Tuk-tuk might have Vestibular Syndrome!

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

Oh my gosh, I've had the worst afternoon!!! I thought he'd had a stroke! So we got back from the dog park this afternoon and he was acting a little odd. I should've been paying more attention, I'm so mad at myself! But I hadn't eaten, did a couple things around the house, the kids got back from their dad's (Tuk didn't come downstairs to see everyone, very unusual but I thought he was still tired from the dp), we had some kid issues around the dad thing, and then Tuk peed on the floor. He acted very strange about it. I didn't scold him or anything cause he didn't seem to be feeling well, but I was still thinking it was dp related. It had been warm and it's been a bit since we've gone. So we all went downstairs and like 20 mins later I noticed he'd been doing this odd thing since we'd gotten home but I just hadn't put it together till after the peeing on the floor thing. He was only sitting, with his head straight up in the air, rolling his eyes about. It wasn't non-stop which was why I hadn't really put my finger on it before. So I decided to try to get him to walk to see how he did and went to the kitchen and called him for a treat. He trotted across the living room just fine took the treat and promptly dropped it turned to his left and like laid/fell to his side. I about died on the spot. I had my daughter grab the water dish and bring it over, felt him but he wasn't hot (she got her computer and we search heat stroke) but he wouldn't take any water. I checked for all the symptoms of heat stroke but it just didn't fit. So I searched canine stroke, even though I thought he's too young and after being at the dp I would think he'd have heat stroke, but his symptoms more closely matched that. DD pulled that vet hospital magnet off the fridge and we called, the tech said it did sound like stroke was possible and to bring him in. So off we went. After a long examination the vet said no stroke but Vestibular Syndrome is likely with a slight possibility of seizures, although she's leaning to VS. They did a complete blood work which came back normal. Of course around here Valley Fever is always a possibility but I'm going to hold off on that mondo expensive test and give it a couple days, then an antibiotic a try first. He has to be kept in his crate pretty much all the time since his dizzy spells are very disorienting and they scare him. The stairs are also dangerous for him. Activity seems to make it worse too, so it's best if he just stays still. So far I'm really worried cause I haven't seen him take water since early afternoon, he's peed twice though. He's eaten a small amount of kibble, not too much cause we don't want to upset his tummy.

So here's the low down on VS. It can last up to 3 weeks or so. There are many causes or as in Tuk's case it can be idiopathic meaning they don't know what caused it. Possibly treated with anti-motion sickness meds if necessary. But he's not vomiting so we probably won't get to that. The antibiotic will be if he has a middle ear infection they cannot see that may be causing it. It usaully occurs in older dogs, although sometimes in middle aged dogs, rarely in young dogs (Tuk is 4, 5 next month). It does not usually reoccur. I don't remember what else my sister googled on her phone while we waited for blood work to come back but that's pretty much it. I'll google it again tomorrow, for now though I'm too tired to check it again.

[Nikki]

oh no! I am so sorry I hope he feels better soon.

[Hawkeye]

Poor Tuk, hope he gets well soon. Keep us posted.

[BeeBladen]

Oh dear! I hope Tuk feels better asap! He's going to want to get back to that dog park and make up for missed play time : )

[Nena]

Wow! sorry to hear about Tuk. There are so many things that can happen to our beloved dogs that it is scarey. Good think you rushed him to the vets right away and hopefully it will not last very long. I Googled it to, sounds like it happens so suddenly, not much anyone can do but react after it happens. Does the vet check they ears are part of the exame?

Hope Tuk is himself soon.

[jimnconnie]

There seem to be so many things that can happen to our dogs that we've never heard of, and I for one have never heard of Vestibular Syndrome. We vaccinate them against disease, feed them the best foods we can find, and care for them like our own children, but still something unexpected can always happen. I can imagine your fears & panic when you first saw Tuk's symptoms. We will keep our fingers & paws crossed for Tuk, please keep us all updated.

Jim

[josie&holly]

Poor Tuk - hope he is soon back to himself again!

[sheila and Misty]

poor Tuk-Poor stressed out you. At least the didnt think it was necessary to hospitalize him. I hope you find an answer soon and hopefully a little medication will do the trick. keep us posted

[dinib]

Oh how scary!! I wish you BOTH a speedy recovery.

[beccadiane374]

Oh, no...hope Tuk is feeling better soon!

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

How I hate being at work! I wish I were at home with Tuky!

I realized I didn't give very much descent info in my post...a testament to my concern! VS causes dogs to fall down, crane their necks, have weird jerky eye movements, run into walls, dizzyness and such. We read that many dog owners think they're dogs are having a stroke. The causes range from brain tumors to ear infections to the unknown. At the vet's office I realized I probably wasn't looking at a stroke when she pulled out the ginormous thing to look in his ears. She said she just couldn't rule out the seizures cause he's so young and his symptoms are so subtle. She said usually dogs with VS are falling down, and running into walls, really showing the signs, but then again so do dogs with seizures. With his blood work looking normal, that helps him too. Now we just wait. I don't like waiting. Oh and she did suggest keeping him over night to watch him cause of the seizure concern. But the dizziness stresses him out so bad that I decided to take him home.

He slept with me in bed, I almost didn't cause I was afraid he'd get dizzy and fall out. But he's not inclined to move around much so I went ahead. I'm glad I did. I didn't sleep much as it was and it was good to be able to just be able to pet him whenever he moved. He seemed to like that too. This morning he went out some more...I don't know where it's coming from, still no water intake. He seems to be walking better, no tilt...but it's hard to tell since he's not walking far and I'm pretty much carrying him all over. He was shaking his head funny which makes me think he could have that middle ear infection so I'm gonna grab that antibiotic right after work...but then it could just feel weird to shake if he's dizzy. He's crated today, boy if I was ever a fan of crate training before, I'm a lover of it now! I just wish I was home with him. I'm so relieved it appears to be nothing serious he won't recover from in time, but it is THE saddest thing to see him after a dizzy spell. He truly looks so upset and comes to one of us for comfort. Its just so awful. I thought today I would be so tired at work and not able to stay awake, but I just can't stop thinking of him so I haven't even noticed the time and here it is lunch already. At least the day is passing quickly that way.

Thanks for all the kind words and thoughts. We appreciate it! And I'm sorry my post was so crazy!

[Autumn & Lola]

Awww. It's understandable that you were so worried and upset. I truly hope you get to the bottom of it quickly and that he is feeling better very soon. Molly sends Tuk-tuk lots of get well kisses.

[oscar's mom]

Sorry to hear Tuk isn't feeling well. I too googled VS, it said you need to keep up on their fluids and to hand feed, cause the dogs can't eat from their bowls due to bending their heads down.

Hopefully in 3 weeks, everything will be looking better.

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

Well you wouldn't know he was the same dog from 24 hrs ago. He is not walking with the noticable tilt anymore (his whole left side was lower) and hasn't had a dizzy spell since I've been home. He finally drank some water too! I can also tell he is feeling better cause he has the good Cairn sense to milk me for all this is worth! He's working getting carried and even gave me a terrible pathetic look for a bit of cheese while I was making my DS's dinner. He'll usually just give me a cute little 'you know you want to give me some cause I'm so adorable' look but tonight it was 'you surely are going to give me some cause I'm ailing so' and if he could've mustered a tear I think he would've! I called my local pharmacy for the scrip the vet gave me and they want to charge $68, and I think it was only $16 at the vet's so I'm going to call them back tomorrow and get that. He's shaking his head like his ears are bugging him so I'm really thinking it must be a middle ear infection causing the VS. I've actually had one of those myself, it prompted me to call 911 cause I just kept falling over if I tried to walk (this was years ago). We'll see how tomorrow goes, hopefully another improved day.

[bradl]

I can only sympathize! It's awful to see them laid low and we just go crazy wanting to do the right thing, if only we knew what it was. Sounds like Tuk is in good hands and is hopefully on the mend and will soon be back full-time to his Cairnish ways.

[hheldorfer]

Buffy here! Best wishes for a speedy recovery (and make sure you get ALL the pampering you deserve)!

[cairnrescueleague]

My Chelsea (RIP) had vestibular syndrome twice, first when she was 16, then when she was 18. Just staggering the first time (I did think she'd had a stroke), but the second time she also couldn't keep anything down, even water. One way to tell if it's vestibular syndrome is to hold their head still. With vestibular syndrome, their eyes will rapidly track from side to side, kind of like one of those cat clocks with the eyes that go back and forth. I'm not sure if it happens every time, but if it does, it's vestibular syndrome. Chelsea snapped out of it on her own the first time, the second time I gave her an over-the-counter motion sickness medication, I don't remember which one. It helped almost immediately. Please keep us posted on Tuk-Tuk!

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

The vet checked his eyes. He never got the rapid back and forth but weird rolling all around where we could see the whites of his eyes. She said that counted as the eye thing, she had a name for it but I couldn't even try to pronounce it or remember it. She said it was just very subtle with him, which was why she never ruled out the seizure possibility. Nothing was cut and dry. I'm still waiting on the antibiotic, they actually have to make it.

He's the same today as yesterday. He sticks close to me all the time and generally acts like a dog who is under the weather, but otherwise isn't showing any of the symptoms he did on Sunday. I'm amazed at how well he self regulated. I was so worried about him not taking water but he knew what was best for him, he's drinking fine now. I'm almost giving him his whole food amount...slowly working that back up. Last night and Sunday night he woke up crying, I couldn't find a reason so I guess it was some type of thing related to VS. It only happened once each night and was only for a couple seconds then he was fine. I dunno what to make of that.

I have to take a second and brag. He was the best dog while the vet examined and re-examined him Sunday. She was turning his head, holding him still with her fingers on his face to watch his eyes closely, kinda moving his facial skin weird, again with the head, just all these things that you would think a dog whose feeling really dizzy would at some point just protest or refuse to allow anymore. We were there for 2 hrs, had the blood draw and she would do this exam every time he had a dizzy spell (which was alot) and he never put up a fuss. He is really good natured but this was just really above and beyond. What a good boy! His birthday is next month and I feel a whole lot of spoiling coming on!!!!

Thanks again for all your support, it really helps! I've been under alot of stress lately...when we got home from vet Sunday found DD and my mom tearing apart her room cause she'd seen a centipede, we found it eventually; DD's in a play putting on a performance every night this week, DS is tired from all the running around; I've been on the phone tons w/my lawyer trying to get my divorce going; work, ugh...but really all that goes away and I can't wait to get home to my little dog and then later check in here. It really helps.

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

Bad night last night, I don't think he slept at all. He just sat up and stared around.

[Puddlesmama]

Aww Dawn I just got to seeing this. I hope Tuk is feeling better soon!

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

Tuk-tuk finally laid down in bed and slept last night. Me, not so much cause he laid on me and I didn't want to move and disturb him so I was totally uncomfortable all night. He was walking with a noticable tilt this morning but didn't seem to be dizzy (or he's just becoming more accustomed to the sensation). The antibiotics came in the mail today from the pharmacy...it was soo sweet, they put a Milk Bone treat in with the prescription! How cute!

[lindasue]

My last dog (golden/shepard) had seizures with many of the same symptoms. After $2500 worth of tests (and this was about 10 years ago) she was diagnosed with epilepsy. She had to take medication for the rest of her life, but never had another one and lived another 7 years until the ripe old age of 14. It was very scary! Maybe another thing to think about. Apparently some dogs do have it, but easily controlled.

[DawnandTuk-tuk]

Well, things are very very bad. He was doing ok kinda more dizzy and what not but I didn't think too much of it cause the dr said most dogs with this will run smack into walls. He wasn't doing that but he got more dizzy and would walk in circles. Late last week he seemed less interested in things going on in the house and when I had cheese out he didn't come over to get some. I thought he was really tired cause he still wasn't sleeping. Over the weekend he began refusing food and to come out of his crate except to relieve himself. I called my vet on Monday (I have insurance) but they were closed. So I had to wait. He was seen today. Tomorrow I'm taking him to a Neurologist on her recommendation. He won't get up and stumbles around to pee. He seems to lack control of his limbs. I had to take all the pillows out of his crate and put a hard lid under the blanket on the bed where he sleeps cause he can't work his legs well enough to negotiate too much soft stuff. He still knows what's going on around him though. The vet seems to think we've kinda got two scenarios, he's got Valley Fever (running the test, they take about 4 days) or a brain tumor. The vet said to hope for Valley Fever cause we can treat that. Needless to say I'm freaking out. I cried all over at work yesterday (I don't need a vet to tell me that loss of motor control is super serious). My DS asked me if Tuk is going to die and I didn't know what to say. I just can't loose my dog. I'll try to update after the neurologist tomorrow. I'm sure they're going to order more tests so I probably won't know anything new.

[Kathryn]

Poor Tuk. Let us know what's going on -- the wait can be horrible (I'm in the middle of a wait too for T Bone). I'm hoping for an outcome that will have him healthy and with you for a long time.

[Hawkeye]

I'm sorry to hear things have taken a turn for the worse. My thoughts and prayers are with you and Tuk.