Why is it

Spoke to vet yesterday, she says it is vestibular disease, but not sure which type, peripheral or central, central is worse. You can tell difference by which way the eyes are flickering, side to side or up and down. Ive been lying on the floor staring into his eyes trying to decide ! Only MRI can tell whats going on. He is better today, still got horrendous head tilt, but has wobbled into the kitchen for a biscuit. There is no pain involved its like a bad seasickness and vertigo. Time will tell.
 
Resurrecting this thread as Mum's old collie is just having her first attack of what is hopefully Vestibular Syndrome.
We took her to the vet on Wednesday morning and thought it was curtains but she is making great progress, she still looks like she's had one vodka too many but is quite bright and relaxed. We are using a scarf to support her over the steps from the house but she is stable, if a bit braced, once on the grass.
I see 'vivitonin' mentioned above. Is that something worth chasing? The vet hasn't suggested that but I wonder if at present we are just waiting to see if she keeps improving? She has gone in every morning for a steroid injection, anti nausea jab and a check up (she will not take pills so easier to take her in).
Her eyes have nearly stopped flicking but she does have a bit of a head tilt.
It is now a wait and see over the weekend and if she isn't pretty well completely better on Monday that will be that. She's a lovely old girl, a rescue collie, she's 14. Mum will be lost without her so I do hope she pulls through.
 
Penny Less said:
Spoke to vet yesterday, she says it is vestibular disease, but not sure which type, peripheral or central, central is worse. You can tell difference by which way the eyes are flickering, side to side or up and down. Ive been lying on the floor staring into his eyes trying to decide ! Only MRI can tell whats going on. He is better today, still got horrendous head tilt, but has wobbled into the kitchen for a biscuit. There is no pain involved its like a bad seasickness and vertigo. Time will tell.
Click to expand...

What was the outcome? I am so sorry if you said on another thread.
 
Clodagh said:
Resurrecting this thread as Mum's old collie is just having her first attack of what is hopefully Vestibular Syndrome.
We took her to the vet on Wednesday morning and thought it was curtains but she is making great progress, she still looks like she's had one vodka too many but is quite bright and relaxed. We are using a scarf to support her over the steps from the house but she is stable, if a bit braced, once on the grass.
I see 'vivitonin' mentioned above. Is that something worth chasing? The vet hasn't suggested that but I wonder if at present we are just waiting to see if she keeps improving? She has gone in every morning for a steroid injection, anti nausea jab and a check up (she will not take pills so easier to take her in).
Her eyes have nearly stopped flicking but she does have a bit of a head tilt.
It is now a wait and see over the weekend and if she isn't pretty well completely better on Monday that will be that. She's a lovely old girl, a rescue collie, she's 14. Mum will be lost without her so I do hope she pulls through.
Click to expand...


In my opinion, Vivitonin is a fabulous drug and would highly recommend it. For some bizarre reason, I've had loads of dogs with vestibular syndrome and Vivitonin has halted the attacks for a considerable amount of time.

Ultimately nothing can turn back time though and old age will catch up but the drug does seem to give an enhanced quality of life for a good period of time. It's not cheap but it is worth it :)

I've got 2 on it at the moment and it's costing me a fortune!
 
deb_l222 said:
In my opinion, Vivitonin is a fabulous drug and would highly recommend it. For some bizarre reason, I've had loads of dogs with vestibular syndrome and Vivitonin has halted the attacks for a considerable amount of time.

Ultimately nothing can turn back time though and old age will catch up but the drug does seem to give an enhanced quality of life for a good period of time. It's not cheap but it is worth it :)

I've got 2 on it at the moment and it's costing me a fortune!
Click to expand...

I think we will ask on Monday. Mum is a bit stressed at the moment so will let her (and the dog) settle and digest over the weekend.
 
My dog had another attack last Sunday, falling over head titled, but eyes didnt seem to be flicking. He is on Vivitonin, I dont know actually what its supposed to do! He is much better now, head still a bit tilted but he's managing to get up on the sofa again! He is 15 and a collie cross corgi.
Hopefully your Mums dog will get over it Clodagh, the last time mine was really bad it took at least a fortnight for him to recover.
I just had to keep him quiet,and vet said dont try to hold his head straight it makes things worse. Its not painful for them just
disoreintating
 
Penny Less said:
My dog had another attack last Sunday, falling over head titled, but eyes didnt seem to be flicking. He is on Vivitonin, I dont know actually what its supposed to do! He is much better now, head still a bit tilted but he's managing to get up on the sofa again! He is 15 and a collie cross corgi.
Hopefully your Mums dog will get over it Clodagh, the last time mine was really bad it took at least a fortnight for him to recover.
I just had to keep him quiet,and vet said dont try to hold his head straight it makes things worse. Its not painful for them just
disoreintating
Click to expand...

Thank you for that, good to know that we don't need to expect perfection on Monday. There's no rush.
 
Not great so far, she is more balanced but won't eat. She's always been a picky feeder and so has just stopped trying. Mum has been cooking non stop to try to find something she will take. She has pancreatitis and there has been a lot of upset tum. Apparently the anti nausea drug and the steroid can both upset them. She is drinking a lot but being a collie has always only drank from a water bowl outside the door so Mum has to get her down the steps every time she wants a drink. Honestly, collies are the most neurotic and bloody awkward creatures!
Mum was really upset this morning and I asked if she wanted to go back to the vet but she has said she will do as we originally said and decide on Monday.
Mum is a full time carer as well so has a lot on her plate.
 
Penny Less said:
Can you try a bit of gravy with some little bit of bread soaked in ? My pancreatic dog will sometimes eat this when he doesnt want anything else, then he will eat some white fish later
Hope doggie improves.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I will suggest. Apparently she has just eaten a bit of white fish.
 
my collie cross had an attack of vestibular syndrome last year 3 days after her 13th birthday. i put a harness on her and used a towel round her tummy to get her in and out of the garden as i have a step down from the kitchen and 2 steps up to the lawn. her eyes stopped flicking after 48 hours but she was quite wobbly on her back legs for a long while. it took approx 5 months to get her to almost normal and she has a slight head tilt.. i think she may have had a similar episode a few days before her 14th birthday in june, her eyes havent been flicking but she was a bit wobbly on her back legs again and seems to have gone almost completely deaf overnight..i have decided if she gets a bad attack i will not bring her through it but will PTS. sorry PL if it was me in your position i would be thinking that way too. :(
 
splashgirl45 said:
my collie cross had an attack of vestibular syndrome last year 3 days after her 13th birthday. i put a harness on her and used a towel round her tummy to get her in and out of the garden as i have a step down from the kitchen and 2 steps up to the lawn. her eyes stopped flicking after 48 hours but she was quite wobbly on her back legs for a long while. it took approx 5 months to get her to almost normal and she has a slight head tilt.. i think she may have had a similar episode a few days before her 14th birthday in june, her eyes havent been flicking but she was a bit wobbly on her back legs again and seems to have gone almost completely deaf overnight..i have decided if she gets a bad attack i will not bring her through it but will PTS. sorry PL if it was me in your position i would be thinking that way too. :(
Click to expand...

Mum has said she can't deal with ongoing carrying/supporting or repeated episodes. Although Rox isn't in pain she must feel rotten. I imagine it's like getting blind drunk and getting room spin.
 
my collie cross was quite upset and worried and when i took her to the emergency vet in the middle of the night i wasnt expecting to bring her home. during the first week i had doubts about keeping her going and was on the brink of PTS but in the second week she improved quite a bit so i carried on... it has shaken her confidence and she is more clingy than she ever was before and gets worried if we change our routine or even walk somewhere different so i just try and keep everything the same as much as poss so she enjoys the rest of her life...
 
To be honest I was really surprised at the difference between the first and second episode with Amy - if they’d all been like the first one I wouldn’t have dreamed of making the decision I did, but the second one was very much worse.

I think you are doing EXACTLY the right thing Splashgirl, I think that for whatever reason Amy was just incredibly unlucky that when her attacks came on they worsened very quickly and the frequency was quite intense ?
 
Rox is off to the vets shortly. She is still a bit wobbly, albeit a lot better, but it is as though she has gone blind. She got mum up all night to drink and then wee and on one of the trips out she just bolted down the drive and up into the hayfield, possibly she panicked and tried to run home but missed the courtyard entrance? She looks a poor little thing.
Poor Mum. Poor Rox. Mum says she won't get another so it really is the end of an era.
 
It's a very sad situation, I've nothing to offer but sympathy and hope. In time maybe your mom might change her mind about another dog but it's probably the least appropriate thing to talk about right now
 
At least the vet wasn’t indecisive, she said there must be something underlying wrong and we had already agreed with her that we weren’t undergoing any investigative work.
First dog mum has ever had PTS that she wasn’t with. They did offer to get her ready to go and then mum could go in and see her but we decided it was best for Rox for it just to be quick.
The vet nurse on today is a friends daughter and very sweet so I know they will have been loving.
 
Clodagh said:
Rox is off to the vets shortly. She is still a bit wobbly, albeit a lot better, but it is as though she has gone blind. She got mum up all night to drink and then wee and on one of the trips out she just bolted down the drive and up into the hayfield, possibly she panicked and tried to run home but missed the courtyard entrance? She looks a poor little thing.

Poor Mum. Poor Rox. Mum says she won't get another so it really is the end of an era.
Click to expand...

Lots of {{{{{{hugs}}}}}} to your mum, and R.I.P. Rox.

The words End of an era, in combination with pet ownership, fills me with dread, because I can't help but think that there might come a day when I will have to live without neither a dog, nor cat as company, and I just don't know how I will cope with such emptiness at home.
 
FinnishLapphund said:
Lots of {{{{{{hugs}}}}}} to your mum, and R.I.P. Rox.

The words End of an era, in combination with pet ownership, fills me with dread, because I can't help but think that there might come a day when I will have to live without neither a dog, nor cat as company, and I just don't know how I will cope with such emptiness at home.
Click to expand...

You can’t imagine it, can you? Mum may have another one day but she’s a full time carer to her partner and they don’t have a garden. Old dogs are easiest but then they die!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top