Why is my Elderly Dog Dizzy?
Hi Dr. Barchas,
I have a 12-year-old Bichon. Over the weekend he
was tilting his head to the side and walking
strange. He continued to eat and drink however
and didn’t act like he was any pain.
By Monday, he was pretty much back to normal and
now on Wednesday he’s fine. He’s also blind.
Could he have had a mini stroke? Could you help
me with this?
Thanks,
Jan
I suspect your dog suffered from an episode of a syndrome with a politically incorrect name: old dog vestibular syndrome.
Perhaps some day the condition will be called elderly dog vestibular syndrome or senior citizen dog vestibular syndrome.
Old/elderly/senior citizen dog vestibular syndrome is poorly understood but it is common. The affected dog generally goes to bed in a normal state. It wakes up dizzy. In mild cases, dogs tilt their heads to the side and stagger a bit. Severe cases cause dogs to be unable to stand, walk, eat or drink. Some dogs writhe in circles on the ground as they try to gain their balance.
Experts have offered many theories on the cause of old dog vestibular syndrome. None has been proved (or disproved) conclusively.
One feature of the syndrome is very consistent and very important to remember: almost all dogs recover from old dog vestibular syndrome within a few days. I recommend that any elderly dog who suffers from sudden dizziness be nursed for at least two days–most of them will improve within that time.
Strokes are very rare in dogs, but they can cause symptoms identical to old dog vestibular syndrome. Poisoning, brain tumors, meningitis, and trauma also can mimic the syndrome.
However, when a 12-year-old Bichon suffers a temporary bout of dizziness, old dog vestibular syndrome is the most likely diagnosis.
You have questions. 
I found this very interesting as I had no idea what was going on with our neighbors dog. It happened to him out in the yard a couple of times and they said he recovered after a short period of time also. He had one that lasted quite awhile so they thought he was having strokes and took him in to be put to sleep. The dog was 10 years old so they figured he was suffering. On good days he still played with the kids, but they never had it diagnosed what a shame.
Our 8 1/2 yr old dog was diagnosed with idiopathic vestibular syndrome. His symptoms progressed more slowly than what is typical for the idiopathic version yet an MRI, spinal tap, and various other tests revealed no other cause. He went from being “wide open” hyper to wanting to stay in the house and sleep. It started a few days after we suspected a run-in with a beaver (we thought possible tail slap, and it was obvious he had gone under water completely) – the neurologist felt it was unrelated. He went from a couple of small stumbles, to left side facial paralysis, then to right side, to full on vertigo, not eating, and sleeping a lot. It was scary! While most dogs recover completely we were told, he has not completely recovered. His face is still paralyzed and still has the vertigo & nystagmus. He has adjusted greatly though which to most people makes him look almost normal. He’s learned to contain the drool a little (or shake his head and fling on everything else!), and he has adjusted to the vertigo, rather than really recovered from it. The doctor feels at this point this may be as good as he gets. Otherwise he’s back to his happy, hyper self, and he is eating about as good as he was before, and that’s the important thing. We are adjusting to a new normal and his 4 canine siblings really have seemed to understand something was going on with him this whole time.
8-9 yellow lab started collapsing after she would get excited or stressed. Recovery well within 30-60 seconds though. Have you ever heard of this illness?
While Vestibular syndrome is the most common cause for these clinical signs, it could have also been caused by some sort of vascular event (i.e stroke). Most animal luckily recover from these events with little to no treatment. Some of the clinical signs may stay present indefinitely though.
My yellow lab at age 8, also collapsed when she was stressed. I was on vacation for 10 days and when I can home she was so happy and then collapsed. I thought she was having some type of seizure or an epilepsy attack. She also had the signs of old dog syndrome. My vet told me about it and I couldn’t believe my ears. She had about 4 cases of the syndrome. The 4th time her head stayed at a slight tilt. She wasn’t in paid and lived to be 15 1/2 years old. This is the first time I heard others talk about this. Thanks much.