Help me I took my dog to the vet and he said he has vestibular diease What is it and can it be treated?

Answers:
The vestibular system controls balance and prevents an animal from falling over. It does this by holding and constantly adjusting the position of the eyes, head and body in relation to gravity. When there is disease affecting this system, though it is seldom life threatening, the symptoms caused can be particularly distressing for a pet owner. Animals may tilt their head to one side, circle either clockwise or anticlockwise, fall over repeatedly, roll to one side, be generally wobbly and display abnormal pupil movement in their eyes. The dog will gradually make a full recovery in about three to six weeks. Meanwhile special care must be taken to prevent the dog from hurting itself and to keep it eating. No treatment can hasten the recovery.

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if you were at the vet, why didn't you ask him? he would know. he is, after all, a doctor.

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Didn't you ask the vet when you were there?? I mean he said ' vestibular disease ' and you just what.. turned and walked away from him? You didn't question anything, ask about treatment.. He didn't offer a treatment?


In a nutshell, the vestibular apparatus is the neurological equipment responsible for perceiving one's body's orientation relative to the earth (determining if you are upside-down, standing up straight, falling etc.) and informing ones eyes and extremities how they should move accordingly.

The vestibular apparatus allows us to walk, even run, on very uneven ground without falling, helps us know when we need to right ourselves, and allows our eyes to follow moving objects without becoming dizzy.

You have to find out what's causing it before you can treat it.. Is it a brain tumor? Ear infection ? Or idiopathic? You have to ask the vet more questions.. Get down to the bottom of things.. Don't just walk away, ask questions.. That's why he gets the big bucks, he supposedly has the answer.. Make him give them to YOU the one that owns the dog.

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It really depends what is causing the vestibular disease. Anything from a really bad ear infection to a destructive lesion can cause vestibular problems in any animal. If it is stemming from an infection of some kind then it will go away over time, if it is from a lesion then he will not get better over time but chances are he will also not get worse either.

Classic signs are:
1-a head tilt
2-a nystagmus - this is where the eyes look like they are twitching back and forth when you look at your dog, this is whats really causing him to be dizzy. If he does have a lesion then this will go away with time, although the head tilt won't.
3-vomitting - this is usually induced by the constant state of dizziness and goes away once their nystagmus does
4-some animals have fits of sneezing and coughing as well

If its truly a vestibular disease its not curable, but definately something your dog can live with. I don't know what your finacial situation is to run an MRI on him to see the extent of the lesion if there is one. If the lesion is affecting other cranial nerves then maybe it would be a consideration to put him to sleep. If it is truly just vestibular he can learn to live with it. It's hard to say though without seeing him or knowing all the signs he truly has.