# Old Dog's Syndrome



## Clare (Feb 6, 2005)

So Sasha had an episode of vestibular disease back in July 2017. It was awful - I thought she had had a stroke - she threw up and was just a mess, rapid eye movement... As I'm calling the vet I'm googling to see if there is something I should be doing. Old Dogs Syndrome came up which kind of put my mind at ease... We had gotten her to the vet, treated her for the nausea and within a few days she was mostly normal but did end up with a head tilt. Said head tilt would go away when she was chasing squirrels or if we had her out and about at a restaurant or something... This past March she seemed to have another episode. The eye movement, the stumbling. Not as severe as the first time but it seemed as though the head tilt went in the opposite direction. Vet checked her out, everything else seemed fine and again within a few days she was pretty much back to normal... But interesting thing - the head tilt is COMPLETELY gone!!!

Googling, its not common to have more than one episode (though the vet didn't think so) - but who knows. I just found it really odd that she no longer has a head tilt!


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## Sunsilver (Apr 8, 2014)

Yes, that is interesting! My old boy had 2 episodes in the last year of his life, a couple of months apart. Both resolved within a few days, and the head tilt went away completely.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Sorry to hear about her having the condition, this is new to me. I’ll admit when I clicked on this thread I thought it was about “old” (easy) dog vs new and difficult puppy.


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## Clare (Feb 6, 2005)

Nigel said:


> Sorry to hear about her having the condition, this is new to me. I’ll admit when I clicked on this thread I thought it was about “old” (easy) dog vs new and difficult puppy.


LOL! That part is true - the old dog is so easy... The puppy is a monster (but getting better  )


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## michaelr (Aug 5, 2010)

Our 16.5 year old mixed breed boy - well, technically he's our son's, but we've been dog sitting him for about 11 years  because our son couldn't fly him back home after a visit because the dog had been traumatized on the flight out to us - had his first episode about a year ago and like you we thought the worst, rushed him to the vet, and were relieved when the vet explained what it was and that it should get better over the next few days (it did). 



He hasn't so much had other episodes since, as fairly consistently exhibit a few abnormal behaviors. For example he will often walk in tight circles (always to the right) for several minutes before lying down. He will also typically lose his balance when shaking off water or just tension, which isn't so much a behavior as a consistent effect of the condition.


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## Cheerful1 (Sep 27, 2011)

I knew nothing about this syndrome until it happened to Joey. When he collapsed 2 years ago, we thought it was a stroke. We rushed him to the local vet in PA (we couldn’t get him to his regular vet on Long Island), who diagnosed him with idiopathic vestibular syndrome (canine vertigo). He prescribed Antivert, and lots of rest. It took a week before we could get him back home.

He has not had an episode since. He had the head tilt for a long time.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

Mine had it this summer. Hers was pretty bad. She was totally bedridden and could not stand or walk for over a week.

I think the duration of the more severe part was about 2 weeks with a very gradual lessening of symptoms after that.

She still has the tilt and it aged her tremendously. But she did mostly recover and she is playing ball with me right now.


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