Please help, what are the vets & hospital not seeing?

[Kneesbendarmstretchrarara]

I’ve crying non-stop for 3 days, not slept, it came on literally with a click of the fingers. No unusual walks or anything else to speak of.

Gone from loving tug o’war with squeeky toys, thinking everyone that comes to the house is here for him (& making it known!) , wanting his Kong daily, jumping on the sofa to the following:

Wobbling, unsteady, every time he tries to walk no matter how little the distance, even just from one room to the next

Right foot constantly ‘going under/back on itself’ and on 1 occasion it was stretched straight off the ground and he couldn’t flex it or put it down

Both front legs crossing over each other in attempting to walk

Collapsing, his right leg can’t hold him, his left doesn’t balance him out so he falls forward onto his face/top of his head. Terrifying to see.

Can get up onto my bed to a degree with a real struggle but needs human help to get down

Unbalanced on rear legs 50% of the time

Am beyond desperate and sad. Couldn’t go to work today as he can’t be left for his own safety. 7 year old Dalmatian with no history at all.

Vets & specialist hospital are stumped, even after £7k’s worth of investigations. Only thing showing up is significant inflammation somewhere but arthritis has been ruled out.

Only (& last) option now is MRI on brain, but in the meantime I’m wondering if there’s anything they could have missed. They’ve ultrasounded all internal organs, x-rayed his legs & neck, MRI’d his spine, taken fluids from all joints. Nothing muscular and nothing neuro related apparently.

I just need some words & a handhold. My heart is collapsing with him.

Apparently (talking to DH who was less of a sobbing mess than I was) the head tilt is the major clue, the sickness is usually due to the visual disturbance leading to dizziness, which can pass off naturally while leaving the other symptoms.

Unmumsnetty ((((hugs)))) for you, and everything crossed for you and your lovely boy

From googling I think it was called vestibular disease. Could be worth a suggestion if it's not already been ruled out.

Yes, dizzy, that’s the word maybe that could be used to describe it. He’s fine when sitting, albeit leaning to the right a little.

Am off to look into the vestibular you mentiom...thankyou.

There is a vestibular group on Facebook who are super knowledgeable.

Righteeho, so, I mentioned to the specialist at lunchtime today when I sent the videos of him falling, that he yelped when I touched his right ear. That inner ear infection may well be it.

In the meantime I really need to try & get some sleep. He & I spooned last night...true love.

My poor DH!

Has he had any ticks? I know there is an illness called tick paralysis that can cause similar symptoms.

The leaning when sitting - my boy did that, also when standing before he lost balance. Really, really hope its something like that or an inner ear infection OP.

All appendages crossed for you. Sleep as well as you can, know how hard it is.

stayathomegardener will check out fb group, thanks for recommending.

My eyes are stinging too much for me to close them.

I’ll have a look for a relevant FB page too, I forgot to thank you for that idea.

Thankyou for ideas and suggestions and good thoughts. Need to ‘ride this wave’ as they say, put my big girl pants on & be brave for my baby.

Damp your eyes with cool water and towel pat dry lass. Sleep now and be strong for your boy tomorrow. I hope one of these suggestions is the one. Hugs and a handhold.

Thankyou. Slept a little.
Must keep busy today. My heart fractures when I go in the lounge as his favourite beanbag is there, we had snuggles on the spare bed yesterday before the emergency hospital admission and my pillow & duvet were still there. His water bowls are here, there and everywhere.

His toys are strewn all over the place, it’s definitely ‘his’ home!

Must keep busy.

Must keep busy.

I assume the fact that you say there is some inflammation somewhere he has an elevated CRp. I would also assume you are in the UK so certain conditions are ruled out such as tick paralysis as ticks in the uk do not carry that disease.
MRI of spine rules out wobbler syndrome and IVDD.
The brain MRI is what you need, usually vestibular disease is accompanied by flicking of the eyes ( nystagmus) so there are usually signs that give an indication of that. There are a whole host of autoimmune neurological conditions that are a possibility.

I am watching this with interest as our 4 year old Poodle mix is currently in the emergency vet in Sydney, under specialist care, with symptoms not dissimilar to this.

She was fine on Friday. By Sunday, she wouldn't jump on the bed or in the car, and by Wednesday she wouldn't walk up our four internal stairs. She is inexplicably exhausted, too.

Botulism has been tentatively ruled out for ours. They've said that while there is speculation around chicken necks, chicken wings etc. our girl is not presenting the symptoms they would expect to see with that.

Even the specialist vets are mystified by her, as all of her preliminary scans, blood tests, eye tests etc. have turned up perfect. She seems happy enough within herself, but has seemingly lost stability in her legs and is exhausted.

We are on day 4 without her home now, and we wait by the phone all day hoping to hear some word of improvement, but so far she has just plateaued.

They have discussed the possibility of the following:

• Tick
• Poisoning from chicken or from something she scavenged on her walk
• Trauma, possibly from hitting her head against something
• Snake bite (ruled this one out, as it would've worked its way out of her system now)
• Spinal inflammation

She is now on pain medication to see whether that has any impact on her ability to navigate the stairs.

Thoughts are with you, OP. It's just devastating not having them with you.

Buffy could it have been vestibular disease?

X-posted, it's so awful when they're ill like this, I hope everything gets sorted out and your dog recovers. Take care.

Could it be tetanus? Our dog had it and it wasn't until her normally floppy ears stood up erect that the vets realised what it was. She was vaccinated but somehow still got it and fully recovered!

Lots of sympathy to both of you with very unwell dogs. It's so horrible when they are unwell and no one even knows why. Our dog became terribly unstable, dragging his front feet and keeling over when he tried to pee (looked very similar to the symptoms of wobblers disease). Was sent by our lovely vet to a specialist animal hospital and seen by the neurology team. MRI showed a growth inside his spine in his neck which the surgeon thought might be an aggressive cancer. So we agreed to have it biopsied with the understanding that if it was cancer they wouldn't bring him back round. So we said goodbye to him and drove home in a terrible state. A very happy surgeon rang us later that night to say it was a cyst and he had drained it, and dear dog made a full recovery.

Hope your stories are similarly happy.

So many knowledgable posters on here. Nothing to add - just wanted to add my support and best wishes

I don't have anything to add on what might be wrong but really hope he starts to get better soon and is back with you. It's heartbreaking when they are ill

Hope you are both doing better today

Oh darling, Kneesbend .

Wishing and praying for your lovely pup. He sounds like the bestest baby boy in the world.

I just wanted to let you know that myself and thousands upon thousands of other people totally get it . Your boy is a loved member of your family, a fur baby and I can tell by your posts just how distraught you are that he is so poorly.

He is so incredibly lucky to have you for his human mum. He clearly loves and adores you so.

I hope, with every part of me, he is returned to you safe and sound, fully recovered and very very soon.

I’m here x

Botulism has been ruled out. I was absolutely convinced we were onto something with the Vestibular but his eyes are ok.

Lonecat - sorry to hear of your situation. We have been giving him Metacam for a possible inflamed disc but the issues now are so different & new. I hope your stairs are being used x

Monsters - Cancer and tumours have been ruled out. No growths, no lumps, no cysts. They’re really stuck with this one. Glad to hear your news.

Thankyou for your words. Just seeing the kindness of people is amazing.

No news of him today as such, his condition hasn’t changed.

I was having a great day until 30 minutes ago when my friend out of absolutely nowhere chose to volunteer information that 2 of her friend this week have lost their dogs through ill-health 😢

They say these things happen in threes so that’s me off into a state again. I was doing so well today, I’d even put his water bowl away in a cupboard.

Thankyou Sirlee. X-posted. You have all been so so kind & open. Your right. My fur-baby. I always know what he’s after by his body language, the way he looks at me a certain way.

I miss his clumsiness. I miss his daftness...that wall was always there and always will be! I miss tripping over him. I miss his eyes looking at me for biscuits. I miss him treading on my foot and going bonkers at the post falling onto the floor.

I miss his smell

I have asked to work overtime on Monday & they have agreed to it. I’ve been there for 24 years, since I was in my teens they know me very well and look after me.

Must keep busy.

Must keep busy.

We had a 6 year old black lab who went from one extreme to the other in a matter of weeks... firstly diagnosed with epilepsy. Turned out it was a brain tumour 😢. He had a brain scan and some brain fluid drained for testing for brain inflammation. In the couple of days before we had the results he deteriorated to the point where we felt we had no choice. Two days later the test results confirmed we had done the right thing 😢😢😢

Oh kneesbend I'm sorry, was hoping so much for you that it would be vestibular. Does anyone more knowledgeable know how long the eye twitching usually lasts? Is it possible it could have worn off by now, or does it stay unless treated? Murphs lessened over 2 - 3 days, but perhaps it was due to something they gave him. I only recall the anti sickness treatment, but I was a big blubbering mess at the time

Stay as strong as you can lovely, we're all here hoping with you.