Thursday, May 07, 2009

Wowzer, What a Night

I went to bed around 11:45 last night! Bob was up finishing a little bit of work, but ended up falling asleep in his chair (not unusual...lol). The dogs, Boomer & Chevy came to bed with me. Chevy was down by my feet & Boomer was next to me in Bob's spot. I fell asleep quickly and was sleeping soundly when I heard a loud bang that startled me out of my sleep. I noticed Boomer hunkered down next to the wall panting heavily. He looked really strange and was making no attempt to get up. I called Bob into the room & Boomer finally moves, but he really didn't have control of his body. For a few minutes he could not hold himself up. He would fall over to the right if he wasn't against a wall or being held up. When he did walk, his front legs were really far in front of him and his rear legs were really far behind him.

I called the vet, who I know will be closed, to get an emergency number. Called that number and was told to bring him in. Bob was going to try to carry Boomer, who is 80 lbs, down the stairs, but Boomer didn't like that idea and began to growl & show his teeth to Bob. I went downstairs to get his leash so we have some control of how fast & far he can get on the steps since he was starting to walk a tiny bit better by this time. Boomer decided he didn't want to wait for me to come back with the leash, escapes from Bob & goes down the stairs on his own. Instead of walking down, he fell down the entire flight. He was barely phased by the falling and just got up and walked, as best he could, to the kitchen.

We get him in the car, drive him the 40 minutes or so to the vet ER, and we he gets out of the car he is normal again! Of course! The vet did notice his head was still a bit to the right when he examined him, but by the end of the exam that was normal too.

They aren't sure what happened, but think it was a vestibular episode related to idiopathic vestibular syndrome. A disorder in older dogs -- the disorder causes stroke like symptoms. There are other things that could cause this to happen as well, but since it cleared up so quickly they think this is likely what happened. According to the vet, he may never have one again or it could be recurring.

I spoke to our regular vet this morning. She & the vet he saw last don't think any other blood work is necessary at this point since he just had a complete check a few weeks ago. Neither of them thought anything they would be looking for now would change that quickly in such a short period of time. We are just supposed to keep & eye on him and if it happens again we need to bring him in immediately. If it does happen again, then we will go from there.

I am crossing my fingers, hoping, praying, etc. that it never happens again. That was one of the scariest things I have seen in my life.

4 comments:

carolynn said...

That would have freaked me out, too! Is there a chance his new meds caused it?

Penny said...

That was the first thing I wondered and asked. They don't believe so since it cleared up so quickly. From what I have read, all his symptoms were classic peripheral vestibular syndrome. Most dogs who have one episode won't have one again. We are hoping that is the case with Boomer.

carolynn said...

poor baby :(

This Eclectic Life said...

Girl! That is a frightening experience. I hate it when pets get sick, since they can't verbalize "where" it hurts! I hope that Boomer had a one time episode!