Charlie, my elderly Goldie (he was 14 on Monday), who suffered a suspected stroke in March this year, then had his spleen removed in June (what a year so far!) has had a few funny turns over the last couple of weeks. The first was in the kitchen, when he literally fell over all of sudden as if he'd been shot, then almost immediately got up again and was fine. Then last night he did a similar thing, lost his balance (drunk-like) and his eyes were flickering, but within about 5 seconds he was OK again. While out for our lunchtime walk he fell over again, twice, eyes flickering but again, all over within a couple of seconds. I am waiting for the vet to call back but wondered if any of you had experienced anything similar. He is currently on vivitonin but is otherwise fit and active.

My Cavalier does it, 30 times a day or so, like mini fits but literally seconds only, he has a really bad heart and in his case the vet said it is because the heart fails to pump the blood well enough so not enough oxygen reaches the brain. Have you had his heart checked recently?

He had one of his regular 6 month check-ups about 2-3 months ago and all seemed fine, no history of heart problems and he regularly walks with the other, much younger dogs, although he potters while they tear around. I just wonder if the suspected stroke was a brain tumour, although he hasn't had any problems neurologically since that episode in March.

I had a black labrador that did the same thing at 14 years old.  Unfortunately lost her approx 6 months later but it was just basically old age. 

My parents have a 12 1/2 year old collie cross gsd who had a stroke about 6 months ago now he does the same sort of thing from time to time i think it could possible be the after effects of a stroke. His is usally when he is coming down the stairs so they are trying to restrict him going up unless they are with him to bring him down the stairs slowley

If his eyes are flickering I'd suspect vestibular syndrome; if so, he's likely to make a good recovery.

The symptoms you describe sound very similar to what I went through with my dog just 1 year ago. If you do a search for "Julie" under the "Posted by" heading, you will see my previous posts on my experiences, which contain quite a bit of information.  The vets eventually diagnosed an irregular heartbeat and recommended a pacemaker be fitted.  Unfortunately as you will see from my posts I lost my dog on Xmas Eve last year, 3 days after the op.  Fagin had also had his spleen removed 2 1/2 years previously. Because he had started internally bleeding after the op, his body was less able to cope without the help of his spleen, which meant he had to have a blood transfusion, but died shortly after. 

I'm not trying to alarm you by telling you all this, but wish somebody had given me the same info this time last year, which quite possibly could have saved a lot of time, suffering and maybe even a happier outcome had Fagin's symptoms been diagnosed earlier. 

Ask your vet to do an ECG, it is a lot easier to get this done first rather than an MRI, which involves a GA which carries its own risks in elderly dogs.

I hope this is of some help to you, please get in touch if you need any further help.

Julie

Julie

I've just read through your previous posts, practically in tears, don't our canine friends have an impact on our lives. Over the weekend Charlie had another couple of turns on one of our walks, I think it may be his heart, but to a lesser extent than Fagin's. I suppose at 14 things are wearing out, so I've decided to take him for walks on his own, even though he desperately wants to go with the others, and hopefully he won't exert himself as much.

I have just started to have to do this with my old GSD who has CDRM (doggy equivalent of MS), as she can't cope with the rough and tumble of the other dogs.
I take a kong on a rope and do a little bit of obedience with her and I think she's enjoying the personal attention!!

Sarah.