Hello All, This is my first post on the forum. We have an female Malamute about 2 Years old (14YRS). She started to show signs of her being unwell, first we thought she might of had an ear infection as when we touched her ear she yelped abit but then a day or two later she started to become unstable and fall over. We took her to the Vets and they said that she might be developing vestibular syndrome but this is more common in older dogs. She had some steroid injections/tables and antibiotics, she didn't move for a few days but then she started to show signs of getting better. We took her back to the vets today and they now said she had dementia and she will only live for another 8 months, SHOCKED was a understatement. She was so full of energy and loved the out doors always wanted to go out loved the water, such a friendly lovable dog to be around an now we may be losing her. She is much better in herself though, she's eating again, walking better but not running as usual, she's still walking abit wonkey on her left side, shes all there in the head as shes still trying to chase ducks and birds but not as powerful as she can be or she doesn't seem to have much energy. They vets said its common as shes a thourha bread. Any replies would be greatful. :-(
Sorry to hear of your girl's problem. I can't offer any advice, and don't understand how you could have two such different diagnoses. Is your vet suggesting that there is hereditary juvenile dementia in the breed? I can only suggest that you speak to the health co-ordinater for the Alaskan Malamute Breed Club about this. They will have information on the breed's health record. You say that she is improving, and hard as it sounds, let us hope that she has had something poisonous, and will make a full recovery. Good luck.
You have three different diagnoses there - vestibular disease, dementia and poisoning. All three separate and distinct. A severe ear infection may well have brought on the vestibular episode (if that's what it was) as it is quite a common cause. I'd be keeping her ears clean and making sure she has treatment at the first sign of infection and take it from there. Unless there is a lot more to the symptoms, I'd be sceptical of an 8 month to live diagnosis
I thought of taking her to another vet to get a second opinion. I'm sure she had an ear infection to start as her ear was quite sore, then she started to loose her balance. We should of had her blood checked but didn't. If its a vestibular episode will she recover from this?, shes shown signs shes much better but she still walks abit wonkey and her bag legs seem stiff at times but when shes out walking she seems okay, shes not fully running but more like jogging. Do you mean should could live longer or shorter? I will see what information I can find out about the illnesses in this breed.
I had a beautiful Collie X Afghan, who had dementia he was 3 years old when he was first diagnosed. Prince's symptoms were different to what you are describing, he would sit rocking back/forwards then yelp before head butting the wall or door & sometimes he forget who we were & would lunge at us when we walked passed him (we moved his bed away from the family room doors) Prince had good days & bad days, for the next 4 years, but once he started having more bad days then good days we took the heart breaking decision to Put him to Sleep. Prince was 7 & 1/2 years old when we let him pass over to Rainbow Bridge.
My previous dog had two separate incidents of vestibular disease. He was 14 when he had them. His eyes 'shook' (rapidly moved from side to side) and his head tilted. He couldn't stand and was showing signs of nausea. He recovered both times leaving him with a head tilt. Other than that, he was back to normal. We finally had to let him go 2 years later when severe HD (that he'd had for years) finally worsened to the stage where it became too much for him
I had my last Lowchen dog pts because of dementia, but he was 17, and in all other ways was still in perfect health. When we came to think back, he had been a little eccentric for about 5 years previously. He would suddenly turn and run home when out for a walk - at the time we thought he was being naughty, but I now think he could have been having panic attacks. When we had the boat, he once fell between the boat and the bank whilst trying to climb aboard through a solid window. He never wet in the house, but towards the end, he didn't seem to have any idea when he was passing poop. Later still, he couldn't remember how to negotiate doors, or how to get onto his feet. He would thresh around like an upturned beetle without making any progress.
Sounds similar to my Prince we couldn't let him off his lead anymore, has he would wander round in circles looking totally confused & crying I had a large clip fastened to a wooden broom handle that I clipped onto his harness when we went to the park, sounds cruel but it kept other dogs away, their owners saw the broom handle & kept their dogs on their leads until we had passed them.
Such a shame to hear about the dogs above :-(, my old dog use to run home very randomly. She hasn't shown any signs of dementia to me, she knows who is who and what is what, to me she's the same dog in the head but seems drunk . I took her for along walk last night and she started to shown signs of running again and back to chasing the odd duck. Her back legs seemed better but she is on steroids not sure what will happened when she is weaned off them. She definitely has sore ears as when I hosed her down last night as she rolled in dog poop, the jet of the water hit her ear and she yelped and I tested her ears this morning and she yelped when I put my finger just on the inner edge of the ear. Even though the vets said her ears are okay.
Chris B's inkling of vestibular disease seems to be sounding the nearest to your girl's symptoms. I think, as you mentioned earlier, it might be wise to seek a second opinion.
Hi All, Sorry its been a while since I last came on here but my dog is fine again, she's very much back to herself and loving her life again .
Good to hear she's back to her old self again. Did you get a definitive diagnosis as to what was the cause of her problems?
If I were guessing, I'd think your dog had a severe ear infection (which can cause imbalance) or an episode of vestibular disease (maybe even both). The '8 month' diagnosis and the 'dementia' seems very far fetched to me, but, obviously, I'm not a vet and I haven't met your dog. It sounds like she is back to normal, thank heavens, so hopefully she's back on track for a full and happy life
