# Sudden Attack of Dizziness



## Cody'sMom

My friend’s female Golden, age 14 years 10 months, had a sudden attack of dizziness and fell over Sunday evening. They took her to the vet where she remains. Her head tilts and her eyes move back and forth horizontally. She has not tried to sit or stand and has been lying down since she fell Sunday evening and has shown little or no improvement. She moves her head but does not lift it. She seems alert and did recognize my friend and her husband when they went to see her yesterday but did not wag her tail which she has always done non stop. She is eating a little and on IV fluid.

Sounds like benign paroxysmal positional vertigo/Idiopathic vestibular disease. She is on meclizine - one every 24 hours.

She is on a medicine to regulate her heart enzymes but no other health problems. Is there any hope for her? 

I appreciate any advice I can give my friend and her poor girl.
This is a pic of Kelly. She is such a sweetheart.
Connie


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## hotel4dogs

what a sweet sweet sugar face!
If it is in fact vestibular syndrome, which it sounds like, she will probably recover almost 100%.
Praying for the best for her.


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## Millie'sMom

My first golden had vestibular when she was 16 1/2. She recovered well in less than a week and was winning her Veterans class in the show ring 3 weeks later. I believe the key to recognizing vestibular is the horizontal movement of the eyes.


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## Wyatt's mommy

Millie'sMom said:


> My first golden had vestibular when she was 16 1/2. She recovered well in less than a week and was winning her Veterans class in the show ring 3 weeks later. I believe the key to recognizing vestibular is the horizontal movement of the eyes.


16 1/2? Wow!


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## Cody'sMom

Millie'sMom said:


> My first golden had vestibular when she was 16 1/2. She recovered well in less than a week and was winning her Veterans class in the show ring 3 weeks later. I believe the key to recognizing vestibular is the horizontal movement of the eyes.


Was she mobile during her week of recovering? Kelly will not move at all.


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## Dallas Gold

My Barkley had a vestibular episode and recovered in about 2 weeks. He moved, but his head tilted and he could not walk in a straight line. He also experienced symptoms like you described when he was 12 and a half. That time he collapsed a few houses from our home on a walk and didn't move. Hubby carried him home. We rushed him to the vet and the lab work and physical exam revealed a suspected hemangiosarcoma. He underwent a splenectomy and the biopsy confirmed it about a week later.


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## Sweet Girl

I don't have any advice or insight, but I just couldn't leave this thread without saying what a sweet smiley face Kelly has. I hope she is better soon.


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## Millie'sMom

Cody'sMom said:


> Was she mobile during her week of recovering? Kelly will not move at all.


She could stand, unsteadily, if we picked her up and put her on her feet. We had to carry her outside to go to the bathroom and steady her. We found her, unable to get up, on the floor in my daughters bedroom at noon on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were the worst days, by Thursday lunch she was starting to improve and Friday she was able to get around slowly on her own. The last symptom to disappear was the head tilt, and it took her about 10 days to be able to run without falling over. 

We called the vet, and she was confident that she had vestibular. She said she did not need to see her, unless something changed or she did not begin to improve in 3-4 days. 

Hopefully Kelly is showing signs of improvement.


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## Tahnee GR

Any chance they could bring her home? I'm thinking that they may have more time to work with her in terms of standing, etc. than the vet does, plus she may feel more comfortable at home. I find it very rare that they have to stay at the vet for vestibular, unless there are other, serious health conditions as well.

Almost all of the dogs I know of who have experienced this have recovered unless they had additional, serious health conditions as well.

Fingers crossed for Kelly. She has such a beautiful, smiling face!


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## Cody'sMom

Thank you, all, for your kind words. I have sent the link to this thread to my friend so she can read the responses. They have an appointment this afternoon to talk with the doctor so I will post an update when I can.


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## Jennifer1

My brother's Shar-Pei had vestibular syndrome a few years back.
I think it took almost 2 weeks to recover, but they had her at home for most of that.
I remember him saying that she didn't like to move and always had to be pressing against something-I think for a sense of balance/steadyness was how he saw it. It actually reminded him of the spinning room phenomena of after a night of too much drinking in college days where you need to keep a foot on the floor to keep the room from spinning.
I hope she gets some improvement soon.


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## murphy1

Happened to a friends dog,,,,it was a stroke.


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## Cody'sMom

Kelly will not eat, drink or respond to anybody today. She is scheduled to go to Physical Therapy for an hour later this afternoon (Pacific Time) which may include an evaluation and her people will be talking with the doctor.


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## Dallas Gold

I am very sorry to hear this. I hope your friend gets better news that what I am thinking (hemangiosarcoma).


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom

It's not uncommon for them to not want to move since it's an inner ear, imbalance sensation. Hard for them to know where their body is in relation to things. Also, as you can imagine, if you are dizzy and disoriented, your appetite is nil too.
If I remember right, steroids were the treatment.... and patience. I know with our Apache we had to get her up with a sling and help her move. It took her several weeks to recover, but she did with no long term effects. She lived several more quality years before she passed at just short of 15.


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## Cody'sMom

KELLY IS HOME!!!  The doctor gave her a steroid shot and PT did the “Epley Maneuver” with her body and head to try and move the inner ear crystals back in place. Her eyes are no longer shifting back and forth horizontally but her head still tilts to the left.

She drank water at PT and more when she got home and ate a few cookies AND had 3 bowel movements! She’s wearing a two handle harness and when she tries to stand they help to lift her. She’s set up on pee pads right now.

She has another PT session tomorrow morning. 

This is such good news and we think she is going to recover from this!

I will update as needed.

Thank you everyone.


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## Goldens R Great

I'm so glad to read Kelly is home! That is great news. I hope she continues to improve!

I also wanted to add I love her sweet face. She's a very pretty girl!


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom

Great news. I'm sure she'll do better at home with her family. YAY!!!


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## Sweet Girl

That is very good news. She is probably so happy to be home.


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## Cody'sMom

Kelly had another PT session today and they performed the Epley Maneuver again. She also had laser treatment on her spine yesterday. She’s eating and drinking a little more. She stood a couple times, with help using a lift harness, and peed. They carried her out on the back yard deck and she spent 20 minutes watching the younger Golden run and swim. She’s not over the hump yet, but is slowly improving and acts like she feels better and is _trying_ to stand. A third PT session is scheduled for Monday.


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## SandyK

Very glad Kelly is home!!! I hope she continues to improve!!


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## Jennifer1

Great news! Hope the improvement continues!


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## Cody'sMom

FINAL UPDATE
Kelly is 99.9% back to normal! She has been going to physical therapy 3 times a week where she gets laser and ultrasound on her spine and does the underwater treadmill 10 minutes. She is back to walking with a little help from a back end lift harness and hasn’t had to be carried to the car or her potty area for 2 days now. AND she is finally eating again. She has lost 5 pounds. We think she is over the vestibular syndrome now and going to be just fine.


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## autumn's mom

That is awesome news, thanks for all of the updates. I am glad Kelly is doing better.


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## Sheldon's Mom

Thanks for the update.
Great to hear Kelly is doing better.


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## drofen

Cody'sMom said:


> She is on a medicine to regulate her heart enzymes but no other health problems.


I'm late to the thread, and delighted to hear that she's doing so well.

This sentence in your first post caught my attention. What does this mean? I've not heard of needing to regulate heart enzymes?


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## SandyK

Great news!! Glad Kelly is better!!


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## Sweet Girl

Thanks for the wonderful update! So happy for your friend and her sweet girl.


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## Cody'sMom

drofen said:


> I'm late to the thread, and delighted to hear that she's doing so well.
> 
> This sentence in your first post caught my attention. What does this mean? I've not heard of needing to regulate heart enzymes?


I'm sorry Robert, I do not know. Kelly is not my dog, she's a friend's dog.


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## Cody'sMom

I just had to post this pawsome pic of Kelly on the underwater treadmill at physical therapy. They are waiting for the water to rise just a little more to start the treadmill. Kelly does 10 minutes of slow walking. She will be 15 July 3rd!


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## mylissyk

I'm so glad she's doing better!


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## Cody'sMom

For those of you who followed this thread: My friend’s Golden, Kelly, has gone to Rainbow Bridge. 
Kelly 1998-2013. She lived 14 years, 10 months and 26 days.

She almost recovered completely from the vestibular syndrome episode described in OP. She did very well at physical therapy and enjoyed the underwater treadmill (see previous posted pic) but was never able to walk again without the help of a back end harness.

She started declining on Monday and an abdominal ultrasound showed thickening of the stomach wall probably due to cancer and a tumor on her spleen. Her humans made the tough decision. 

Kelly was a wonderful girl and our hearts are truly saddened.


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## murphy1

Sorry to hear about Kelly, bet she's up in heaven running with my golden Kelly!!


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## Goldens R Great

I'm very sorry about Kelly. To live almost 15 years is quite something. 

Please know I'm thinking about you and Kelly's family.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom

I'm so sorry to hear this. Godspeed sweet girl.


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## Sweet Girl

I'm so sorry your friend lost Kelly. She sounds like she was a wonderful girl.


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## Judi

I had a 14 year old Golden Retriever who had Vertigo and she recovered.
She lived another year.

Last night, my approximately 15 year old Golden collapsed and couldn't get up the steps. He ate breakfast and drank water but stayed on his dog bed. I brought him to the Vet this morning and by the way, the Vet pointed out his moving eyes. She said that this is very common with the condition.He probably has Vertigo and expected to recover.


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## bemyangell

I am so sorry to hear this. Prayers are with you. Hope he recovers quick.


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## Jenangel141

My Sandy is doing the same thing. She is a 12 year old golden. Has appetite and drinks water but is weak in legs and falls over. Also has head tilted. She had this a couple months ago and it went away. I noticed it came back after a storm thunderstorm. She’s frantic with lighting.


Cody'sMom said:


> My friend’s female Golden, age 14 years 10 months, had a sudden attack of dizziness and fell over Sunday evening. They took her to the vet where she remains. Her head tilts and her eyes move back and forth horizontally. She has not tried to sit or stand and has been lying down since she fell Sunday evening and has shown little or no improvement. She moves her head but does not lift it. She seems alert and did recognize my friend and her husband when they went to see her yesterday but did not wag her tail which she has always done non stop. She is eating a little and on IV fluid.
> 
> Sounds like benign paroxysmal positional vertigo/Idiopathic vestibular disease. She is on meclizine - one every 24 hours.
> 
> She is on a medicine to regulate her heart enzymes but no other health problems. Is there any hope for her?
> 
> I appreciate any advice I can give my friend and her poor girl.
> This is a pic of Kelly. She is such a sweetheart.
> Connie


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