I got a call the other morning from a very worried client who needed me to see her dog, Toby, right away. Toby was acting very strange with his head tilted to one side and struggling to walk in a straight line. When he got to my practice, this is what he looked like:
I believe Toby has idiopathic vestibular disease, also called old dog vestibular disease. Let’s discuss what that is and what Toby can expect to feel over the coming days.
What Is Vestibular Disease?
Vestibular disease is another name for vertigo, which is the more common term used in human medicine. It happens when a nerve that controls balance gets affected by infection, inflammation, stroke, trauma, or something else that we may never know (that’s why it’s also called “idiopathic”).
That nerve affects the ability of the dog to sense where their balance lies. When it’s not working right it throws the dog off balance. They may feel like they are spinning which is why you sometimes see the corresponding clinical signs of nystagmus (when the eyes dance back and forth) and circling in one direction almost constantly.
What Are The Symptoms Of Vestibular Disease?
The most common symptoms that we see include:
- Head tilt
- Inability to stand up or walk
- Circling to one side frequently if they can get up
- Eyes dancing back and forth (we use the fancy term “nystagmus”)
- Not eating
Not every dog will have all of these symptoms, and not every dog that has all of these symptoms will have old dog vestibular disease. That’s the frustrating part about medicine. The dogs don’t always read the books and know what they should be doing when they have certain problems.
There aren’t really any diagnostic tests that can be done to confirm the disease. It’s usually a case of “ruling out” other issues. That means that there’s no additional signs of any other issues (for instance, if one ear has a really bad ear infection that could have been the instigator for the vestibular symptoms).
Why Do They Call It “Old Dog” Vestibular Disease?
In the vast majority of cases we see at our clinic, it’s usually an older dog that’s affected. Truthfully any dog can have vestibular signs but the type of symptoms we’re describing in this article is attributable typically to senior dogs.
But why is it that older dogs seem to get it? No one really knows.
I once had a veterinary neurologist comment to me that she tends to see most of these cases in the fall when the weather starts to turn cold. Why that happens she couldn’t really guess other to say that perhaps it’s just a reaction an old dog body has to an incoming winter.
Can It Be Treated?
Old dog vestibular disease itself doesn’t need too much treatment beyond time. I’ve sometimes prescribed certain medications when my patients needed some additional help for some reason.
That’s why an exam is also a good thing to do when you see the symptoms listed above. If the vertigo sensation is bad enough, some dogs won’t eat for days and could get dehydrated. There are things that veterinarians can do to help with the symptoms.
However, the fact that these dogs frequently just get better on their own over the course of a week or two is confirmation enough that the problem was old dog vestibular disease. If it’s something far worse, the situation will steadily get worse and not better.
Sometimes it takes just a few days to see massive improvement and sometimes it takes a few weeks. They also may never totally recover from the problem. Some dogs may always have a bit of a head tilt or walk slightly off.
Conclusion
If you think your dog is exhibiting signs that their balance is off, don’t just assume that everything will be okay because it’s just old dog vestibular disease. Take your dog in for a full examination by your family veterinarian. Make sure that there aren’t any other issues that you might not see that could be a sign of something more serious going on.
We are located at 10225 S. Parker Rd in Parker, Colorado.
