Horners Syndrome?

[goodie2su]

Hi everyone

I am freaking out here, my poor Lola went to the vet this morning. I noticed yesterday she was loosing her balance and falling over and had weakened power in her back legs mainly on the right side. Her right eye was slightly drooping and she was dribbling alittle from the right side of her mouth. She is tilting her head to the right alot aswell. She is 9/10 years old now.

The vets have her and are doing blood work. They are suggesting possibly Horners Syndrome, 5th cranial nerve problem or middle ear disease, although her ears are clean.

Has anyone come across this with their cav? I am pacing around the place here with worry and praying so hard that she will be ok. I am collecting her at 8pm. Its like my clock has stopped.

[MomObvious]

I have never heard of it so I googled it. All I found was Horners Syndrome effects the eye. Its rare but mostly seen in male golden retrievers. The stuff I read was that cause is unknown but it does sometimes happen with brain injury or a tumor or a spinal cord lesion. I'm no vet and I have never met your dog but I'm still guessing its not Horners. Sounds more like PSOM or glue ear. Sometimes it take a specialist or specialized equipment to spot problems with the ears. Check out http://www.cavalierhealth.com/psom.htm for PSOM info.

Try to relax or find something to occupy your time, your Lola is in good hands. I hope you have some answers soon.

[RodRussell]

Show your vet this article:

http://www.cliniciansbrief.com/sites...%20Spaniel.pdf

[goodie2su]

Thank you so much for the replies.

I'm looking up Horners Syndrome all day and she definitely doesn't present as a typical case. Apparently it would be very rare in a small breed dog and much more typical in a Retriever like you said MomObvious. At least one thing about it is, it would resolve itself in time, but I do have my doubts that that is the problem.

Thanks Rod for that article, I'll definitely bring it down. The vet did look in Lola's ears and showed me inside her ear with her little ear gaget thingy and her ears were clean and clear with no sign of infection. Her temp is also normal.

2 hours to go............ I'll think I'll go make more tea.

[Kate H]

You might check out vestibular syndrome - quite common in older dogs (my Oliver has had occasional episodes). My vet book says symptoms are sudden loss of balance, often accompanied by head tilt, ticking movements of the eyes, bad coordination, loss of appetite and vomiting. Apart from controlling any vomiting, the main treatments is rest; some dogs get over an episode quickly, others may take a week or more, a head tilt may remain but normally they recover more or less completely (till the next time!).

Kate, Oliver and Aled

[goodie2su]

Well I collected my angel and the vet thinks its either middle ear disease, or a brain tumor. I am devasted to say the least. Please God she is going to be ok. I just can't bare that thought of her not being here.

Lola started meds today. She is alittle worse than yesterday. A serious head tilt constantly and has facial paralyisis on her right side and keeps falling over. She is only smiling on one side that the right side of her mouth is just drooping all the time. She is on clavaseptin and prednisolone. I hope it will start working soon. I've to bring her back to the vet on Saturday so they can see if there is any improvement.

[Sydneys Mom]

I'm so sorry you have received this diagnosis. I have no advice to offer, just wanted you to know that I am thinking about you both and pray that the medication will give Lola some relief. I know how hard this must be for you, but just remember you are doing all you can to help your little girl.

[RodRussell]

Well I collected my angel and the vet thinks its either middle ear disease, or a brain tumor. ... She is on clavaseptin and prednisolone. I hope it will start working soon. I've to bring her back to the vet on Saturday so they can see if there is any improvement.

Gotta hand it to your vet, like most of them everywhere else, he assumes that antibiotics and steroids will fix just about anything. If it's "middle ear disease", it most likely is PSOM, since that is fairly common in the CKCS, and PSOM is not cured by either antibiotics or prednisolone.

What, if anything, did your vet say about PSOM?

[goodie2su]

The vet didn't acknowledge the psom at all, and just said that we need to get Lola abit better so she can schedule an X-ray under general anesthetic so she can see what's really going on in her head.

[RodRussell]

The vet didn't acknowledge the psom at all, and just said that we need to get Lola abit better so she can schedule an X-ray under general anesthetic so she can see what's really going on in her head.

Unfortunately, an x-ray most likely will not detect the PSOM. I feel like she is wasting your time, and Lola's.