We felt compelled to share our scary experience earlier this week, because we wanted to get the word out about a condition we never knew existed. Vestibular disease, aka aging brain disease. The vestibular part of the brain affects balance and can cause dizziness. This happened to our beloved Nacho and terrified us a great deal. At first, we thought might have been a seizure as this reaction was pretty severe. He was tense, shaking, excessively drooling and clearly terrified. There are many different symptoms to this condition, some scarier than others, but it’s more common than I was aware. So, we wanted to share this with our community so that you can be prepared. Our first response was to call our vet and get him into immediately to get treatment. Our vet gave him injections of Cerenia, which is an anti-nausea drug, but it helped reset his balance. We had to pick Nacho up to load him in the car, as he was so terrified he didn’t want to move and couldn’t really use his legs. This occurred early in the morning, and by the afternoon, Nacho was able to slowly walk on his own. We were so grateful for the amazing and quick actions of our vet and the compassion of the staff. Nacho is currently taking 4 days worth of Cerenia in pill form and we are still within that period. It’s unknown as to what will occur after the meds are gone and have worn off, but our vet said that with this condition, there is really no way to know if it will happen again or if his balance has been reset. Below are some articles that we read about this condition and wanted to share them with you to read as well. Our plan moving forward it to give him Dasaquin supplement, to aid in cognitive function and to help with his old aching joints, we will also be switching him to a raw diet to provide him with higher quality protein and whole foods than what pet food manufacturers provide and we will slowly reintroduce exercise. Our vet said a good preventative is to not let him overexert himself, as blood pressure issues are a concern. We will continue to blog about the transition to raw, as well as updates on his recovery.
Paws Out!
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/vestibular-disease-in-dogs