vestibular dsorder - glad it wasn't a stroke, but now she hears backwwards??

788 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by gambles, Feb 21, 2012

gambles

Discussion Starter · Feb 21, 2012

Hi,
I did a search looking for this question and while I found some Vestibular disorder info, I didn't find this.

First, if you have never heard of peripheral vestibular disorder, it is terrifying as it looks a lot like a stroke and according to my vet, many animals are needlessly put to sleep. The dog very suddenly can't walk, won't eat or drink, vomits a lot, the head lolls to one side, and an obvious symptom is the eyeballs darting back and forth.

Anyway, after weeks of hell and months of care, most dogs recover most of the way to live out their lives.

And finally my question: It has been almost 6 months and my miniature schnauzer, Sasha, still has the head loll which is livable, but she also hears everything backwards. If I clap or call her, she looks the other way. Her eyes are already compromised, it is driving me crazy.

Please, please, please, has anyone heard of this symptom before. I just want her to actually look towards me! I'm not expecting a miracle, but I would feel much better knowing if anyone has ever heard of this symptom as well as how your babies are doing long term??

Thanks very much,
Suzanne

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spotted nikes

· #2 · Feb 21, 2012

I had a dog with it, but he heard normally. He lost his head tilit in about a week or so. Has your vet treated the dog? Often it goes along with an ear infection. Your dog may have hearing loss in one ear. My vet treated it with antibiotics, steroids, and an anti nausea med.

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Charis

· #3 · Feb 21, 2012

If she is hearing backwards (and doesn't have any of the issues spotted mentioned) then perhaps training her to look the opposite way she thinks she should. If you clap and she thinks you are to her left and therefore thinks she should look left - train her to look right instead - it is the opposite of what she thinks she should do (i.e. in her mind training her to look away from the direction she thinks the sound is coming from). Almost as if you were retraining her to hear correctly.

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gambles

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 21, 2012

Thanks both of you. In answer, she was treated with exactly those things at the vet, but it was still a very long, hard road. I knew that not all dogs completely recovered, but I was just so thrilled to find out she wasn't dead that very first, horrible day that any amount of progress was great. Now, after six difficult months, I'm still trying to figure out some way to get her attention. I actually tried to train her as you suggested. I thought she was smart enough as she is much smarter than any other dog I have known, but either she is too old, or her eyesight is too compromised. Maybe I will try to train her again. If she can't really see treats, it is hard to get her excited about something like that. In addition to being difficult I am disabled (back injury) so it is already hard to be an animal owner as I can barely take care of myself most of the time! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer. I appreciate it.

Suzanne

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