does your dog ever lose its balance for no reason?

[HappyPuppy]

I appreciate all of your thoughts and replies. I've read all of the included links. I'll call our vet tomorrow. It was scary to witness esp since she is so stable/predictable physically!!! She has been normal for the balance of the day and after another session of fetch just now - and is continuing to bug me to play more.... I watch her EVERY time she gets up from laying down and have not notice ANY stiffness or apparent pain. It did seem more like balance/dizziness than shifting of weight from a possibly painful rear to the front. It also seemed to go away immediately earlier today, which is encouraging but still weird.

[Leslie H]

Does she get ear infections?
I've had 3 experiences w/balance loss, the first was a middle aged dog, she did get a head tild and nystagmus(sp), it was ear infection related.
The second was my son's dog at age 13-14, it was acute vestibular syndrome, it resolved in a few days. She had vomiting and nystagmus, and could hardly walked. Scared me horribly.
When Xanny had facial paralysis and other neurological symptoms, she lost her balance. Her illness became acute quickly.

[HappyPuppy]

I can't believe Ruby has never had an ear infection!!! I've been sooo lucky - no allergies, no gastric upsets except a bout of giardia when we first got her - really nothing else to speak of!!
Leslie - did the vestibular syndrome ever return after that episode?

[Shoshana]

My friends have German Shorthair Pointers and I've seen 2 of them while playing fetch get all wobbly and both were taken to the vet asap (different times)

Dog one had Addison's Disease and with ongoing low dose of prednesone perked right up. Dog 2 had scary low blood sugar (27!) because of a pancreatic tumor shooting insulin into his system. He had the tumor removed and is symptom free now.

So... I hope everything turns out ok!

With Brownie and Toby they didn't get better on their own - so I hope it's something minor!

[HappyPuppy]

^ AAck! Now I'm wishing I made an appt before they closed today - I'm afraid I won't be able to get in tomorrow!

[mtlu]

Hopefully your vet is like mine: they always leave a first appointment time open in the mornings precisely for those panic calls from something that happened the night before. They have accommodated us at 7am even though they don't open until 8am. Keep us posted!

[Team Peanut]

^ AAck! Now I'm wishing I made an appt before they closed today - I'm afraid I won't be able to get in tomorrow!

not sure who your normal vet is but if you can't get in i can recommend a vet for you where we bring Peanut. its yorba regional animal hospital. they are awesome reasonably priced and do a lot of in house testing. fyi they are open 24 hours which i like too.

[HappyPuppy]

Thanks, PM, I'll keep that in mind for future, sounds like a great place. I was able to get an appt with our vet at 2:10 this afternoon. Could have gone in at 11am but it was with the senior vet who is anti raw, so I immediately switched from him after the first meeting to another one in the practice who I like a lot. (Roobs is totally normal-acting today.)

[BabyReba]

good vibes! hope it's nothing serious!

[Ilovethepits]

Fingers, toes and paws crossed.

[AmstaffMommy]

has she been tested for Ataxia?

Ataxia is a symptom, not a disease, just to clarify. :-)

no it is a disease, and very prevalent in the Amstaff breed, reputable breeders now test for it before breeding

[AmstaffMommy]

Definitely ask about Ataxia, I have mentioned it to my vet before and she seemed to know nothing about it in the breed, I dont think there is a lot of common knowledge about it in this country compared to europe.

It is a blood test to see if the dog is a carrier and/or affected with the genetic disease.

I know about it since there is a chance it affected my dogs sire, but the test didnt exist before he passed, so the breeder was never sure if it was something like a brain tumor or this disease.

http://www.antagene.com/index.php?page_ ... e=L2&menu=

http://www.amstaff.org/Ataxia%20Faqs.html

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

What other breeds are affected? I need to do some research.

[AmstaffMommy]

What other breeds are affected? I need to do some research.

I am not sure, I have only heard about it in Amstaffs

I have chosen not to test Rocky since it is an uncurable disease (and obviously we will not be breeding him) so I am not sure I want to know if he is a carrier (that might turn affected).

There is an Amstaff forum I frequent some times (very breeder oriented) that has a very very long list going of tested dogs and the results, that they are constantly updating, so I can go back through his ped and see relatives results.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

I should look into this more. We don't have any (legal) am staff breeders here anymore so perhaps that is why I haven't heard of it. Good to know though...thanks Amstaffmommy!