Vertigo Attack

Really scary episode with Nobunaga Saturday evening, he was a bit skittish in the early evening and I thought he was just getting peckish, only suddenly he collapsed on the sitting room floor, his eyes rolling wildly, his head undulating like a snake and while he kept trying to get up he was reeling like a drunk, flailing, unable to coordinate his limbs. I pulled him over onto my lap and held him, massaging his neck and spine, and then I held his eyelids shut with my palm, feeling the muscles twitching and pulsing wildly, and we rode with it as he slowly calmed down. Still holding him I called the vet (thanks to the cell phone era where things are mobile) and confirmed that it was indeed too late at night to rush him over, and that I should look for a more local emergency vet, but I felt it was better to just keep on holding him and ride it out with him. After a bit he vomited, not that there was anything in his stomach that was off, and then we simply sat together, until he staggered outside and collapsed, so I had to carry him back in again. I put a petsheet under his bum and laid him on the doggie sofa, head propped on the armrest, and he seemed relieved that he wasn't going to pee inadvertently or create a mess, and fell asleep exhausted finally. After about two hours when he woke we were all ready for bed but I gave him a bowl of veggie soup broth because he seemed a bit dehydrated, and he gulped it all down and had a second helping. And fortunately yesterday and today, he's been okay and things have settled down, so I'm keeping a close watch. I found a blog post, In a Spin about just such an episode:

Can dogs get vertigo? ...the answer is yes. In dogs, it’s called vestibular disease. ...

Vertigo (from the Latin vert(ere) = whirling or turning around) is a type of dizziness, a sense of motion when one is stationary, due to a dysfunction of the vestibular system in the inner ear. It is often associated with nausea and difficulty standing or walking.

“Vertigo is a human description of a feeling; dogs can’t tell us what they’re feeling, so vestibular disease is the term used,” says Beverly Sturges, DVM, associate professor of clinical neurology/neurosurgery at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

According to Dr. Sturges, the most frequent cases are referred to as idiopathic or “old dog” vestibular disease because it’s most often seen in older dogs and there’s no obvious cause. “It’s benign; we still have no real understanding why it occurs,” she says. “It’s self-limiting, [requiring] no treatment except supportive care and comforting the dog,” she adds. ...

That frightening eye-darting ...? It’s called nystagmus, a rapid, involuntary eye movement, side to side or, less frequently, up and down. “Nystagmus is not seen in all cases, but [it] is common,” says Dr. Sturges. “It lessens as the dog gets used to the sensation. Nystagmus can be profound in old-dog vestibular disease; a few days, or perhaps one to two weeks later, it’s almost always gone. It’s a reliable symptom: if there’s nystagmus, it’s vestibular disease and not usually a seizure. But you can see a drunken gait—ataxia—and other symptoms without nystagmus and it could still be vestibular disease.”

Nystagmus, vestibular disease, big long words, and all new to me...not new are those precious moments holding your confused and frightened suffering dog in your arms and knowing that your presence and stroking is helpful, not rushing off to DO something, but just BEING there 100% together as long as it takes to feel relieved and relaxed, accepting the flow of the moment. Chiaro di Luna must have popped by with the super moon and invited Nobunaga, but he's not going waltzing off with her just yet if I have any say in the matter...