Skip to content

Old dog vestibular disease

Basenji Health Issues & Questions
  • Our dog Rascal is 14 years old. He was recently diagnosed with idiopathic old dog vestibular disease. The vet prescribed 10days of antibiotics and 14 days of Prednisone. At first he improved from unable to walk to having a head tilt and being slightly unsteady on his feet. The antibiotics were completed 2 days ago and we are tappering the prednisone. His symptoms are getting worse. I haven't noted any facial paralysis. The vet didn't see any signs of ear infection. He mention a visit to a specialist as the next step. Any similar experiences or advice?

Suggested Topics

  • Cushings Disease

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    2
    0 Votes
    2 Posts
    649 Views
    B
    Yes, my Naomi had Cushing’s. You will need to work with your veterinarian for the best treatment. Lysodren was the first drug we tried. Trilostane was the drug that really worked for her. She regained her muscle tone and she strength and brightened back up. She did very well. She had her ACTH tested regularly, sitting quietly and patiently in the waiting room with me as she never liked the kennels at the veterinarian’s and threw unending basenji fits. I do remember the first signs of Cushing’s. Naomi’s tail developed a strange kink. None of the veterinarians in the practice could find anything wrong with her tail. She was otherwise healthy and bright. Next, she dropped a bar in agility. She never touched a jump before that, and could of course, jump much higher than her designated jump height. It did take a while for her to get to the point where she could be diagnosed. Naomi fought inflammatory bowel syndrome for a good part of her life. She often had bad tummy days. We did the best we could to keep her comfortable and happy. In the end, a tumor was detected in her bowel, and we made the difficult decision to euthanize. I don’t know how long she would have lived on the Trilostane protocol. She was a darling, beautiful little dog, and I miss her greatly. I do wish you the greatest of luck with your baby, and pray that your sweet pup and you have many, happy, healthy years ahead of you.
  • 0 Votes
    3 Posts
    2k Views
    MDSPHOTOM
    We had a Dalmatian that started having these issues at the same age as your B. Vestibular disease got worse causing her to lose her balance and fall when walking, loss of strength in her hindquarters and incontinence. I am not aware of any treatments for the VD, but there are a number of human treatments for strokes that might be able to be used in dogs.
  • Trouble Dog

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    22
    0 Votes
    22 Posts
    12k Views
    Buddys PalB
    @Moth: Have you ever tried an obedience class? It might be a great place to start. It sounds like your dog is space guarding. http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/resource-guarding/ was just going through some old threads, and came across this one-Moth, I like your style and advice-esp this link!
  • How dogs drink

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    5
    0 Votes
    5 Posts
    4k Views
    bewlerB
    Also - does anyone else's Basenji drink in threes? When Cody drinks he goes "lap, lap, lap, pause, Lap, lap, lap". For some reason this just cracks me up. Maybe because he's so consistent. Or maybe I need to get our more! LOL!
  • YOU Are Your Dog?s Advocate!

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    7
    0 Votes
    7 Posts
    2k Views
    S
    After the first few years of shots, I do the titers…no more shots except rabies by law Otherwise, they don't get them.
  • Bumpy dogs?

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    6
    0 Votes
    6 Posts
    2k Views
    S
    Thanks everyone! Now I'm wracking my brain trying to remember where exactly her vaccines were. She got two in one day, and I preoccupied with holding her and giving her cookies! I keep rubbing it, and if anything, it seems a bit smaller, but I will absolutely let everyone know what happens next. Cheers