Vestibular Disease or Seizure...

[Sara]

I know some folks who have worked in vet offices may know about this...Vestibular Disease? I've got Dauby here on my lap wrapped in a towel... I think he's either having seizures or something else is going on...since he doesn't lose conciesnous I doubt it's seizure...so I looked up stuff online and found this... Vestibular Disease...inner ear infection... They keep saying that the dog tilts their head... Dauby pulls his head way back to one side and if we touch him near his head/ears to put it back down or comfort him he CRIES...yelps... Then he tips over to one side... the whole time he's listening to us...looking at us (mostly) and is aware... Poor guy...

Any ideas??? Hoping to take him to the vet and at least get them to look at his little ears...they're hairy so an inner ear infection (vestibular disease) wouldn't surprise me... Till then though... Any thoughts????

Sara

[Samsintentions]

There's a german shephard at my vet clinic now with it. It'll throw their whole equilibrium off balance if its ear infections. I don't know that its common in danes....

I know a few people with danes that they have siezures and its recurrent. Siezures don't necessarlily mean that they loose conciousness. Throwing the head back and the crying sounds off. Painful.

Has he been walking straight? how far apart are they??

With VisD its non stop, he wouldn't just have one, then pause then another. Its a steady woozyness, stumbling, drunkeness act. They tilt their heads, can't walk straight, and act as if they don't know whats going on.....


I would check his blood sugar too. Make sure he's not hypoglycemic. That alone will cause siezures and weakend state.

[Sara]

Dauby's the Chinese Crested... He's doing just fine today. What I think it is is trauma...I think he gets run over or tumbles outside over something and gets hurt and that's how he deals with it... He usually tips his head back any time something hurts...usually I put him up and let him rest and he's fine. I bet he pulled something outside... If he was a big dog with that kind of injury it'd be something easier...but since he's just a little guy...can't help but feel really bad for him... I think he twists his back legs...maybe in the hip region and points to his pain with his nose...up... This morning he limped quite a bit when we took him out but otherwise was fine. He's fine now too but you can tell he doesn't feel 100%...

That's my guess...he's not still all drunken so the Vestibular is out... Medically the only time they truly classify something as a seizure the dog HAS to lose conciousness and he doesn't... He's just a little dog trying to play like a big one I think.

Sara

[Shineillusion]

I don't know who told you a dog has to lose consciousness in order for it to be classified as a seizure, but it's not true.

There are several different types of seizures where a dog (or human, for that matter) does not lose consciousness. The most common form in dogs are focal seizures. With focal seizures, the area of the brain that's affected is much smaller than in a grand mal seizure. They're sometimes referred to as petite mal or psychomotor seizures.

I had a dachshund bitch who had focal seizures; she'd freeze in mid stride with one paw raised in the air. She'd stand that way for about a minute, then take three (always three) steps and vomit. Then she'd be off, doing whatever she'd been doing prior to the seizure.

Her son also had focal seizures, but his were entirely different. He'd "fly bite", snapping the air like there were bugs bothering him. His neck would get very stiff, and he'd cry like he was in pain. Then his rear end would quiver, and he'd go down in the rear. The first two times he did it, we thought he'd injured his back/neck. Another common problem for dachshunds. Only by the time we got him to the vet the seizure had passed, and he'd be walking normally, no pain.

Some dogs with focal seizures just stare off into space. Many "fly bite", have a stiff neck, head tilt, and cry out like they're in pain. It's just the area of their brain that's misfiring, though. Once the seizure passes, they go back to their normal selves, although there can be some residual muscle pain because of the spasms.

Sometimes focal seizures will progress to grand mal seizures later in life. And sometimes they stop and never occur again. My bitch had seizures very rarely until she was about 7. Then she never had another one. Her son, on the other hand, developed narcolepsy, and in the last 2 years of his life he had a couple grand mal seizures. Neither one of them ever required medication to control them, though.

[Sara]

It's weird because I know humans don't have to lose conciousness too...my friend has Epilepsy so I thought it odd but again what Dauby was doing seemed less like a seizure and more like a reaction to pain...which can also cause seizure (My half sister had that problem as a kid...she'd fall and right into a focal type seizure)... That's what I meant by Trauma...just didn't specify (too lazy to type that much). Anyway also if he had been injured and had low blood sugar it could probably trigger something like that...trauma induced seizure...My husband deals with that at times when he's tattooing someone who skipped lunch or something dumb.

ANYWAY I side stepped... My grandma recently had a stroke and a week later seemed to have had a seizure...THREE doctors...ER, and ones on their rounds INSISTED that she did not have a seizure because she was concious... THREE MDs... So it's really weird all around. UNLESS they've come up with some other classification for the focal seizure...like it's not a seizure but something different...not sure what... the trend seems to go in that direction everywhere I've read...they attribute a focal seizure with something else...possibly because a seizure disorder isn't generally characterized by focal seizures...which isn't exactly on but...anyway...

I'm thinking Dauby may have fallen off the deck playing with the Whippet and had a traumatic seizure...then had pain after that... We'll see. Keep watching him. Today he was running around but REALLY cautious not to get in the way of any other dogs' feet... otherwise completely normal, a little tired.

Sara

Sara

[Shineillusion]

It's very odd that three MDs would say that. Were any of them neurologists? Because temoral lobe epilepsy is the most common form of seizure disorder in humans, and it's charecterized as focal seizures. And with simple focal seizures the person is conscious and aware. Some of them report a hightened awareness. With psychomotor seizures they don't exactly lose consciousness, but may suffer visual and/or auditory hallucinations, may not know where they are or understand what is happening, and may seem to be in a daze.

Anyway, I hope your little pup recovers without further complications. Sometimes it's too bad no one ever told them they're little, and there are things little dogs shouldn't do, lol.

[Sara]

My friend with Epilepsy has grand Maul seizures and has had them completely concious. I think with my grandma the stroke doctor (Neurologist) and the others all said no seizure. Seizures are COMMON and expected with stroke so it makes NO sense.

This morning Dauby is running around like usual... I do wish someone would have told the little guys that they are indeed small and should possibly be carefull with their little bodies.

Sara

[Shineillusion]

Yeah, I know what you mean. My little dachshund pup is absolutely fearless. He thinks he's all that and a bag of dog biscuits. I have to constantly watch him on my grooming table, because he seems to think he can fly, along with everything else.