Ray has been experiencing idiopathic vestibular episodes again, similar to what he went through prior to his amputation surgery last August. I’m not greatly concerned, but we are certainly watching for increased frequency and/or other changes.
On April 19, he had a terrible episode while in my office. Was laying near my chair and looked like he wanted to get up but couldn’t for some reason. A look of confusion passed over his face and he stared at his legs like “why aren’t you working?” His head started going back and forth slowly, and then his whole body started flopping and rolling. All the while, his eyes darted back and forth, side to side. I tried to move him to the middle of the room to avoid hurting himself but it was a challenge. I screamed for my husband who ran in and literally threw himself on top of Ray to minimize the rolling. After what seemed like an eternity but was just a couple of minutes, he stopped rolling and was wobbly but pretty much ok. All other symptoms stopped. We rushed him up to the vet. All tests (blood, urine, etc.) came back normal.
Then last night, we were all watching TV in the living room and I noticed that look of confusion pass over Ray’s face again. Then the back-and-forth head sway started. I alerted my husband immediately and we surrounded Ray, holding him. I called his name cheerfully over and over (“It’s ok Ray! Mommy and Daddy are here!”) trying to get him to focus. This really seemed to help as he kept turning and looking at me as I spoke. He had the darting eyes and was trembling quite a bit but didn’t roll or flop. Again, it passed quickly and he was completely fine within a few minutes. Panting heavily but no residual symptoms.
So, I’ve had these experiences (what vets call “geriatric vestibular syndrome episodes”) before with my older dogs, but not quite like this. I’ve also seen seizures in dogs, and this isn’t like that either. Usually, in both cases, dogs have lingering effects. Ray does not. Vestibular episodes don’t usually reoccur, but Ray’s have, although minor. I’m not sure if we should try to have an MRI performed on him or not. Seems excessive at this point, especially since the vet didn’t find anything in April. I just wish I knew what was causing this. I’m going to clean his ears and hope it’s something as simple as that, since ears can affect balance.
I would welcome any thoughts or advice!