Small Dog Vestibular Disease

It is more common in older dogs.

Small dog vestibular disease.

To the untrained eye the symptoms may mimic serious life threatening conditions such as stroke or a brain tumor. Vestibular disease refers to a sudden non progressive disturbance of balance. The good news is that this condition is not as serious as it looks. Let s start with what vestibular disease actually is and the known causes of this condition.

Diagnosis is based on medical history clinical. Its most common cause is inflammation of the nerves that connect the ear to the brain most often caused by chronic or recurrent ear infections. Causes of vestibular disease include middle or inner ear infections drugs that are toxic to the ear trauma or injury tumors and hypothyroidism. Dogs with central vestibular disease will have horizontal rotary and vertical nystagmus eye movement.

They also have weakened jaw and possible head tremor. They tend to roll have poor foot placement with a lot of staggering or stumbling. Finally they may suffer from depression. In some situations vestibular disease can result from a lesion or infection in the brain a stroke or a.

When no specific cause is found the condition is called idiopathic vestibular syndrome. Often however especially in older dogs the cause is of unknown origin. Peripheral vestibular disease generally affects senior and geriatric dogs over 8 years of age. Canine idiopathic vestibular disease sometimes called old dog disease or old rolling dog syndrome can be very scary for pet parents.