Hi everyone,  Got home after a bit of shopping today to find my 13 year old goldie, Oscar, had been sick and was staggering about barely able to walk.  I took him to the emergency vet who says he has had a mild stroke and has given him two injections and three lots of tablets to tide me over until I can see my own vet on Wednesday.  He is still not able to walk but has at least just eaten some dinner with enthusiasm so I hope that's a good sign.  The vet is confident he will recover fairly quickly if he doesn't have any more strokes.  I am so upset to see him in this state.  I've put him in my bedroom to stop Angus (7 months) pestering him so hopefully he will get plenty of rest.  I think I am going to find Christmas a struggle this year.  Please keep your fingers crossed that he will soon improve.

Sorry to hear about Oscar :( Fingers and paws crossed here for a speedy and full recovery.

Annie if it helps at all, my old Goldie had a mild stroke at about the same age as Oscar,  she was given 2 weeks of  medication and made a full recovery, in fact she celebrated her 16th birthday yesterday. Fingers and paws crossed here that its the same for Oscar.

liberty

So sorry to hear that Annie. I hope he recovers, will be crossing fingers and paws here too

Dee

Keeping everything crossed, Golden Oldies are so close to my heart. I've heard of many dogs that did recover after a stroke and the fact that he does eat is encouraging. :) I had a cat who lived another 11 years after a stroke!

Fingers crossed for Oscar.

Thank you all for your kind replies.  I'll keep you informed.

Hope Oscar's feeling much better soon.

Thank you.  He had a peaceful night (I didn't of course) and seems to be a bit more active this morning, though still wobbly.  He's eaten food and seemed to enjoy it and managed to get outside, with my help, to do a wee in the garden.  Thanks for all your good wishes everyone, it does help. 

One of mine suffered a "stroke" and recovered well too so I think you have very good grounds for optimism :)

JD, Lou & Rjj send healing thoughts for your boy. My first BC had three strokes & survived into her mid teens afterwards & that was back in the 1980's

All paws crossed here for you

I also have everything crossed here for Oscar :-)

Touch wood, Oscar seems to be doing well.  He is eating very well and getting a bit more steady on his feet.  He certainly seems more alert than he was and wants to wander around the house more which gives me more of a problem keeping him and young Angus apart, as neither want to be shut in any room :-).  Although I am trying to keep the lid on my expectations, I am so happy to see him looking better than he was.  Thanks again for all your encouraging comments.

Excellent news may every day bring an improvement

So glad hes feeling a bit better.
Keep it up Oscar.

Jonelle

Just to update you all, Oscar is doing very well.  I took him to my own vet for a check up yesterday and they have cut out one of his tablets and reduced the dose of the other two.  They want to see him again in a week but were impressed at how well he is doing.

Yesterday I was able to take him for his first short walk since all this happened and he had obviously missed it :) - busy sniffing everything and catching up with the 'mail' :D.  This morning, he was running down my hallway excited by his breakfast and started playing with Angus.  So now my problem is trying to keep him quiet as he is still supposed to be resting lots :).  Although he still occasionally loses his balance, he is no longer listing to one side and is generally much happier and more alert.

Thank you once again to everyone who helped me through this tough time.

Really pleased to hear your good news update.  G'bless him.

Thanks Kate.  Unfortunately, the steroids he is on are making him even more manic about his food than usual - he now thinks it is a good idea to wake me in the middle of the night in the hope I will go and get his breakfast :D.

Hi Annie,
            Good to hear Oscar is doing well. A month ago we had a similar experience with Ben our Rough Collie, 13years old, the vet said he had had a stroke and gave him a couple of injections and kept him in for observation over night. The following morning the vet had given up on him as she said that he was not responding and there was no further medication she could give.
             When we went to see him to say goodbye he lifted his head and wagged his tail, so after a not very encouraging discussion with the vet, we took him home and he has improved every day for the last 4 weeks with no medication.
             Being disappointed with the vets diagnosis we looked up "strokes in dogs" on the internet and most sites say that strokes in dogs are very rare and a more likely cause would be an ear infection, Vestibular Syndrome, that has the same symptoms. Have you or anyone any experience of this?
              On a lighter note, one problem that we still have is how can we wean him off Ambrosia cream rice pudding? He has taken more than a liking for it as it was the only food he would eat when he became ill, although he will reluctantly eat his normal food if he is hand fed, Spoiled? yes maybe!

Hi Rough Collie

So glad to hear that Ben is doing well and thank goodness you followed your own instincts rather than what the vet said.  Just shows sometimes there is no better medicine than being at home with loving owners, especially for elderly dogs who probably don't cope well with being shut in cages at the vets.  I'm hoping that Oscar will be able to come off his steroids soon.  The only other medicine he is on now is called Vivitonin 100 which is specifically for elderly dogs and helps improve circulation.

The vet did investigate whether it was likely to be an inner ear problem - as you say, the symptoms can be similar - but thought it wasn't in Oscar's case.  Have you asked your own vet about this?  I would imagine, however, that after an experience like this you might be planning to change vets.  Not that I'm maligning the vet, just that you probably trust him or her a lot less now.

Loved the bit about the rice pudding :D  We do tend to spoil our elderly dogs don't we, especially when they have been ill.  I think you should try to make it a very occasional treat though as it is probably high in fat and sugar.  As for hand feeding, I'm sure Ben will eat from his bowl fairly quickly if there is no alternative :-).

Good luck with Ben - I do hope he continues to improve.  Our old guys are so precious aren't they?

Im so happy Oscar is doing well. When I was young we lost a old lad to a stroke. xxx

Thanks Sharon.  He is due to go back to the vets tomorrow for a check up but still seems to be progressing well and seems virtually back to how he was before the stroke so that is very encouraging.  He is of course still an old boy but he now has quality of life again which makes me happy.