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Sheena and Patrice I need your advice…this week Diablo has been on the mend and I have been feeling hopeful…..pretty severe head tilt but not wobbly and acting normal in all other ways. Today woke up to him moving his head side to side a bit and than saw his eyes………TERRIBLE nystgmus is back and seems worse than before….still side to side and more towards the right the way his head tilts. I fear this is the end for him….he is having trouble walking again. Do you think this must mean brain tumour or central Vestibular as opposed to peripheral as we were hoping? Thanks guys.
I posted twice earlier on your old thread – here is the latest one copied onto the new thread – loads of love to you as always:
Hi again Tara
Sorry – I shouldn’t have put CVD earlier as this seems to be peripheral, not central.
If this had happened to Sprockett, I would have been as frantic as you are & I cannot bear to see my animals in distress. I would never put them through any suffering at all & I know this is hard for you. From what I have been reading, I still think the correct treatment will help Diablo recover, but it may be slow.
I found this very useful slide show for you
http://www.slideshare.net/marina761/neurovetmedufleduneurovestibularvestibularppt – tests & examinations to be done – please go through the slide show, particularly slide number two to determine nystagmus relationship to head tilt – it is brilliant & explains what is going on, how to diagnose exactly what the problem is & treat accordingly. The direction of the nystagmus in relation to the head tilt seems to be an important part of the initial diagnosis. I’m sure your vet could go through this with you & could work out the best plan of action for further investigation. If you want me to go through it with you, I would be more than happy, but I need to get more information from you. It would be easier for you with the vet I think! Doxycycline is mentioned as a suitable antibiotic & as we know, it is fine to use on our AIHA babies. It also says that the antibiotics need to be given for a long time, so maybe Diablo needs Doxycycline & to take it for a longer period & this could be why he has had a second episode. Prednisone is also mentioned as being useful in some cases & he is on a small dose already.
Have a look at these to cheer yourself up a bit as well – the outcome is normally very good according to these vet articles:
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/06/04/canine-vestibular-disease.aspx
http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2011/oct/old_dog_vestibular_disease-11847
There are blogs at the bottom, but I don’t always put faith in what I read on them. Some of them are upsetting too as people had their dogs put to sleep needlessly because their vet didn’t do the right tests & diagnose vestibular disease. However, there is someone who’s dog has had two episodes & is recovering, so that is hopeful.
Because this disease is so distressing for us to see, it is easy to make the wrong decision – I nearly did. Thanks to my experienced vet, I kept going with Sprockett & I’m glad I gave him time to recover. If this is what we think (peripheral) and it’s just because he didn’t have the right antibiotics for long enough, he will benefit from the longer treatment.
Does this help? If you have any questions or worries, please tell me
Loads of best wishes & hope
Sheena
Should have said this still sounds peripheral from your description & what it says on the vet’s slide show. There is a picture of the vet testing a rear foot on a dog – you put the top of the foot gently on the ground & see if Diablo puts it down again in the proper position.
I am here all day for you & will be checking on here for your messages as often as I can.
Love Sheena
Tara – more reading to cheer you up
http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/can-canine-vestibular-syndrome-occur-twice
Thank you so so much Sheena. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help…I am going to start looking at links now…sorry about the second thread…I only opened a second one because my other one was getting long and a few of the posts posted out of order so was worried you might not see it – thanks so much. Diablo is resting now and eyes have slowed down….it was crazy this a.m. :( I think he was scared too.
Tara the new thread was a good idea.
It does seem so unfair that when Diablo does start to seem better he’s been hit with it again.
Sheena you’re wonderful to get your hands into the research so quickly.
Diablo your mum is very worried about you so you have to get better quickly okay?
Lots of love
Vally and Bingo.