I think my old dog has had a stroke!!.

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rema

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Has any body had a dog that has had one??.I have got a 16 year old collie who apart from getting abit stiff in his hips and going almost completely deaf he has been in very good health.Tonight when i came home from work his head is tilted to the side and he is very unco-ordinated on his left side!!.He dosent seem in any pain or discomfort and is eating and drinking!!.Does this sound like a stroke??.I will take him to the vets but i just wondered if it is a stroke whether it can be helped/treated or is it time to say goodbye to the old boy!.Thanks for reading!!.
 
i know ear infections can affect balance ,perhaps take him to the vets to be on the safe side so they can check him over.
hope things are ok, 16 is a wonderful age i hope my 14 yr old can go on that long.
 
Our old girl who we lost on Saturday had several strokes. How is he walking? What are his eyes like?

As HN says ear infections can make them tilt their head and appear off balance.
 
Thanks Horenut.My mum and dad have taken him to the vets i'm afraid this is one animal that i cannot be with at the end.I have had him since eight weeks old and was there when he was born.I have done abit of searching about it and there is a Vestibular diesase that is like you say a ear infection and he does have all these symptoms but i don't want to get my hopesw up.You know what they say a little bit of knowledge and all that!.
 
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His eyes are fine they are not rolling or over blinking!!.He is walking as if he is drunk if that makes sense!!.

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Yep most likely a stroke. Sometimes the eyes will look startled for want of a better word but walking drunk, sort of constant half pass is definately a sign of a stroke. They aren't able to fully control the back end. Has he been to the vets?
 
Thankyou for all of you kind words.Spot the dog is home again As i let out a HUGE sigh of relief.He seems to have Vestibuler syndrome (inner ear infection) also known as old dog syndome!!.He has had a anti biotic injection and we have tablets to give him.His colour is good and his heart is fine (as it can be for a 16 year old dog) his temp is normal.the vet has advised us to put him on long term steroids to help with his Arthritis.I hope he will go on for many years to come!!.
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Unusual to lose the back end with an ear infection!

But I'm glad its nothing serious! Just watch he doesn't shake his head...that turns nasty in the ear then, it fills with blood and has to be lanced, very painful for the dog.
 
Glad to hear he is back home again and feeling better. It's always so worrying when our oldies are not feeling so good.
 
Glad the outcome was much better than you thought. I lost me golden retriever wehn he was 14 1/2 as he has suffered from mild epilepsy but during one of his very infrequent fits, he had a stroke and was paralysed down one side and was completely bent rigid to one side and couldnt walk. It was the most awful decision to have to make to have him PTS although ti was the only decision.
So glad your boy is fixable and hopefully youll have along time to come to enjoy his company.
 
Thankyou all for you help.Spot the dog had a bad night last night and this morning we thought we had come to the end so off to the vets he went again and i really dident think he would be coming home.His eyes were flicking like crazy and he couldent stand up.So off to the vets he went and the vets were really good and the vet said that he is 99% sure (differant vet to last night) that it is old dog syndrome.He has seen a lot of dogs alot worse than spot and they all made a full recovery.This afternoon spot seems alot brighter.He has had a good drink and a small bite to eat and is alot more alert and steadyier on his feet.But he is still very disoriantated and wobbly.Will keep you all posted!!.Thanks again.
 
We lost our 13yo Golden Retriever a month ago. He had 2 strokes in 24 hours. If i were you, i would get him to a vet and they will give you a tablet for him to take. The first storke is normally pretty small, It was the 2nd stroke that finished him off. He also had a stroke at 9yo and came out of it.

Thinking of you though, as its horrible to watch your dog like that.
 
My dad's 15 y.o. collie is just recovering from this, it has taken about 3wks approx, he threw up quite a bit during the first week and it took about 7 - 10 days for him to start getting his co-ordination back. We supported him front and back with towels so he could do his business outside etc which was quite upsetting but persevere as it does slowly get better. We had never heard of this condition before, apparantly people get it too. Hope this helps.
 
Thankyou your post has given me abit more hope!.He only started to go downhill yesterday afternoon about 3 oclock so hopefully it has been caught fairly early.He has been out and done his buisness and eaten a small bowl of chicken (with his tablets hidden inside) and is walking abit better.I also had never heard of it!!.The vet said it was similar to doggy vertigo!!.Poor bugger!!.
 
i saw a dog with old dog vestibular syndrome the other week - owners rung the emergency phone panicing as he had head tilt, kept falling over, eyes flicking etc. it's not the same as an inner ear infection, but leads to the same signs. he had no signs of any ear problems though, so assumed it was old dog syndrome - i gave him an injection to stop him feeling so sick and he was pretty much better 3 days later.
 
my german shepherd had vestibular syndrome the other week, we thought it might have been a stroke when we first saw her, but coz of the nystagmus, tilted head an being wobby rather than weak (not really stroke like symptoms), thought it must have been vestibular. assumin that doggy strokes are not all that different from human ones! lol
 
Thankyou all especially Star.He is abit better again today managing to cock his leg when going for a pee and only once fell into the rose bush that he uses.His eyes seen to be flickering less today and he dosent seem as wobbly on his legs.He has eaten a small amount again today.poor old boy must feel terribly sea sick!!.Thanks again.
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