Sick dog and I need a cry

shanti

shanti

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Hi, I have a 8 year old Boxer. On Sunday he suddenly became very unstable on his feet, his head was tilted and his left jowl was hanging lower down and was drooling from that side almost continually. Cue panicked vet visit. After the examination the vet couldn't find any concrete cause of his symptoms (she did say it could be as simple as and ear infection or temporary Idiopathic facial nerve damage) and as he was still eating, drinking fine, decided to put him on some antibiotics and see how he goes over the next few days.

His jowl droop has slightly improved however everything else is the same, in fact his balance is getting worse and we are having to carry him down the stairs to go outside to the toilet and when he stands up he stumbles and falls to the side.

We are going back to the vet on Friday (unless he deteriorates before then) but I just wondered if anyone has had any experience with similar symptoms and some idea of what I can expect?

I am not at all coping well with the idea that Its likely I will lose my dog, my dogs are part of our family, they live inside and do everything with us. People keep saying stupid things like ''well he is old'' and ''oh dear, it happens''. I am not immune to losing animals, I know it happens but I am just a mess and nobody around me, except my family, seem to realize how devastating this is for me.

Sorry for the essay, think I just needed to have a cry to other animal lovers who understand what it is like.

Added a pic of him just cause he is so special (he is on the right, with my other dogs)

https://imgur.com/a/cLDhYNo
 
Sounds like it could well be vestibular syndrome which if it is it’s better news as it’s not fatal and he will recover. I’m surprised the vet didn’t suggest that, my old collie had it and my vet said it is common in older dogs. I thought my dog had had a stroke which is how she looked but dogs don’t have strokes ......vestibular syndrome mainly affects balance, the dog looks and feels like he is sea sick and varies in its severity. My dog had more than one attach of it which happens but the first one was the worst, she couldn’t stand let alone eat and was very lopsided. There is no real treatment apart from nursing care and if I’m right your dog will get better. I hope you get some answers anyway tomorrow and your dog recovers x
 
Sandstone1 said:
Yes it could be vestibular syndrome. I had one with it. He recovered. Hopefully yours will to.
Maybe ask to seen a different vet?
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Sounds very much like when our old lab had vestibular syndrome. Recovered in a few days and went on for a good few years after. The vet said it was one of those things that can be very much more frightening for the owner to witness.

We really do understand. When we finally did lose our lab I could have thumped anyone who said 'well he was old' (16) and woe betide anyone who said 'he was only a dog'!
 
Vestibular syndrome. If you google it you’ll see the eyes usually dart from side to side very slightly. It’s basically dizziness. (There’s also videos online of dogs that can’t even lift their heads up and recover fully)

Mine unfortunately had an underlying condition which caused high blood pressure but it’s usually just one of those things and gets better over the course of a week. Do get your vet to check blood pressure though to be sure.

It’s horrible to witness but I’m sure you feel worse about it than he does x
 
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Any updates? Paws crossed its not too serious.

My old dog had a suspected stroke with similar (but far more severe) symptoms and she improved drastically on vivitonin (and something else I cant remember the name of!), she was skipping about again at the grand old age of 16! Hope you've had good news at the vets.
 
Just wanted to say i'm sorry to hear this & hope that other people's experiences related on this thread have given you some hope. Fingers crossed for good news at the vet xx
 
Thanks for the replies. I looked up Vestibular syndrome and it really does fit all of his symptoms, I will ask the vet about it this afternoon, It would be great if that's all it is!. He is much the same today although he tried to follow me down the stairs and made it down 3 before he fell sideways so that's a slight improvement on yesterday when he could not attempt any. He seems happy and not in any pain so I will take that as a good sign.
 
That looks encouraging and good news if he’s looking a little better. Progress is slow, can be very slow but if he’s attempting stairs then he must be feeling reasonable. My vet said to remember he’s not ill as such just feels seasick so you are right he won’t be in pain. Hopefully in a couple of weeks or so he will be fine x
 
Another one here who had a Lab with similar symptoms, she recovered over about a fortnight, when she was about 12 (?) and lived happily and healthily to be 15, when she eventually succumbed to arthritis.

ETA, What a super photo!
 
It certainly sounds like vestibular syndrome so hopefully the future is not as dire as you were envisaging.

It’s heartbreaking when our dogs are ill.
 
Hi, just an update. Oscar had a CT scan last week and it was discovered that he has cancer. It is very aggressive and there are no treatment options :( He is taking Prednisone for pain and all we can do is make him comfortable. Just devastated.
 
shanti said:
Hi, just an update. Oscar had a CT scan last week and it was discovered that he has cancer. It is very aggressive and there are no treatment options :( He is taking Prednisone for pain and all we can do is make him comfortable. Just devastated.
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I am so sorry to see this news. We have found that Preds is very effective. Our Rottweiler was bouncing round like a spring chicken on it, in similar circumstances. Sadly the downside of big dogs is that they tend to have relatively short life-spans.
 
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