# Canine perifipheral vestibular syndrome



## MaxandPaddy (Mar 18, 2006)

Our 13 year old chocolate lab has developed this condition.
For those of you who have never come across it before it effects older dogs and the onset is quite alarming for the poor dog and its owner.
The first signs are loss of balance and for no reason the dog falls over and staggers around like a drunkard.
It continues to stumble and fall about as it is feeling dizzy.
Other symptoms are sickness and head shaking,eye flickering and the dog cocks its head to one side.
Vision is also effected with a decline in eyesight.
Our first thoughts were that this is the end for our dog as he had suffered a stroke.
It is actually caused by inflammation of the inner ear and although antibiotics can help there is no cure.
The good news is that although the dog may not make a full recovery but the symtoms can last between 3 days and 3 weeks.
Our little chap is making a good recovery but the vomiting continues.
My question is have other people had dogs with this problem and have they been able to continue to take them out in the Motorhome without too many problems?
As the dog is suffering from dizziness,hence the vomiting I wondered if the experience of traveling would make him feel even more sick?
He has always been a very good traveller and loves going out in the Motorhome.
We are hoping he can enjoy a few more trips in the future with us.
Any advice on coping with this condition and how to make life easier for our dog would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Val


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

Hi Val

No direct help for your poor old mate I'm afraid, but I have had the human equivalent and it is NOT nice.

The only thing I would suggest is that you leave him as much as possible to lie or stand in the psoition he chooses when he's feeling dizzy, and definitely avoid asking him to do any sudden movements. He will probably have found a position which stops the world from spinning so scarily, at least temporarily.

If he feels tha same as I did, any sudden movement of the head brings on a really alarming "head spinning" session, and I'm not at all surprised that he halls over and throws up, since I did too. I was quite scared when it first happened to me, and grabbed onto Mrs Zeb because I really felt as if I was falling out of bed. All I did was move my head a bit, and suddenly the room was spinning round at a rate of knots. It is best described as feeling very drunk - in fact far more drunk than I have ever been, and impossible to stand when at its worst.

I fell into the fridge on one occasion - quite literally. Funny now, but I was beginning to feel better and forgot about the sudden movement thing. As I bent my head forward the whole world started gyrating furiously again, and next thing I was in among the cheese and bacon!!

Hope this helps a bit


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## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

Can I suggest, with due respect to the others on the forum, that the person you need to ask questions of is the Vet that made the diagnosis.

Without very expert advice, with real knowledge, based on fact rather than anecdotal evidence, you could be doing more harm than good.

perhaps a phone call to the RCVS may shed more light on your question.



and, with luck, he'll have a good quality of life again, rather than simply a hellish existance of nausia, and extreme vertigo.


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## Walmer (Mar 4, 2006)

Sorry to hear about your pet. We thought it was 'the end of the road' when our 12 yr old lab/golden retriever had her first 'episode'. But we/she learned to live with it. 

This is what worked for Sam:

We replaced her collar with a harness, so that when she tried to get up, we could steady her.

We let her lie peacefully, trying not to disturb her during the episodes.

We gave her (with vet's approval) the homeopathic remedy Cocculus. We dissolved the tablets in water, and gave her frequent sips.

The episodes would last for a few days, and then she would seem to be ok again, apart from holding her head slightly to one side, giving her a quizzical appearance - until the next episode.

We continued to go away regularly in the van for another 3 years, even crossing from Ireland to Scotland. If she had one of her episodes, we just stayed put for a few days until she recovered.

I hope this info will be of some help.

Hilary


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## litcher (Jul 24, 2006)

I'm really sorry to hear about your dog, Val

I came downstairs one morning about a year ago and my yellow lab Luis, who was coming up to 12 at the time, didn't come over to me as he usually does. He was trembling and didn't attempt to get up. I thought his back legs had gone as they're a bit dodgy but he didn't seem able to lie properly either - it was as if his whole back end was paralysed apart from his tail which wagged non-stop as usual. I then noticed that his eyes were flickering and thought he might have had a stroke. He was very frightened and unable to move anything other than his head (and tail). When I tried to move him he was a dead weight.

He's a very big dog (not fat, but old-style lab, nearly 7 stone, huge head) so I called my son and using bath sheets as slings we managed to get him into the back of the car. I drove him round to the vet who didn't even attempt to move him from the car.

He looked into his eyes and said he had vestibular syndrome. He gave him a shot of antibiotics and said we would know within 24 to 48 hours how he was going to be. He would either be more or less back to normal or not in which case things wouldn't be good! In Luis's case the vet said he would have no quality of life and as he was so big and heavy he couldn't be carried out to the garden so we'd have been left with a miserable, incontinent, elderly dog and the kindest thing would be to have him put to sleep. I don't know whether his was an extreme case but we'd had no warning signals.

I took him back home and left him in the back of the car with the tailgate open. He gradually managed to lie straight rather than in an uncontrolled heap and by lunchtime he was sitting up. We carried him out of the car into the garden using bath sheets again. He wobbled a bit, walked tentatively around the garden and then had a quiet day. The next day he was back to normal and touch wood he's been fine ever since.

The back legs are of course getting shakier despite Rimadyl, glucosamine and cod liver oil but he's a happy old boy. He can't really go for walks now - the vet says he should just potter and enjoy what's left of his retirement. His appetite however, in true labrador fashion, is excellent - no problems there! :roll: 

I read up about the condition on the internet and there seemed to be conflicting views. One article said that all dogs would eventually recover. I guess to some extent it depends on the dog and the practicalities of caring for it while it's effectively paralysed. Had it been my cairn terrier I wouldn't have thought twice about giving it a go, carrying her in and out etc as long as she wasn't in pain. With Luis I don't see how I could have coped. He's too big for one person to carry about and my kids are out during the day. Luckily I didn't have to make that choice.

Hopefully your dog will carry on improving and will have a few more years of travelling with you..


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## lindyloot (May 20, 2007)

Hi MaxandPaddy, I have not come across this before and was sad to hear your beloved lab is poorly. I hope you do find something that will help alleviate the problem 
Lin


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## maggielou (Mar 25, 2008)

Hi Sorry to hear about your dog. In consulation with the vet it may be a good idea to put him in a well padded dog crate while on the move.

This will make him feel more confident and secure , limit motion, and prevent damage if he should have a bad turn while travelling.

For safety reason, their sake and mine, I always travel my dogs in a steel collaspable crate.

When wet or muddy, after being rubbed down I put them in the crate until they are clean and dry.

Hope he make a full recovery

fingers crossed

Maggs


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## MaxandPaddy (Mar 18, 2006)

Thanks for all your suggestions and input.
Nice to hear some human advice Zebedee,at least we can understand how lousy Charlie is feeling and I do hope you are feeling better yourself.

I have kept Charlie very quiet today after his bad night of being sick and staggering around and he seems to be coming around a little bit now.

The problem we have is he has a delicate tum so medication tends to make him sick too so it is a bit of a vicious circle.

It does help us a great deal to hear how other people are coping with their dogs with the same condition.

We have a harness for him so we can steady him with that.

I shall ask the vet about cocculus and hopefully that will help.

He is 13 and that is a good age for a lab,our last one reached nearly 15 so I am hoping we can help him have some more quality time left with us but I do appreciate they are a big dog to be carrying around so I am keen to help him keep mobile.

He has had a couple of half hour walks today and done well and a few nature calls in the garden too.

He has lost his sparkle but I know he must feel awful and his appetite has gone today but he is taking fluids so I am not concerned if he does not want to eat today.I am sure he will tuck into a meal as soon as his head stops spinning.

We shall try him on a short trip first so he does not have to travel far.

He likes to lay on the floor so I shall make sure he is well padded all around him.

He hates being restricted as that brings on a panic attack so a crate would put him in a tizzy,they cannot even put him in a pen at the vets as he goes mad.

Thanks again for all your help and advice and kind words,I am sure he will improve but I do know he will never be the same and this is the start of the slippery slide into canine old age and we shall try to make it as comfortable for him as we can.

Good luck to all of you coping with the same situation with your much loved pets.

Val


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## patnles (Oct 26, 2006)

Hi Val, 
My 15year old lab had her first attack of vestibular syndrome last year whilst we were away in the mh and I was absolutely distraught at her obvious distress. The local vet gave her Vivitonin 100mg (which is a vascular dilator) and also a steroid injection.
We went to our own vet when we got home who gave us 3 months supply of Vivitonin which I used for one month by which time Elsa was completely back to normal. 
She has only had one mild attack since and we always carry the Vivitonin with us in the mh.
I hope your little man is feeling better soon.
Lesley


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## MaxandPaddy (Mar 18, 2006)

I am going to ask about Vivitonin for Charlie,the vet kept him on Metacam and gave him extra pain killers,Tramadol, but I have stopped the pain killers as he does not appear to be in pain and they are upsetting his tummy.

He is having a better day today,he still looks totally fed up but not as wobbly!

Your doing well Lesley with a 15 year old Lab,I hope she remains comfortable and does not have a severe attack.

It breaks your heart to see them in distress,you just want to help them feel better.

Well thanks again for your advice,we are at home this weekend (mainly because a white van man knocked our wing mirror off and the Motorhome is having a new one fitted!) and we have a short distance trip planned for the following weekend to see how he does.

Val


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## 107088 (Sep 18, 2007)

Blimey.....Tramadol....Tramadol is a serious analgesic, normally when prescribed for people, its one of those...

take only when really in pain...and I mean really. It makes me sleepy, like unconscious, nausious, and very odd feeling in the head.

One of the trade names is Zydol, and as I say, prescribed for chronic pain sufferers, when normal.....co-codamol, sulpadol dont work. Rarely is Tramadol prescribed as a first line of defence analgesic.


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## patnles (Oct 26, 2006)

MaxandPaddy said:


> Your doing well Lesley with a 15 year old Lab,I hope she remains comfortable and does not have a severe attack.


Elsa is doing really well albeit a bit arthritic. She still goes out for her daily amble but quite honestly I could fall asleep whilst walking her. She is also a bit senile which can be a bit wearing at times, when she's asked to go out for the 10th time and then forgotten why she's gone out and wants to come straight back in :roll: 
Thankfully she is still continent , a plight which befell my last lab at the age of 14. She had to be pts 2 weeks before her 16th birthday.


> It breaks your heart to see them in distress, you just want to make them feel better.


I didn't get the impression that Elsa was in pain and wasn't given any pain killers, but she was obviously distressed. Her eyes were flickering and her head tilted (classic symptons of vestibular syndrome) and she was staggering around in circles. I thought she'd had a stroke.
To be honest Val, Elsa probably didn't need to take the Vivitonin for so long after her first attack. It was just that I was afraid of stopping them in case she relapsed. In fact she was much better within a few days and fully back to normal after about 2 weeks. 
I hope Charlie is showing a big improvement today. 
Let us know how he goes on.
Lesley


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## MaxandPaddy (Mar 18, 2006)

Charlie is as bright as a button today and his appetite is back thank goodness.

I am going to ask for Vivitonin as I would like to have it with us in the Motorhome "just in case".

Lesley,your Elsa sounds just like our previous Lab who was 15 when we had him put to sleep.

He could never remember if he had just been out and sometimes I swear he forgot where he was and looked around all confused!

I used to have to do two walks,one for Barney at a snails pace and then out with Charlie who was a lively youngser then!

Bandaid,I stopped the tramadol as my son who is a paramedic said the same as you,they are mighty powerful pain killers and Charlie is not in pain so I don't think he needs filling up with tablets that are so strong.

That could be why he has looked so dopey? Maybe they made him feel sleepy?

Well as I said today is a good day for him,he is sat at the side of the Motorhome at the moment waiting for off but he will have to wait until next week!

I must admit I am feeling much happier at seeing Charlie pick up today,I hope it lasts for a while.

I will keep my fingers crossed for everyone else who has an elderly dog who is coping with this condition.

Thanks you lot for your support,it is really appreciated.

Hope your having a good weekend.

Val


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## litcher (Jul 24, 2006)

Glad to hear Charlie's on the mend! 



MaxandPaddy said:


> He could never remember if he had just been out and sometimes I swear he forgot where he was and looked around all confused!
> 
> Val


Luis does that too. Sometimes he stands in the garden and gives a series of plaintive, solitary barks. As he's fairly deaf now I have to go up to him or clap my hands loudly. He always looks round with a surprised "Oh, there you are" look.

Not so much fun in the middle of a cold, wet night when he wants out then disappears round the side of the house and I have to run after him in my nightie and bare feet in case he wakes the neighbours. :roll:

Viv


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## patnles (Oct 26, 2006)

litcher said:


> Glad to hear Charlie's on the mend!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


:lol: :lol: That made me smile. It is Elsa to a tee.


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