vestibular syndrome

[mnc]

Hello all,

I was hoping fr a little insight here. I awoke this morning to my 11 y/o lab tumbling up the stairs and walking around a bit clumsy. She was great last night but now just lays around for she has a lot of trouble getting up. Her left rear left leg seems real stiff as she sticks it straight out alot and her front left is curled back. I thought it might be a stroke but the read about vestibular syndrome, which seems quite likely, but does this syndrome only affect on side of the body like this?

I would appreciate some info

Thanks you much

[swdogmom]

I had a Shih-Tzu/Poodle mix, that developed the vestibular syndrome. I thought she was having a stroke and took her to the hospital, and they called it old dog vestibular disease (although it can affect younger dogs too). One danger is that they can become dehydrated, as their spacial relationships are altered, and they can't find the water in a bowl well. Her eyes were also dilated and moving quickly from left to right, and she walked in circles. She was hospitalized for a few days (she was 14 at the time) with an IV with fluids and at home she was put on Clavamox.
She recovered nicely and had about 3 more short bouts with it before she died (at 18!) I made sure the water bowls were always full, and the Clavamox was a great drug for her condition. As she got older, she did pace a lot, especially at night, but I hear that is not unusual in old dogs.
Good luck with your dog, and although vestibular disease seems to be very scary it is treatable. Hopefully your dog just had a sore leg and will be fine.