Poor Moss (13 years old) got sick yesterday. Around noon he had nausea and diarrhea; by 5pm he had a head tilt to one side, was very wobbly on his feet, couldn't walk straight, and had a hard time picking up a biscuit to eat. Renee took him to the vet and the diagnosis appears to be what we suspected: Canine Vestibular Disease. Blood work will rule out other causes.
Quote: WHAT ON EARTH IS THE VESTIBULAR APPARATUS?
In a nutshell, the vestibular apparatus is the neurological equipment responsible for perceiving one's body's orientation relative to the earth (determining if you are upside-down, standing up straight, falling etc.) and informing ones eyes and extremities how they should move accordingly.
The vestibular apparatus allows us to walk, even run, on very uneven ground without falling, helps us know when we need to right ourselves, and allows our eyes to follow moving objects without becoming dizzy.
There are two sets of receptors involved: one to detect rotational acceleration (tumbling or turning) and one to detect linear acceleration and gravity (falling and letting us know which direction is up and which is down). Both receptors are located in the middle ear. Tiny neurological hair cells project into special canals of fluid so that when one's head moves, the fluid moves, and the hair cells wave within the fluid. The hair cells are part of sensory nerve cells which carry the appropriate message to the cerebellum (part of the brain that coordinates locomotion) and to 4 vestibular nuclei in the brain stem.
From these centers, instructions are carried by nerve cells to the legs and neck muscles, and eye muscles so that we may orient ourselves immediately. The information about being upside down (or in some other abnormal orientation) is also sent to the hypothalamus (an area of the brain) so that we can become consciously aware of our position. The information is also sent to the "reticular formation" (another area of the brain - a sort of a volume control on our state of wakefulness. In this way, if we are asleep and start to fall, the vestibular stimulations would wake us up. This is also why rolling an anesthetized animal from side to side is used to hasten anesthetic recovery).
I'm posting this because before this year we had never heard of it. Recently a friend's older dog got this which then prepared us for the symptoms in Moss. Now I have prepared you all for the spotting these symptoms.
Mark
* This post was
edited 04/13/06 04:22am by BCSnob *
Mark & Renee
Working Border Collies: Gyp (retired), Peg, Bette, BJ, Nell, Tally & Eve
Sam the Maremma Sheepdog (at home guarding our flock)
2001 Chevy Express 2500 Cargo (rolling kennel)
2007 Nash 22M
If there is trouble in the vestibular apparatus, then one may not properly perceive one's orientation. To put it more simply, one won't know which way is up, whether or not one is standing up straight or slanted, and one will feel very dizzy.
The following are signs of vestibular disease:
ataxia (lack of coordination without weakness or involuntary spasms - in other words, stumbling and staggering around)
motion sickness
nystagmus (back and forth or rotational eye movements. The movements will be slower in one direction. This is the side where the neurologic lesion is likely to be; however, nystagmus is named according to the direction of the fast component i.e. there may be left nystagmus but the lesion is probably on the right side of the vestibular apparatus.)
Circling
Head tilt (usually toward the side of the lesion)
Falling to one side (usually toward the side of the lesion)
Trouble with other nerves controlling the head and face
Canine idiopathic vestibular disease (also called "Old dog vestibular disease") and, its feline counterpart, feline idiopathic vestibular disease begin acutely and resolve acutely. Usually improvement is evident in 72 hours and the animal is normal in 7-14 days, possibly with an occasional head tilt persisting. When a case of vestibular disease presents, it may be a good idea to wait a few days to see if improvement occurs before doing diagnostics beyond a routine blood/urine database. These two conditions are idiopathic, meaning we do not know why the occur.
[b]So, if I understand it properly, the condition will resolve itself in a few days? At least [u]thats[/u] good news.
Take it easy, Moss. We hope you're feeling better soon!
Note: Due to invalid formatting, all formatting has been ignored.
Walter & Garland - Camp Canine caretakers
Gen. Gretchen - 8 y.o. GSD - Special Forces/Seal/DOTL Cloudbusters
Gen. Missy - GSD/Aussie - Joined Special Forces/DOTL Rainbow Division, June 11,2006
2011 Silverado, 4x4, Z71, 5.3L, 3.42
2009 KZ Spree 265RL
Hope Moss feels better real soon. Thanks for sharing this. I'm going to print it and keep it in a safe place in case I ever see similar symptoms.
Bonnie and Chris
2004 Teton Reliance Grand
2000 Volvo 610
Barklee - 3/20/96-6/24/11 at the bridge
Jack - 7 year old Border Collie
Lucy and Kaley - the resident furballs
Yes, Walter you got it right. Other than blood tests to rule out other causes; TLC is the treatment. The symptoms are just a bit scary; ones first thought may be stroke (head tilt and loss of mobility).
13 year old Hannah has great sympathy for Moss - just went through having GI upset. Will watch for any symptoms of this kind of thing. Would scare us to death to see those symptoms. Am glad it will resove for Moss and hopefully sooner rather than later.
Barb
Renee took him to the vet and the diagnosis appears to be what we suspected: 
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