Hi,
My collie x lab is 13.5 and apart from slightly stiff legs after a walk has no other health issues.
She had a funny turn anout 6 months ago which lasted no longer than 5 minutes which we put down to vestibular disease. (She hates the vets with a passion so as she recovered so quickly we didn't take her!)
However, we got home from my son's football match yesterday afternoon and she was all over the place. Very disorientated, falling over, eyes shaking. She calmed down a lot once we sat with her and seemed much better (albeit wobbly legged) but around 10pm last night started really struggling and panting.
I took her to the emergency vet who confirmed vestibular disease. They said they would normally keep her in but she is such a mess in the vets they decided not to! She had an anti sickness jab and has tablets. They said if it happens more than once it's normally an underlying issue. We don't want to put her through tests at her age.
Has anyone got any experience of how long it may take to recover (if at all) I am in pieces watching her. I don't want to see her suffer and we will have her pts if no improvement but I don't want to jump the gun seeing as normally she is so well.
Thanks in advance.

I understand your situation re her not being good with vets, BUT before you make any decision as to her future (pts) I'd be seeing my normal vet and if he wants to do some testing, let it happen.   If you don't and go for euth. you may live to regret not doing all you could for her, from a full diagnosis, to any treatment that might be available.   Note this can be down to an inner ear infection (simplest possibility).   And that should be 'easily' sorted out.

Wishing you well as the oldies are so precious.

https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/vestibular-disease-in-dogs

Thank you. The vet did check as much as she could last night including temperature etc.
She had to be sedated in the boot of the car last time she visited the vets (she got attacked and needed an op) so it's so traumatic for her.
We would definitely get them to double check her ears when we go back but I don't know if we could put her through scans, bloods etc.  It's so hard.

> Has anyone got any experience of how long it may take to recover (if at all)

Sadly I've never known anyone with a dog having this disease, make a recovery. 

My BC boy was diagnosed in January this year.  I lost him in March.  He was the same age as your girl.  I miss him every day.  But you have to love them enough to let them go.

I'm so very sorry for you.

First of all, try not to worry (Easier said than done!). Vestibular 'disease' (it's not really a disease because you can't catch it) is very common in senior dogs, and the majority make a good recovery, even after several episodes. We see it a lot at work, and it's almost always recoverable. It's very worrying when it happens, and they feel really rotten - I'm told it's like severe seasickness, which is why their eyes flicker from side to side as they try to focus on the spinning world. (My vet tells me that if their eyes flicker up and down there's possibly an underlying issue.) Anti-nausea drugs help a lot in the recovery period, which can take a week or two, and some dogs are left with a head-tilt which they very quickly adapt to. So don't make any major decisions just yet, but give her lots of rest and time for her body to heal. If there's no improvement in 2 weeks it'll be wise to reassess her.

My gsd suffered with this. He was around 9 possibly 10  when it first happened and frightened the life out of me.
Vet visit and we came a way with cerenia for nausea and to see how he went. He totally recovered with the slight exception of a small head tilt at times.  he had a couple of other attacks but recovered each time
Unless there is an underlying issue it can be from infection  or of no known reasons .very similar to labarythinitis in humams.

My old lab Summer had vestibular 3 times!

Just as described - distress (to the point of messing indoors which she hadn’t done since puppyhood), panting, shaking, head tilt, unable to stand or walk, eyes flicking sideways, lack of balance and co-ordination. The first time was by far the worst, the other two were easier because she didn’t panic nearly as much.

Recovery time varies a lot I think, but I do believe if you have the time and energy you can speed up recovery some. Basically the dog’s brain is getting totally wonky signals from the inner ear and the brain needs to learn how to understand this new “language”. If you provide the right combination of stimulation and rest the brain rewires itself faster.

I found it easiest to be with Summer in the garden as much possible, because she could hardly walk and it was too much for me to keep carrying her outside when she needed to wee. Luckily the weather co-operated! I also read that having the dog process visual information from natural sources like trees is more beneficial than all the unnatural straight lines indoors, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt.

She didn’t vomit but clearly felt terrible and refused food and water until I realised she was happy to crunch up ice cubes made from water I’d cooked liver in. I made a few batches of “meat water ice cubes” and that definitely helped her to regain interest in eating and drinking. Small amounts of soft mushy foods smeared on her lips so she could lick it off worked too.

I knew that getting feedback from moving her limbs would help recovery too so I tried to avoid carrying her and encouraged her to walk a little if she wanted to move (I lifted her up and down steps though). I used a towel under her chest/belly as a kind of sling to support her so she didn’t fall over but I made her use her legs (obviously only very small distances). I felt so mean but the sooner she got used to those faulty signals the sooner she’d get better.

Sleeping is also super important, so I let her sleep whenever she wanted. If she’d worked hard processing lots of visual information and walked a few feet and then had a nap for a couple of hours you could actually see a tiny bit of improvement when she woke up.

And obviously anything you can do to keep them calm helps as well. Summer liked long slow strokes, having me talk to her in a a low quiet calm voice (I read novels out loud to her), gentle massage, and licking my arms and her favourite toys. There’s tons of music designed for calming dogs on YouTube which is worth a try, and also those DAP diffusers could help.

With Summer’s first episode I think it took a little over a week to get her to the stage where she could walk unaided without falling all the time and she never really lost the head tilt, but she adapted. Second and third recoveries were much faster, probably only four or five days each.

She definitely lived a happy life afterwards and I was glad we worked through it rather than choosing to euthanise.

My 14 year old collie cross had two vestibular events earlier this year. Both times she was better after a day or two.
It was really scary and upsetting at the time, but she's fine now.

This is really reassuring. Thank you so much for replying.
I'm worried that she hasn't been to the toilet. I took her out and put a towel under her tummy to support her but she wouldn't go. :0(

I'm worried that she hasn't been to the toilet. I took her out and put a towel under her tummy to support her but she wouldn't go.

Are you sure she is getting enough water and is properly hydrated? Dogs having a vestibular attack often cannot control their head or focus on their water bowl well enough to drink. Therefor the bowl must be held under their mouth and their head held still so they can lap the water. If they still cannot lap the water syringe it into the side of their mouth in small quantities.

She has had a fair bit of water this afternoon. I have one of those dog bottles with a bowl on top and she's been drinking well from it.
I think she needs to go the toilet but hasn't got the strength to stand. But if I hold the towel she doesn't like it. She won't go to the toilet if the kids are in the garden as she doesn't like an audience!
I don't care if she pees or poos on my floor but I know she won't like it.
Thanks for replying. I appreciate all the tips and advice.

l have had vestibular disease so will add my experience. you cannot tell which way is up and nausia is vile. it is also exhausting and you have to sleep loads. the drugs help but with me had it over a week badly. noise and light and things moving  around me made it worse. for your dog try to minimise those things as it really helps

My daughters border collie had this when she was in her teens. As I remember the first attack was the worst but she started to recover within two or three days although she was left with a slight head tilt. She had other less severe attacks after this but these were not close together and she was fine in between considering her age. I think she lived happily for a couple of years after the first attack and died aged about 15 from unrelated kidney disease.

My old labrador, Ben had his first vestibular episode when he was 12 and had three more episodes before he died, aged 15 from an unrelated condition.
Like others have said the first time was the worst, but each time he recovered well, within a few days.