Anyone have experience with Vestibular Disease? Or ear infections accompanied by wobblng / eye problems?

A few weeks ago, we brought Brinkley to Dr. Gurtman for immunizations and because he was scratching and biting himself terribly. Pulling the hair out of his tail and back legs. We put him on prednisone for a week, and he seemed better.

2 nights ago, I noticed he was unsteady on his feet. At one point, he was standing still but was swaying around, like he was drunk. I checked his paw pads for injury, his pupils and gums, no problems, no limping or favoring any one leg. We took him to Dr. Gurtman yesterday, he did a physical exam and looked at his eyes and didn't find evidence of hip/back/neurological problems. We decided to see if it was a fluke, since he seemed better in the morning and at the office.

Last night was ear cleaning night, which we do every 3 weeks. Ginger is the dirty ear girl, she's always got minor schmutz going on in there, but Brinkley is usually squeaky clean. Not this time. One of Brinkley's ears was filthy. He hasn't been shaking his head at all and although he had been scratching a few weeks before, it was never at his ears.

It hit me that this could be the reason for the equilibrium problem, so I started to feel a lot better as I was cleaning. But when I finished, that's when I noticed his eyes. They were sliding to the side and then snapping back to center. Again, it reminded me of a drunk person.

I shot an email to Dr. Gurtman and did a ton of googling. Found a lot of references that this could be due to the ear infection, felt better, and then decided to wait for our Doctor's email instead of rushing him to an emergency vet. Went to sleep right after, was exhausted.

I got Dr. Gurtman's email this morning (that he sent last night, right after I had gone to sleep because he's that awesome) and he said it's Idiopathic Vestibular Disease. It's usually seen in much older dogs but is common, and not as bad as it sounds. There could be multiple causes.

I'm taking the day off of work to go back in with him, and then to keep him calm at home. I can't look at him because his eyes don't stop moving and his head and body are swaying and then my eyes start welling up. He's only 4 years old and I can't help but wonder how this will affect him in the future, especially when he really gets older.

Ugh, I've got to relax. If anyone has any experience with this, can you comment? I'm putting on a brave demeanor but I'm dying inside.

Re: Anyone have experience with Vestibular Disease? Or ear infections accompanied by wobblng / eye problems?

YES. this happened to our old girl last year (maybe 2 years ago). She is 15 yrs old now so at the time, when she started being unsteady and acting "drunk" as you say and not eating, we thought for SURE she was on her way out. He eyes would also dart from side to side like she couldn't focus

My brother, father and I took her to the vet and I thought he would say we have to put her down but it was an ear infection (she is half beagle and has ALWAYS been prone to them). doc said that it can cause the dog to feel sea sick which is why they start walking wobbly.

she was prescribed antibiotics and other stuff to put in her ear. my dad has to clean her ears CONSTANTLY but she is still kicking, albeit very slowly!

Re: Anyone have experience with Vestibular Disease? Or ear infections accompanied by wobblng / eye problems?

That makes me feel so much better, thank you.

After talking to Dr. Gurtman in length, I agreed with him that we should look to treat the ear infection first, and watch for improvement in the next 2 to 7 days.

So I took the day off work, kept them calm and relaxed, and his symptoms are really mild today. No eye motions. It seemed to be worse at night though so I'll see what happens from now until bedtime.

We have to clean Ginger's ears on a schedule but Brinkley has been great. I guess it was his turn for ear problems.

Thanks again

Re: Anyone have experience with Vestibular Disease? Or ear infections accompanied by wobblng / eye problems?

no advvice, i hope the infection & symptoms clear up!

Re: Anyone have experience with Vestibular Disease? Or ear infections accompanied by wobblng / eye problems?

Thank you

He's almost back to normal already. Apparently, Wednesday night was the worst part, and he steadily made progress from there. He's still unsteady mostly when he's tired but the eye stuff is gone.

He got vanilla ice cream and a new Kong toy from Petco with new treats too.