My Dolly will be 12 in April. Twelve is almost “pushing it” for a golden retriever. I am super sensitive to every move she makes, always thinking “This is it! This is the big one!”
Boring shit about how my dog suddenly can’t walk:
Monday morning we had a normal morning. She got up and ate, went outside, came in to jump on the couch and bark at the UPS guy. I went in my office and was sitting here when I heard her flopping around in the living room, squeaking on her ball. But it sounded weird - weirder than her usual jumping around and squeaking. I went out to find her flopped over in her bed, unable to lift herself up with her legs.
She eventually was able to walk after a half hour or so, but wobbly. I assumed she jumped off the couch and either popped her hip out or pulled a muscle in her back. She could not walk well at all - very shaky, falling over. She’s got hip displaysia and I assumed that her back end was just extra weak from us not walking much over the winter (too cold) and not being able to swim anywhere.
I called the vet and they said no need to see her right away, just watch. So I watched and she seemed to get better the next day but still only 60% good at walking. Thinking it was a muscle or tendon issue, I had her rest and every so often we’d go outside and walk a short distance.
Today she seemed worse, which didn’t make me happy. She had been better about getting down the 3 deck stairs but today she fell down the steps. Her head had started tilting sideways on Wednesday but today it was super tilted.
I had made an appointment today with the vet so I took her, hoping for the vet to let me know if she thought it was a sprain or we needed x-rays or what. Because it wasn’t getting better.
I was bracing myself for the bad news of thousands of dollars of surgery and therapy when the vet told me her legs were fine. Like, really fine - just a little muscle inflammation.
What the deal really was is that she is dizzy. She either has an ear infection (which the vet could not see) or “Old Dog” Vestibular Disease.
It’s an idiopathic condition that is quite common in old dogs, and manifests in a head tilt and trouble walking or “drunk walking.” The vet described it as constantly having the feeling like you just stopped spinning in a circle. They don’t know what causes it (it may be a virus) and there’s no treatment aside from doggy Drammamine and time. She she Dolly should be back to normal in about 10 days.
I actually burst into tears in the exam room because it was such a relief to find out that my dog wasn’t permanently handicapped. And really, just to know what was wrong and how I could help her. Whew!
We’ve still got some rough days ahead of us - I guess it gets worse before it gets better (it’s getting worse) but I look forward to next weekend when she is feeling much better!
Anyway I thought it was weird that I’d never heard of this apparently common condition! I told the vet they aught to make a pamphlet about stuff to expect when your dog gets old and give this thing its own page!
Thought I would share my experience with you other dog owners, in case you ever run into it. In a little bit of Googling the topic I am SHOCKED to read that dogs frequently are put down when they show the symptoms of Vestibular Disease rather than given a chance to heal!
Holy smokes!
), but we never got to really implement the treatment, because I believe (I am not a vet) the tumor caused her to start throwing seizures–two dozen or so–during the next three days. She didn’t wake up once during that whole time, and I was sure she wouldn’t again, or if she did, she would be a basket case. So the euthanasia squad was called out and the deed done. “Burpo” (her nom-de-plume) did us a huge favor, as the Vetoryl is expensive and could have been needed another two years before she would have expired, and no way to know what the progression or benefits would have been. Da End.