush is planted in. I could not figure out how I was going to get him back on the ramp at that point. I thought for sure that we were going to lose him.

Finally I got him in the house and called the Veterinarian and ask them what the signs of a stroke are and explained to them what Duke was doing or going through. They told me to bring him in as soon as possible. So I called my husband at work and had to tell them that it was an emergency and that my husband had to come home right away because of Duke. So he came home and we took Duke to the Veterinarian. When we got there they did some blood work and examined Duke and came out and told us that he did not have a stroke. They told us that he had Vertigo or Idiopathic Vestibular Disease. It happens more so in cats than in dogs. Idiopathic means that they know not what it is from or what causes it. It is also the same as in humans. It is not transferable from humans to cats and dogs nor is it vice versa.

There is a resemblance to a stroke but that is a vascular problem and is very rare in dogs and cats. That is completely different than anything dealing with the Vestibular. Vestibular pertains to the part of the inner ear that controls balance.

Difference Between A Stroke And Vertigo

STROKE	VERTIGO
Unable to move certain muscles such as head or facial	Stumbling
Loss of eye movement on opposite side of brain that it has occurred	Motion Sickness
Looks as if they are drunk when walking	Eyes are moving back and forth or up and down or even round and round rapidly
Seizures	Going in circles
crossed eyes	Tilting of the head to one side
Twisting of head backwards or upwards	Difficulty controlling head and facial muscles
Tremors	Dizziness and Vomiting
body is rigid	If paw is bent backwards the animal will right it back.
When paw is bend backwards it will not straighten itself forward
Irreversible damage
Sudden onset that lasts between 24 to 72 hours.
Death within a couple of weeks

**This is why it is so very important to call your Veterinarian and get your pet there as soon as possible. They symptoms are so close that for owners it is hard to make a self diagnoses.

Some causes of vestibular disease are

Tumor

Middle Ear Infection

Brain Lesion

Idiopathic and or virus.

Treatments

Middle Ear is treated for up to 8 weeks with antibiotics. Surgery may be required to drain the infection from the tympanic bullae. Repeatedly cleaning of the ear can also cause such infection of the ear.

Tumor MRI and then surgery.

Idiopathic often just motion sickness (meclizine) medications are given. You can purchase these in a drug store. Over the counter is the most economical and the active ingredient is the same found in Bonine. The package says that it is "less" drowsy. It does not say that it is "non" drowsy. I got that wrong and yes it does make them sleepy and therefore they will not eat or drink. Keep your pet in a quiet and dark place and let your dog sleep as much as they want.

Natural Calming Substances

There are a few natural calming herbs that you can use for your dog or cat that is going through this very distressing disease/condition. The are:

Valerian, Camommile, Hops, Passionflower, Skullcap, for older dogs.

Other drugs that can be used are: Tryptophan, GABA can be used in overwhelmed dogs.

Feeding and watering Duke with a Turkey Baster

Vestibular Disease comes on quickly and it often leaves as quick as it came. Its course runs about a week with marked improvement each day.may take up to a week to heal. Though it took months for Duke to get out of this totally. This disease is the same as the one that humans get with the same causes, treatments,medications and duration. It is often more prevalent in older dogs and cats then in younger ones. In cats there has been an abundance of Idiopathic Vestibular Disease in the North Eastern United States.

Day 2 of Duke's Vertigo

Well this morning at 4:30 he was not going to move at all. He looked just like he did yesterday. It took all of the two of us to get him outside and then inside. Though he pee’d before he got off the ramp and that was what he needed to do. So I laid on the couch until he woke up, which was about 8:00. I somehow had to get a pill into him. It was the motion sickness pill. That wasn’t too hard because he could not move his head very far. I knew when he swallowed it by the smell on his breath…raspberry. That is a chewable one that tastes like raspberry. That was done and I felt that I actually accomplished something with him, even if it was small.

I had a very difficult time getting him outside. He worked against me all the way. Then he did what I did not want him to do and that was fall off the deck in the same way that he did the day before. He landed right down near that deck on the inside. I came back in the house to take a breather and then went right back out and I did get him out of there and into the yard. There is where I left him.

Drinking and Eating

Now I have a mountain to climb with him and that is to get him to drink and eat. I have tricks up my sleeve with that and thank goodness that I have lots of experience with that one. I have raised many kinds of animals and know many tricks to get them to drink and eat. So I looked around my house trying to find something that I could use to get some water in him and maybe some food as well. I know how to put food in a blender and make it almost liquid. Well I got my Turkey baster for that. It has a long enough tube to hold water or liquefied food in it and I am able to put it in the back of his mouth right in back of his teeth and I can squirt the water or food right down his throat. I just got some water down there. So that is done.

Tomorrow should be way better than today, but first let’s get through today.

Day Three

Well he drank some water all by himself last night and even ventured outside to do his business without falling all over the place.That was last night before we went to bed.

Today he wanted to go outside as soon as I came out of the bedroom, which was a very good sign. He even went outside without hurting himself or me pulling him out there. I was pleasantly surprised that he even got off the ramp without rolling over or losing his balance. Now he is sleeping in his most favorite spot in the whole world...under the deck. He still did not eat his kibble though. That is not surprising as he doesn't always eat that. I already gave him his motion sickness pill this morning and he is a bit drowsy with that. I will get him back him later today and then try to see if he will eat canned food right from the can. I hope that he does.

So far so good!

Update on Duke 9 months later

It took six months for Duke to get over his Vertigo and to begin to eat anything. We did end up making him people food, which was NOT table scraps as most people think of it. Table Scraps ARE bad for any pet and those cause some undesirable conditions for the pet. Often people associate anything that is called "people food" with something that is bad.

I made his some Chicken and Rice and added vegetables to it and it was his soup kind of thing. Then he didn't like things all mixed together and so I gave him his chicken a rice in his bowl and the vegetables on another plate. I come to find out that he just loves Rice! Silly dog. He never used to like it but now he wants some of the rice, that I make for us, too.

He still has his bouts with the arthritis and kicking out his leg once in a while and we have some pain killers for that from the Vet. Those are now considered a "controlled substance", but the good ole' FDA. Oh well, Duke doesn't get those that often anyway.

Dogs and Cats do get over this.  It is very scary and  horrible to watch and experience. It just takes lots of time and lots of patience and lots of love...and figuring out what they will eat because it will be different than what they liked before.

I get most of Dukes Meds and other stuff at 1800PetsMeds.

The next update on Duke is on my post  http://allmyanimaltales.blogspot.com/2015/06/news-from-allens-pets-june-14-2015.html

To learn more about Duke Read DUKE'S STORY

© Debra K. Allen a.k.a Lady Guinevere