12 Days Post Vestibular Diagnosis

It has been 12 days since Addie was diagnosed with Vestibular Disease. She has improved greatly. Her head tilt is less (though still existent), and she is stronger, more confident walking. She actually jogged a little when we let her out this morning. OK, just for a short distance, but she still had a little pep in her step. She still can't turn around very tightly and falls occasionally, but is getting better. Stairs are no longer her nemesis.

The one thing that is bothering me though is her lack of eating. She was a very strong eater previously - would eat without question. Now, it is a fight to get her to eat. Over the past few days, we have to take one meal and spread it out over 2 or 3 sittings. This morning, it looked like she was hungry (she was drooling as she waited), but only took 2-3 bites before she walked away. I tried to hand feed her, but she only took about 2 of those. We did add the Neoplasene back into her food on Sunday. So not sure if that is the issue or not. As mentioned, she used to eat her Neo-food without question.

We are going to get her a raised bowl stand later today to see if that helps. We have read that having their food on the floor can make them nauseous. We have tried putting her bowl on a box, but that seems to freak her out, so hopefully the stand will work. I really hope she does not become a finicky eater with her recovery. I know the neoplasene is horrible tasting but we were very spoiled by her apparent liking of it in the first two years.

Addie Update

Unfortunately, I had to be out of town for a few days and was not able to help Rob take care of Addie. But he did a great job getting her to eat, stopping the diarrhea, and keeping her safe from running into furniture and falling down stairs.

I am amazed how much better she is today than she was on Saturday. She is eating her full amount of food (since it is still hard for her to navigate her head into the bowl we are holding it up for her). Her bowel also seems to have returned to normal. Although very wobbly, she is walking on her own and managing stairs (we are right there to catch her as needed). She even decided to friskily walk down to the neighbors this morning as she used to do every morning prior to the onset of the vestibular disease. She is wagging her tail and not sleeping as much.

She still has the head tilt though. I've read that this may not go away. We are hoping that by massaging her neck and shoulders (which does seem to help) that it will eventually get better.

Our main vet has retired but his replacement was very helpful to Rob in the first few days trying to figure out how to clear up the diarrhea and any interference issues with the Neoplasene. Our holistic vet was out sick, so she even called Dr. Fox (the creator of Neoplasene) to see if she could do any more. We took her off of the Neoplasene to help her digestive tract heal. We will resume giving it to her at the end of this coming weekend. We aren't very worried about her being off of it since her chest x-rays came back so clean during the emergency visit last Friday night.

She is amazing in how she keeps fighting whatever is thrown at her. She is quite the inspiration.

Setback

The day after our last post Addie experienced a frightening episode. Friday evening right before bedtime, Addie was not able to stand up, her eyes were twitching back and forth horizontally, and her head was tilted in an odd fashion. Our first thought was a seizure possibly caused by a cancerous tumor that had spread to her brain.

We scrambled to get her to the emergency vet some 30-40 minutes away. Once we were there they examined her and told us there was a very good chance that she had experienced canine vestibular syndrome. The cause behind this syndrome is unknown. The only thing the emergency vet could tell us was that the symptoms were consistent with Addie's symptoms and that there was a very good chance she would recover from this episode although maybe not fully.

Since Friday night the eye twitching symptom is almost gone and she is able to walk on her own although she is quite wobbly. Her appetite has not returned (we have read that many dogs refuse to eat because the extreme vertigo they experience makes them very nauseous). So far she has eaten about half of what she would normally eat in a given day. We had to administer water with a syringe the first day but she has begun to drink on her own again.

We are not out of the woods yet. There is still a possibility of a tumor or (even less likely) that she suffered from a stroke. If her recovery does not continue we will take her back for more examination.

She has not been able to sleep very peacefully for the past two nights but this could be because she has had stomach and diarrhea issues since Saturday afternoon. We have given her a small amount of bismuth subsalicylate (pepto bismol tablet) which has seemed to help and has hardened her stool somewhat. She is sleeping here in my office on her side which she has not been able to do since the episode.

One good thing to report: the emergency vet was briefed on the hemangiosarcoma and our holistic approach to her care. Typically, a chest x-ray would not have been considered but the vet recommended we do so due to the cancer history. The x-rays came back negative. Her internal organs look clear - especially her lungs. This means that cancer is even less likely the culprit.

More to come as things develop.

2 Year Anniversary Post Diagnosis!!

Addie and Finigan waiting on Addie's Anniversary special treat

Addie enjoying a ride in the country

A beautiful summer hike through the flowers

Camping trip with Pikes Peak as a backdrop

When this past July 15 was finished, Addie had managed to live 24 months beyond the date she was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. Not too bad given that she was not expected to make it past the 4-8 week time frame.

How much more we can expect from our 12-1/2 year old baby is unknown but we are thankful for every day she stays with us.

The remarkable thing is that over the summer she has not had any issues. She has been active, playful, and warm paws all around.

Happy Anniversary Addie!