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Could this actually be vertigo?

This forum is for dog lovers seeking everyday advice and suggestions on health-related issues. Remember, however, that advice on a public forum simply can't be a substitute for proper medical attention. Only your vet can say assuredly what is best for your dog.

  
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Trooper

I'm such a- little trooper!		 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 17, '12 6:29pm PST 
So we got Trooper home. We've been watching him for a couple days now and started doing some research because we were told he was a special needs dog, but that the vet didn't really know what was wrong with him. It was described as what appeared to be something wrong with his back legs. But the longer we watch him, the more we think it might be something else.

My mother and I did a little bit of research, and we are going to ask our vet about vertigo. There are forms of it which can apparently be permanent in dogs for various reasons, and Trooper has pretty much all of the signs of it. It would even explain why his legs seem to fail him sometimes. From what we read, it's kinda rare for it to be so severe, which might explain why the first vet didn't think of it, but we're going to mention it to our vet and see if it's a possibility, because there are treatments for it.

Has anyone ever heard of this before?
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Kye

I'm like- Einstein only- hairier. 		 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 17, '12 8:17pm PST 
I found a link on vestibular dysfunction in dogs (vertigo) that can help you figure out if thats what he has. I'm not sure if you've seen the link so I'll post it here.
http://www.caninefitness.com/resources/docs/Vestibular_Dysfun ction.pdf

Hope your little man is OK! I'm sure your vet will do everything he can to help him out.
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Trooper

I'm such a- little trooper!		 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 17, '12 8:28pm PST 
Thanks for the resource! He doesn't do the vomiting, but he does have several of the symptoms which lead us to believe that he may have some inner ear issues going on. This definitely helps. I've been looking at some videos of it online as well and seen some cases that are quite a bit more severe than others. Trooper gets around well enough but he stumbles and goes around in circles at times and sometimes falls. He also sometimes tilts his head when he does the circling. It doesn't seem to affect his attitude. He is still a happy little boy with a healthy appetite and he loves to play. Hopefully the vet will help us figure it out.
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Hadley

1173616		 
 
Barked: Mon Dec 17, '12 9:32pm PST 
Do they look like this?

http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/maddy_ciccone18/librar y/Episodic%20Ataxia
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Trooper

I'm such a- little trooper!		 
 
Barked: Tue Dec 18, '12 5:54am PST 
That link didn't work. :
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Bunny

The Snow Bunny		 
 
Barked: Tue Dec 18, '12 5:57am PST 
He may be experiencing vertigo as a symptom of some other illness.
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Member Since
12/02/2012		 
 
Barked: Tue Dec 18, '12 8:52pm PST 
"He may be experiencing vertigo as a symptom of some other illness."

You might want to get a second or third opinion on that one if you don't think the first vet's finding was right. Maybe your dog has something else and vertigo is just one of the signs and symptoms.
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Hadley

1173616		 
 
Barked: Wed Dec 19, '12 9:34pm PST 
Try this link:
http://smg.beta.photobucket.com/user/maddy_ciccone18/media/Ep isodic%20Ataxia/VID_20110509_134857.mp4.html

Do these episodes he have happen constantly or do they come and go?
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Josie

Happy to work		 
 
Barked: Thu Dec 20, '12 2:41am PST 
Josie has Vest. disease....it is a strange disease and some dogs show all symptoms while others show very few. They go through "episodes" where the symptoms will get worse and then go away for awhile and then get bad again. The common symptom is the head tilt (which is almost always present whether they are having an episode or not).

He is so young, vest disease usually affects older dogs.

I would look into Cerebellar hypoplasia (CH)...i have fostered some CH kittens and it sounds just like what your little Trooper is going through, I have heard of cases in dogs but have never personally witnessed it in a dog. CH is a disorder that is present in the animal from birth, with kittens it is almost immediately visible but with dogs I have been told it can take a little longer to see most of the symptoms. It occurs when parts of the cerebellum have not completely developed when the animal is born. This is a condition that the animal adjusts to as it gets older, there is no real treatment for it. All the CH kittens I have fostered have been adopted and the updates I get are all positive; from what I have seen animals with CH go on to live a normal life, they just dont jump as high and fall over/loose their balance a bit more than an animal without CH.

Here is more info
http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/neurological/c_dg_cerebell ar_hypoplasia#.UNLqZXd-Ff8
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Toto, CD,- RN, CGC

We don't do- doodles!!!
 
 
Barked: Thu Dec 20, '12 5:45pm PST 
I would be more inclined to think nerve damage probably around the base of the skull since his symptoms seem to go along with that.
Sadly, it is not uncommon for injury to occur during the whelping process or due to the mom stepping on them in the first few days.
My Frenchie puppy, years ago, was believed to have some sort of compression in the first few vertebrae just below the skull. The neurologist felt it was a result of injury OR congenital deformity of the actual vertebrae, which he felt was quite rare but not unheard of, especially in small breed dogs. His symptoms seemed the same as your guys. Sadly, he went downhill very fast as he matured and was unable to handle the weight of his head. Ultimately, he progressed to massive seizures and almost complete rear end paralysis at around 6 months of age and had to be euthanized.
Hopefully your guy's prognosis will be better. At least he doesn't have that heavy head of the Frenchie to lug around, BOL!
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