Re: Christmas preps

Steve Pope wrote:

Kathleen wrote:


Dave Smith wrote:


The big snag is my dog's health. The poor old guy is not well. He can hardly walk. he keeps falling over. The vet thinks he has a vesitibular infection which is causing motion sickness. He won't eat or drink. He can hardly stand up. He can walk up stairs but not down. He doesn't even object to being carried, something he always hated before. If he doesn't eat this morning he has to go back to the vet.



Canine vestibular syndrome is generally not the result of an infection. Usually it's idiopathic - no known cause. I had this problem develop in my elderly female BC and I thought she'd had a stroke. I took her to the vet fully expecting that she'd need to be put down.


True, but a vet would usually be able to differentiate between
idiopathic vestibular syndrome, and an infection. The nystagmus
(sp?) is bilateral in the former, but probably unilateral in the latter.

Maybe, maybe not. Although no infection may be evident there is a large subset of the veterinary population that feels more comfortable going the shotgun route. And I have never seen, heard of or read about unilateral nystagmus. The circling, head tilt and the falling over are consistently to one side or the other, even in idiopathic CVS, but both eyes move together in a jerking motion as if trying to focus on a stationary point while being spun.

Considering how deathly ill a recently prescribed course of doxicycline made me (think projectile vomiting), I would definitely query the vet about his/her rationale for the antibiotic. And if the dog's nausea and anorexia persist or worsen I'd give serious consideration to discontinuing it even against medical advice.


One of our cats had idiopathic vestibular syndrome. He had
a total of about 10 attacks spaced over time, but was fine
in between attacks and it eventually disappeared entirely.
It was not an infection with constant symptoms. But boy was
is scary during an attack, especially the first one when we
had no idea what was going on or whether it would go away.
We also figured it was a deadly stroke. Instead, an
attack lasted only four to six hours, with some residual eye
motion for the next day.

When my daughter was a toddler she had a little bungie swing that we hung in the kitchen doorway. She learned to wind up the bungee cord by treading in a circle and then would lift her feet and spin like a top as it unwound. When she came to a stop, her baby blues would be doing the exact same thing I saw years later with Molly, only my daughter would be laughing instead of throwing up.

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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Christmas preps
    ... vesitibular infection which is causing motion sickness. ... If he doesn't eat this morning he has to go back to the vet. ... in between attacks and it eventually disappeared entirely. ...
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  • UPDATE 4 Re: Purrs for Natasha
    ... I kept Natasha's appointment with her regular vet today, ... "They didn't give me an antibiotic for Natasha, ... According to this, she's got an infection." ...
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  • Re: Could I have a double dose of purrs please?
    ... diabetes, we were understandably worried, so offto the vet's we went. ... Locum diagnosed an infection and prescribed antibiotics, ... course he started going downhill again, so we went back to the vet. ... Carrie wasn't all that fantastic. ...
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  • Re: Could I have a double dose of purrs please?
    ... However, at the end of the course he started going downhill again, so we went back to the vet. ... Nothing showed up, other than a low white cell count (which, if I recall my secondary school biology, is indicative of infection). ... We were due to take him in for check-up yesterday, and found that Carrie wasn't all that fantastic. ... Lots and lots of purrs and best wishes for Jasper and Carrie to recover completely and really soon, and hugs for you, Cathi, for taking such great care of them, ...
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