Vestibular Disease in Dogs

                                                    "Ralphy" with old dog vestibular disease

The Vestibular System is part of the neurological system that is responsible for perceiving your body's orientation relative to the earth.  Basically the vestibular system determines if you are upside down, standing up, falling etc.  When this system is disrupted you won't know which way is up, whether or not you are standing up straight or slanted, and you'll feel dizzy.  Its like being on a constant roller coaster.
People often confuse/mistake vestibular disease with seizures or strokes.

The symptoms of vestibular disease are:
1.  Motion sickness
2.  Nystagmus-rapid eye movement---- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeXT0Sss0Hg
3.  Circling
4.  Head tilt (like Ralphy in the picture above) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqwW81CpUwE&feature=related
5.  Falling to one side
6.  Stumbling/staggering- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1YNspRvdPE

The causes of vestibular disease are:
1.  Middle ear infection
2.  Brain lesion
3.  Unknown/idiopathic-Old Dog Vestibular Disease (what Ralphy in picture above suffered from)

In Ralphy's case he presented to our hospital with a sudden onset of staggering and falling onto his left side.  Within hours he was unable to walk and had rapid eye movement.  We diagnosed him with Old Dog Vestibular Disease and treated him for motion sickness.  Each day he progressively got better.  He is now walking but still has his head tilt (head tilts can persist up to 6 months and sometimes can even be permanent).  Below is Ralphy resting comfortably.  :)

                                                          
                                                        

Dr. Kim Simons
West Boca Veterinary Center
www.westbocavet.com

First FDA approved oral NSAID for cats

I am happy to announce that the FDA has finally licensed/labelled an oral NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory) for the use in CATS!!!
This is exciting news and the first of its kind in feline medicine.  For far too long, cats haven't had all the medicinal options as we have had for dogs.
This new drug is called Onsior (robenacoxib).  This drug is the equivalent to Rimadyl, Deramaxx, Previcox, or Meloxicam in dogs.  I am hoping this opens the door for more options for our feline friends when it comes to improving their quality of life and quality of medical care.

Dr. Kim Simons
West Boca Veterinary Center
www.westbocavet.com

Dog Ate What Foreign Object????

Dogs are notoriously known to eat just about anything.  In the past ten years of practice our hospital has removed corn cobs, underwear, Christmas ornaments...you name it. 
It is very important that owners "puppy proof" their homes in order to protect your pets from this dangerous problem. 

Below is a story about "Lena", a 6 year old mixed breed dog who we discovered ate a "linear foreign body".

"Lena" presented to our hospital with a history of lack of appetite and vomiting of 3 days duration.  In addition, when she drank water, she would vomit it right back up.  This are typical symptoms of a pet that has an obstruction or blockage from a foreign object. 
To help prove an obstruction x-rays were taken after a number of small x-ray visible beads were given to her to eat.  As you see below none of the beads move out of the stomach supporting the diagnosis of an obstruction.  (The dark areas behind the beads are intestines that are dilated and full of gas further supporting the diagnosis of obstruction.)

It was time for an exploratory surgery to find and remove the foreign object(s) from Lena's gastrointestinal tract.  Once in surgery we found a linear foreign object that was stuck and tangled in her stomach and went all the way down into her small intestines.  An incision into her stomach and two incisions into her intestines made it possible for us to remove the foreign object!!!

To this day, we do not know exactly what the object is, it appears to be a linear fabric like entity......
Lena is recovering nicely and feeling much better!!!

Kim Simons DVM

If you have any questions about this information or your pet, please give our office a call.
561-451-8838

West Boca Veterinary Center
www.westbocavet.com