idiopathic vestibular syndrome

Part of our tremendous good fortune is we live mere minutes from a pet emergency room. In the pandemic era if you must take your pet to the vet, someone comes to the car and takes the pet. Your pet goes in without you. You talk with the vet over the phone. 

There is a good probability that Samuel will be fine. It is most likely that he has idiopathic (very fancy word for "we don't know") vestibular syndrome and that it will magically disappear (will my vocabulary ever recover from that man?) in a few days. Apparently it is not that uncommon in older dogs but it is terrifying to behold as it looks like a stroke or a neurological condition. 

If your dog ever starts having trouble with balance or walking or has funny eye movements or walks in circles or has a head tilt, do go to the vet because lots of bad things can cause these, but it could also be this terrifying thing that generally goes away all on its own. Don't make a decision to euthanize too soon because, again, a lot of dogs are substantially better in five days - sudden onset, sudden improvement. 

Try to film the dog while walking so you can share this with the vet. Both our vet and the ER vet really appreciated the video and not just because I had funny commentary, which I did. 

We did not get an MRI because
- it would have required complete anesthesia and Samuel is 13.5 years old
- it would have cost a lot of money
- anything that could only be seen with an MRI would be something we couldn't treat anyway, so what was the point?

If you'd like to read more, this was the most helpful:  https://ourpetshealth.com/info/vestibular-disease-in-dogs

He is walking a little bit better tonight than he was yesterday. 

And I got a letter and will help them with justification to make the number in the letter higher.