Strokes?

I talked with my vet, and he confirmed what's been said here. His first thought is the vestibular syndrome, followed by the possibility of an inner ear infection. Less likely would be the toxicity or a tumor in her inner ear (but both are possible).

He said he's seen one case of the toxicity before, and we looked up the dosage, potential side effects, etc. We've decided to take her off of it for a few days as a precaution. She's on a mid-level dosage, but has been taking it for quite a long time.

We also decided to treat like an inner ear infection, to see if there's any change there.

Those are the least invasive options.

I'll talk with him again next week and see how she's doing.

thanks again for all of your good thoughts for my old gal, and all of your information!!

Lulu staggered out of her crate one morning, I thought she had had a stroke. Raced her to the ER 30 miles away & they diagnosed Vestibular Syndrome. I don't remember the medicine they used for her but she improved a great deal altho she always had the head tilt and couldn't eat out of a regular dog food dish. She was 13 when she had it, along with CHF, and lived to be over 17. It is not a death sentence. At that time, I had never heard of VS but the head tilt is a good way to recognize it, along with a vet visit.

Hope she will be feeling better now that you know what it is.

I love this forum -- I learn so much!

Best wishes to you and to Angel.

I hope the change in meds works for her. Poor thing, give her some hugs for me please! My guess was an inner ear infection or something that was causing her equilibrium to be thrown off. Keep us updated!

Keep us posted; sending good wishes to you and your gal.

thought I'd post an update, though not a very encouraging one.

her head tilt has not improved, which indicates (to me, the non-expert) that it's the vestibular syndrome, not an inner ear infection. this is the good news.

when we stopped the flagyl, her diarrhea returned. I restarted it, because it seems to be the only thing that keeps the diarrhea at bay.

the bad news is that today she decided she didn't want to eat, and I couldn't get her meds into her. cheese didn't work either. I'll try again later, maybe with hot dog or something.

the not eating is the scariest part for me (and what makes me pessimistic about her remaining time with me).

I have a call into my vet, and am fearful that some big decisions will have to be made very soon. Her quality of life seems to be deteriorating pretty quickly, and that isn't fair to her.

*sigh*

I am so sorry to hear about Angel. my heart goes out to you

How did I miss this earlier?

I'm so sorry Allie. Imi has had bouts of vestibular but it seems to have lessened over time to where it's a pretty rare occurrence now. Hope Angel's is like that and we can put that issue aside and deal with the more pressing one of not eating.

If you remember, LouLou went completely off her food and like you, I thought it was a sure sign that her body was shutting down and we were at the end. She was 15 and a half. I wanted to make sure I was making the right final decision and I asked the vet to check her blood and urine, to see if there was anything causing her anorexia, that we could treat. It turned out she was fighting a massive infection and she COULD be treated. It took some intensive care and hand feeding, trying EVERY possible food, but we got there and I had another 16 months with my darling girl until we helped her go at 17.

I would do blood and urine cultures to see if there is anything acute that may be causing this. I know what it's like to have a failing senior and I know how precious they become. I hope you have more time with your darling girl.

Allie I am so very sorry :( I'm gonna hope and pray her anorexia is just her adjusting to having the tummy meds back in her system. BIG hugs to you both!

Ohhh, I didn't want to read about her not eating. I hope your vet has some good news and I think Rona's idea about checking her blood and urine is good. I have no words of advice except I'll keep you and her in my prayers and please keep us posted. I know you must be worried but hopefully everything will be ok. Keep us posted and in the mean time, hugs to you and Angel!

Hugs and prayers, and a full bloods work-up, as Rona suggested, will help you in your decision making.

You're doing great.

She ate her dinner last night and breakfast this morning with gusto, so I'm hoping it was just a slightly upset tummy.

We've had full blood work done as recently as October with nothing abnormal in the tests. Regardless, I've made an appt with my vet for tomorrow morning.

thanks for all of your concerns and thoughts!

I'm glad Angel is eating with gusto! It's so difficult to watch any sort of decline. I hope she rebounds with the same gusto she ate with this morning.