Dog had a stroke - anyone have experience with this?

[6789g]

My 11 year old dog had a stroke during a surgical procedure. We were initially told we may need to PTS, but the vet spoke to a neurologist/specialist who advised him that our dog would likely made a full recovery within a few weeks.

It's been just over 2 weeks now since the stroke and 1 week since she came home from the vets and she has made lots of improvements - she has gone from needing a sling to walk to now being able to walk independently. She is still walking in circles but they are larger circles and she has instances of walking straight. She can roll over from her weak (left) side. She still bumps into things though and shows no awareness of her left side.

But she just lies in her bed all day, she shows no interest in her toys or food. She has still eaten everyday but in the last few days it has taken a lot of convincing. She's been offered treats and chicken and refused it which is very unlike her. She doesn't wag her tail anymore, barely looks up when someone walks into the room or knocks on the door.

I'm not sure if she's just having a minor setback, or whether she's on a downward trajectory and this is it for her and the specialist vet was wrong? Does anyone have any advice?

So sorry to read about your poorly dog.

I foster dogs for a local rescue as well as having my own. I have had two dogs who have had strokes whilst in front of me and been able to get them to a vet within half an hour of it happening. Each time the dog was PTS as it was suffering.

I have nursed poorly dogs who have come to us in a terrible state. It is exhausting. People don't realise this until they have to do it themselves. Your dog's quality of life has lessened. You love your dog and would get no judgement from me if you made the difficult decision to PTS.

I hope someone else has a lovely story of their dog bouncing back to balance my view but sadly that has not been my experience yet.

I am sorry this has happened, unfortunately you know deep down what needs to happen next, a dog that no longer wags its tail is truly suffering and I think you need to do the brave, kind thing and have him PTS

My Dad's then 14 or 15 year old dog did. Pre stroke he played a lot (for an already quite elderly dog) post stroke he played a little (maybe a month later or so). Pre stroke he only ate kibble. Post stroke he couldn't control his mouth so the kibble fell out - he ate 1lb of sausages a day cut into chunks. His drinking got very messy, and he was a little lopsided.

He definitely got older faster, slept a lot more etc but seemed happy and still absolutely loved water and showers. He died in his sleep a couple of years later.

For the first month or so post stroke my Mum thought he needed to be PTS but my Dad refused, but after that he bounced back a lot (it probably helped that they discovered the sausage diet) and no more such discussions were had.

Post stroke he bumped into things, and he definitely got clingier to my Dad, but after a month or so the tail wagging resumed and, the delight if you told him it was shower time. Instead of lying in his bed in the kitchen (as he did immediately post stroke) he resumed lying on the floor by my Dad's feet.

For reasons that aren't understood he stopped sleeping on the floor of their bedroom and started sleeping in his dog bed outside their bedroom door (his choice). Oh, it took him a while to master the stairs again, but he did. That took a couple of months, he slept downstairs on his own for a while.

My dog had a stroke when she had kennel cough. She was paralysed and we had her PTS

My brothers dog had this happen spontaneously. Vet recommended having her PTS but sister in law nursed her for two weeks, even having to massage bladder to get her to pee. She had no use of back legs. She did gradually recover ( 11 year old cavachon) and is now back to normal more or less.

Brain injuries can take a long time to settle and to see what recovery is possible. Given you decided not to PTS at the time, and there had been considerable improvement, I'd give it more time before making the decision. If in a couple of months time he is still miserable, you know you've given it a good shot.

If it were a human, you wouldn't be expecting much after 2 weeks. Animals often bounce back quicker, but it's still very much the post operative period.

Our 13 yr old lovely boy had to be PTS after a stroke during the night last November . He had had a TIA a couple of years previously which was found to be due to high blood pressure and had been on 2 different blood pressure tablets since . When he had his TIA a he couldn’t walk for a few days and was knuckling on a couple of legs but he did improve fairly quickly but we never managed to get him back to anywhere near his previous fitness level , presumably because when you are elderly these things really knock you . I’m so sorry that you are going through this 💐

We had a cat who had a stroke under anaesthetic. She had to relearn how to walk and eat; her muscle tone and coordination were gone and we had to mash her food to a paste and put it into her mouth for her for a couple of weeks. She was eventually able to eat, drink, walk around and use the litterbox independantly, but it took a long time. The vet thought she was blind afterwards but we weren't sure; yes, she walked into things (less so with time), but if you blinked at her, she'd blink back. It was odd.

We persevered because she was fairly functional and seemed to enjoy some things. She had always adored my husband, and would still follow him around asking for cuddles, and would purr when she got them. She couldn't jump and more, but on a sunny day, she'd find herself a patch of sunshine on the floor, curl up in it and purr. She loved a snack of a bit of ham, though you had to put it in her mouth for her, because she couldn't work out how to pick it up. We needed to brush her more because she couldn't manage her coat herself, but she loved being brushed so that didn't bother her.

It's all about quality of life, really; if the animal is happy and can function fairly undependently, leave them be. If there's no joy left, I think it's kinder to let them go. But it does take a long time to know which way it's going to be.

Sensible advice. I helped care for a dog post-stroke last year. He bounced back fairly quickly (2-3 weeks) in most respects but remained lopsided-sided and more subdued than he had been before. But his quality of life was still good. I would re-evaluate after a month rather than rushing decisions now.

our cocker had a stroke and we gave him a week to recover - in hindsight now we were desperate hoping he would but he never did and now I think we should have made the choice sooner. He wasn’t able to walk at all and just had zero quality of life. It was a horrible time, you have my sympathies. I would ask yourself one question and that is about her quality of life - you know what ‘good’ is for her, is she still able to have that in some ways? This is the question I ask myself; and if the answer is no, I know that the hard choice I am making is not a choice- it’s the kind and loving option we have to take when there’s no choice left. I don’t see it as a choice to make per se because I have realised that often when you find yourself in that position, there’s no choice left to make. Remember if it is the end, what a wonderful life she has had with you, and a kind end with love and the least suffering. Lots of love to you xxxx

i will add that out cocker was much worse than your dog by what you’ve said. xx

This happened to our dog who was very elderly at the time. He wasn’t getting much better and was going in circles and seemed unsteady, so I think we gave him a small dose of some human tablets either for sea sickness , maybe Stugeron or something for inner ear problems like vertigo (as we thought we were going to have to have him PTS anyway so thought it was worth a try). Might be worth trying? Remember what they refer to as a stroke in a dog is not the same as a human stroke at all.

My Labrador had a stroke when she was 12. She couldn't get to her feet without help and was walking in circles. I got her to the vet within a hour. He diagnosed the stroke and warned me it was fairly likely another stroke would follow but felt there was still a chance and she wasn't suffering. She was put on blood thinners and did recover quite quickly. She was well for another 4 years. I lost her when she was 16. It broke my heart. She was a very special girl.

It sounds like your dog had vestibular disease which is different to an actual stroke . A stroke in a dog is caused by the same things as a stroke in a human and likewise some can be serious with limited recovery and some can be mild .