I have a healthy 5yr old westie bitch which at 3.30am this morning woke me up with her distressed manner  she was falling to the left and no power to her rear left leg, i phoned the vet straight away and got him to open the surgery he has examined her and thinks its a stroke.
Has gave her an injection to help and "fitergol" tablets to take, brought her home and already a lot better still un steady on her feet but has been out and did her toilet and is drinking.
the question i want to ask is, has anyone had the same happen to them and if so what was the out come? have they made a full recovery?
Any help would be appreciated

It sounds ike Vestibular disease - most dogs make a complete recovery.  Here's a good web page - http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_vestibular_disease.html

Incidentally, it's not a 'stroke' as known in humans - a bleed in the brain, but a disease of the inner ear balance mechanism.

Hi Digger,
My eldest bitch was diagnosed with Vestibular disease following a similar set of symptoms out of the blue which with meds and TLC took around 72 hours to clear all signs of.   My (then) vet was adamant that dog's don't have strokes as known in humans - but curiously she immediately developed a heart complaint

The heart complaint remained and she suffered milder symptoms of slight coughing on occasions and was treated for fluid in her chest.  Thank God she lived for a further 18 months to see her 14th birthday when she sadly succumbed to a severe stroke - as diagnosed by a different vet - and it was time to let her go.  The symptoms of the second stroke were exactly the same, only more distressing to my sweet girl, than the "vestibular" disease :(
To the OP - my dog was much, much older than yours and yet even she was able to enjoy a good quality of life following the initial stroke.  Try not to worry too much.  I've had friends in similar situations to yourself whose dogs have lived for several years after same ;)

regards, Teri      

My Golden Retriever had a mild stroke last year. She responed very well to the drugs she was given, and made a complete recovery. She is still with m e now, tottering around aged 15 yrs n a bit :D :D

Hope your little girl makes a similar recovery

liberty

Nice to hear she is still going strong :)

Lucy
xx

Thank you Digger, been and had a look at web site and it described her symptoms to a T. I already see an improvement in the last few hours, she's back on her feet and she's ate some chicken i've to take her back to the vet in 48hrs but fingers crossed she'll make a full recovery. 

Glad she is improving :)