Vestibular syndrome, also known as geriatric vestibular disease or vestibular syndrome (cats), is a sudden loss of balance in cats that can be serious. It can be caused by various reasons, but almost every cause requires an examination from a veterinarian. Cats have a remarkable sense of balance and don’t easily get dizzy. Ear infections and other conditions that cause dizziness can progress if not treated promptly.
The vestibular system in the inner ear controls balance, and when affected, a cat may act dizzy or drunk by stumbling, falling over, or not being able to stand. The clinical signs of this mysterious disorder may be seen in both male and female cats of any age or breed.
Vesibular disease can cause incoordination, falling or circling to one side, and involuntary darting of the eyes back and forth. An inner ear imbalance can cause incoordination, turning, leaning, or even falling and rolling. Anti-nausea medications, like Cerenia, are often beneficial initially while a cat is going through the worst of its dizziness and vertigo.
Unilateral (yes) and bilateral (no head tilt, but stand and walk slowing in a crouched position, characteristic side-to-side) are the two main signs of vestibular syndrome. While there is no home remedy for vestibular disease in cats, there are steps you can take to help your cat recover from the idiopathic form.
📹 Feline Vestibular Syndrome – Ben’s Story
Ben Background Early November 2013 my cat came down with Vestibular Disease and it developed into full blown FVS.
What does a cat stroke look like?
A stroke is a condition characterized by a sudden loss of blood and oxygen to the brain, causing symptoms such as collapse, head tilt, blindness, circling, stumbling, rapidly moving pupils, or disorientation. It can also lead to seizures and sudden death. Diagnosing a stroke often involves extensive tests, including blood work, imaging, blood clotting analysis, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the ideal diagnostic test for assessing stroke symptoms and their brain-related consequences. Other conditions may also present similar symptoms.
Can cats have dizzy spells?
Vestibular disease is a common condition in dogs, cats, rabbits, and ferrets, similar to vertigo in humans. It causes incoordination, turning, leaning, or falling and rolling due to an inner ear imbalance. The balance organs in the right and left inner ears lose synchronization, causing the brain to think the body should be turning. Common signs include head tilt, nystagmus, and incoordination. The brain may activate vomit centers, causing nausea. Animals with vestibular disease can feel profoundly dizzy because their brain tells them they’re spinning while their eyes tell them they’re not.
Why can I feel my cats spin?
Cats age about four human years to one year, with older cats requiring more care than younger ones. They are considered’seniors’ when they are 11-14 years old, equivalent to a human’senior’ between 60-72 years old. Over 14 years old, they are considered ‘geriatrics’ and are comparable to humans aged 76-100 years or more. Regular checkups are crucial for older cats, as they undergo numerous changes that can result in different diseases or disabilities. Age is not a disease, but many changes occur as cats age, making them more susceptible to diseases or disabilities.
Why is my cat suddenly wobbly?
Vestibular disease, also known as geriatric vestibular disease or vestibular syndrome, is a sudden loss of balance in cats, often resulting from a problem with their vestibular system. This system, consisting of nerves and fluid-filled canals, tracks the position of the cat’s head in relation to gravity and can determine if the head is moving and in which direction. It is a common cause of sudden loss of balance in cats, and its main function is to keep the cat balanced while moving around.
What is a vertigo episode in cats?
Vestibular disease is a sudden condition in cats where they experience incoordination, falling or circling, nystagmus, head tilt, and nausea or vomiting. This condition affects the vestibular apparatus in the inner ear, which maintains balance and orientation. Common causes include middle- and inner-ear infections, tumors, and exposure to certain toxins and drugs. The exact cause of vestibular disease is unknown, but it can affect cats of all ages. The condition can be caused by middle- and inner-ear infections, tumors, or exposure to certain toxins and drugs. Most cases are idiopathic, meaning the exact cause is unknown.
How long does cat vertigo last?
Idiopathic vestibular syndrome is a mysterious disorder that affects cats of any age or breed. The symptoms are transitory, arising abruptly and gradually improving over several days. Most cats recover within two or three weeks. Diagnosis requires a thorough medical history and physical examination, including a neurologic exam and an otoscopic exam to examine the cat’s ears for signs of infection, inflammation, or tumors. Advanced imaging may be used in some cases to test for deeper issues.
Treatment depends on the cause, with primary treatment for secondary conditions like infection, tumor, or toxicity. In idiopathic vestibular disease, there is no specific treatment, and animals must be kept confined in a safe place. Supportive care may include assisted feeding, fluid administration, and anti-nausea medication if the cat cannot eat and drink. In most cases, the signs of idiopathic vestibular syndrome vanish within a short time and never reappear.
Why does my cat act dizzy?
Cats may be experiencing a temporary vestibular disorder, which is a complex arrangement of nerves and components that governs their sense of balance and coordinates the movement of their head and eyes. This disorder is typically temporary and harmless, but in some cases, signs of vestibular disease may be due to a more serious problem. The vestibular system’s essential components are housed in two interconnected locations: the vestibular apparatus, located deep within the inner ear, and the lower area of the brain (medulla), located at the top of the spinal cord.
The vestibular apparatus consists of fluid-filled canals with specialized nerve cells and receptors that respond to changes in fluid movement. These receptors, connected to nerves leading to the medulla, register the position of the head relative to gravity. The vestibular apparatus tells the cat whether its head is motionless or moving, and if it is moving, which way it is moving. The system also compensates for changes in position, preventing the cat from tipping over.
Why is my cat suddenly walking like he’s drunk?
Your cat may be experiencing issues with their vestibular system, which is the balance center of their brain. Issues in this complex web of nerves and synapses can cause dizziness, disorientation, and muscle coordination issues. Veterinarian stem cell therapy is being advanced daily, and white papers about its use can be found. Clinical trials and approval processes are also being reviewed.
Why does my cat suddenly collapse?
Fainting in cats and dogs is often caused by heart disease, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, heart valve disorders, congenital heart defects, or heart tumors. These conditions can interfere with the heart’s function, causing fainting. Additionally, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) from conditions like insulinoma, an insulin-producing tumor of the pancreas, can also cause fainting in cats.
Why is my cat suddenly off balance?
Ataxia in cats is a neurological disorder that can be caused by a variety of underlying conditions, including injuries or infections to the brain, spinal cord, or inner ear/vestibular system. Additionally, it can result from the presence of cancer, exposure to toxins, or stroke. The underlying cause depends on whether the condition can be cured. In the case of spinal cord inflammation or treatable infections, a cure may be possible; however, this is not the case for certain cancers or genetic disorders.
📹 How To Treat Your Dog From Vestibular Disease | Pet Health
Here are tips to help your pet with Vestibular Disease. FOR MORE BONDI VET EPISODES CLICK BELOW …
Thank you for sharing your story. My cat, Starr, was diagnosed with Vestibular disease in May. On Memorial Day weekend she just simply collapsed and couldn’t move and her eyes couldn’t focus. It was like she just vanished from her body. We rushed her to the ER vet. Tests were done and they basically just gave her a pain shot and said they couldn’t find anything wrong w/o doing more very expensive testing or surgery. We decided to bring her home and try to nurse her through the long holiday weekend until our regular Vet opened on Tuesday. Because of the pain shot they gave her she was basically a zombie for the next 24hrs. Then she started to come back to life. She still couldn’t walk, hold her head up, stand, feed herself, use litter box. We had to do everything for her. She made it to Tuesday and we were at the Vet as soon as they opened. I was prepared for the worst, to be told she had a stroke and she had reached the end of her life path. But my Vet didn’t think so. She consulted with a veterinary internal specialist at the University of Florida and a most likely diagnosis of Vestibular disease was determined. We were given antibiotics (Orbax), B1 pills, liquid vitamin mix called Lixotinic and anti-nausea meds (Cerenia). We were shown some stretches to do for her legs and neck to keep the muscles loose. I am so glad to say that over the next 2 week Starr not only began to stand on her own, she started walking again! She has a very clumsy, ataxic gait (the vet calls it this) but she’s walking!
I see a article from 2013, about a kitten with some horrible disease I’ve never heard of, entitled “Ben’s Story”. My immediate reaction. “Oh, poor baby, rest in peace little kitty.” Description: “Ben is doing great in 2020”. Me: “Oh. Jolly good then. Good job there Ben, hope you’re around in 2030 too.”
My cat is dealing with it right now. I’m starting on day 8. Thx for sharing this. It is EXACTLY the same. I thought I was going to have to put her down until I learned about IVD a few days ago. I already see her getting better – she sat up to eat today and did some stretching out on the grass (a closely monitored motivational trip outside 🙂 ). Again, thanks for posting this. It gives me hope! Hope you and you little munchkin are doing well.
Good reason to have pet insurance. Checked my cat to the ER. My cat symptoms were extreme. Whenever you take a pet to the ER, they will email you a laundry list of all kinds of crazy things for you to approve. If you recognize this as vestibular syndrome, you can ask them to whittle it down to meclizine / cerenia medication, a sedative etc. If they do, bloodwork the numbers could be all over the place due to stress. They will also wanna put him on IV for some reason like “Support” basically to give him nutrients and hydration, because he didn’t want to eat or drink. But that’s what they say. IV fluid can be stressful. On a cats. Ecosystem. That’s always a tough call. Definitely need to tell them about any pre-existing conditions such as asthma. Most importantly, insist that they contact you before giving any supplements or medication’s outside of that. They usually wanna rack up all kinds of antibiotics and start the pet on all kinds of medication without telling you. This is stressful on your pet, as they will keep agitating your pet every hour to give them one thing or another. Taking my cat and leaving them at the ER for three days had a plus side I was able to modify my apartment so that he didn’t have to jump up to get anywhere and I arranged a sleeping situation for us on the floor with the air mattress, etc. this way when I brought him home I can devote all my attention to his recovery. The worst of the symptoms cleared up after three days, he was extremely exhausted from lack of sleep and fighting off veterinary assistants.
My cat was diagnosed with this 2 days ago, and it scared me to death – I thought he was having a stroke or seizures. My vet said to give him a half of a non-drowsy Dramamime pill, which we did at bedtime. He was fully recovered by morning!! We’ve been giving him the half a pill every day, and he is doing great! I hope Ben is doing better.
I know this was posted 2 years ago, but thank you for making it! One of my cats just started going through it, and the Vet indicated that it would take a several days before I may see an improvement. Heart wrenching to which JJ go through this, but I feel better about it after seeing your article. THANK YOU AGAIN for posting this!
What helped my cat SAME BREED B1 human vitamins and change of cat food / I WAS AWAY FOR A FEW WEEKS & LAST WEEK SON RAN OUT OF CAT FOOD ( DUE TO WEATHER I COULD NOT GET BACK WHEN EXPECTED. I NOTICED ON Y RETURN THAT ALMOST OVER NIGHT HER HEAD CHIN WAS TO CHEST AND SHE COULDNT RAISE HEAD AND LOOK UP. SHE HAD HAD VOMITING ISSUES FOR A WHILE WE FIGURED SHE WOULD EAT TO FAST OR A HAIRBALL.. OFTEN THERE WOULD BE A HAIRBALL IN THE VOMIT… MY SON WAS FEEDING COOKED CHICKEN ECT. SEARCH ON INTERNET BROUGHT UP THAT THIS Vestibular Disease CAN ALSO HAPPEN DUE TO A LACK OF B1 THIAMINE . THIS CAN HAPPEN IF A CAT/DOG FOOD IS LEFT OUT HUMID AIR GETS TO IT. WE HAD BEEN BUYING LARGE BAGS OF CAT FOOD FOR ONE CAT. THE LACK OF B1 CAN HAPPEN OVER 30-40 DAYS AND THE HEAD DROP/TILT WILL APPEAR ALMOST OVER NIGHT. AGAIN WE HAD TERRIBLE WEATHER SO WE THOUGHT SINCE B1 IS WATER SOLUBLE AND EXCESS FLUSHES OUT WITH URINE IT CANT HURT . WE GROUND UP A B1 AND PUT A LITTLE IN MILK SOME SOFT CAT FOOD ( BTW THERE HAVE BEEN RECALLS ON MOIST CAT FOOD DUE TO THE LACK OF B1 GIVING THIS Disease ALSO.. ) BUT WE USED JUST TO GET THE EXTRA B1 POWDER WE OBTAINED AT THE DRUG STORE ( HUMAN KIND ITS THE SAME CAT AND HUMAN =WINK ) SO ADDING A LITTLE TO MILK ( THAT ALSO HAS B1 AND PUTTING HER ON A NEW FOOD ( SMALLER BAGS OF “PURINA CAT NATURALS PLUS VITAMINS AND MINERALS ” “”‘ HUUUUUUGE DIFFERENCE IN JUST 2 DAYS…. APPARENTLY A CAT AND DOG DOES NOT STORE THIAMINE ( B1 ) AND IT CAN BE DEPLETED FAST … SHE HAS ALSO NOT VOMITED ON THIS FOOD EITHER.
Thank you so much for posting this article. Go Ben! My cat, Muffin had the same experience and she looked absolutely awful, even our vet encouraged us to put her down. We did a lot of research and yours was one of the inspiring articles that gave us faith. I remember telling my husband about 2 weeks in that if Muffin ever walks again, we will be pet parents of the year. Sure enough, about a month after the initial incident, she was walking! It’s been a few months now and she is walking, using the litter box and getting around great! You are saving kitties with your amazing article, thank you so much!
Thanks for the movie. I have the same problem with one of my male cat, Kaneki. Unfortunately, despite that one month ago, we went with him to 2 VETs they propose me to put him to sleep, without giving a treatment. I refused and I took care of him, feeding him with small portions five time /day, helping to urinate. I gave him, dried cat food, for urinary support, wet cat food and chicken meat or chicken liver. He was very happy to eat, but he did not drink without syringe. Yesterday I thought that the time to put him to sleep occurred, because he began to shake his head and due to this was enable to catch the food. Today morning, I tried for last time to find on the internet why “a cat is shaking its head” and I discover this vestibule syndrome.I have clean his ears, with a special vet cleaner and with a solution with antibiotics and against inflammations, I gave him a strong antibiotic, with Amoxicillin. I hope to be in time, not to late, we lost one month. Only God is able to help us!
At the beginning of Dec 2022 my cat Starlie suddenly fell off of my bed, began flopping around on the floor, and when she was able to get up on all four legs she began turning in circles to the right while crying as if she was in horrific pain. I rushed to her side and was able to get her to lean against my leg long enough for me to reach down and pick her up. She had severe horizontal nystagmus and her head tilted to the right so bad that her neck was almost completely bent backwards. I knew she needed to be seen by a vet asap, but it was almost midnight and we were in the midst of a raging snowstorm. The closest ER vet near me was 40 minutes away down in Salt Lake City. I had to take her so I cleared as much snow from my car as I could, put Starlie in her carrier and off we went. Took us almost 2 hours to get to the vet and I was sure I was getting ready to kiss my baby goodbye. You see, she was brought to me when she was 2 weeks old and needed to be bottle fed every few hours. I took her everywhere I went. She was now 15 and I broke down when they came and told me to bring her to the back for her exam. When they kept her and I walked back to the lobby with an empty carrier I felt like I had my heart ripped out. I waited 2 hours before the vet came to get me. He explained that Starlie had an ear infection and FVS. I expected him to ask me if I wanted to have her cremated. Yes, our minds do weird things when we’re under emotional stress.🤷 He asked me if I wanted to do some expensive tests and leave her there for the neurologist to look at her in the morning.
I stumbled on this and could see this was going to be a good show. It was. I had never heard of this disease before. I have many cats and what you went thru with Ben was downright scary. I hope Ben is fully recovered but you’ll love him with a head tilt or not. Thanks for this article. I’m sure it will be helpful to many!!!
My boy, Buddy is suffering from this now. He is on the mend but he is still a bit wobbly. He is able to walk fine and he even climbed his cat tree house yesterday. Being the worrisome kitty parent that I am, I have gotten very little sleep the past several nights doing my best to make sure he stays hydrated. This hurts every fiber of my being to see this, I hope Ben is doing ok in 2022. Buddy, my 7 month old kitty, is on the mend and getting better every day but his hooman is exhausted. But I don’t care about myself as long as I know my best friend is ok. By the way, Buddy is an American shorthair tabby with markings similar to Ben’s
How moving and dear! You are a gentle human being and I’m glad to know of you. I have 20 cats/kittens, mostly feral. Only one has vestibular disorder and showed signs just 2 days ago, and already the 6 week old male seems to be recovering. It loves cold beef bolognie & has quite an appetite since it lives outside (as of 10 days ago–it began as an indoor kitty, born in my closet w/5 sibs). Your Ben is such a sweet beautiful cat. I hope he is well.
My cat Bear had this happen to him. But the eye movements and nausea came on suddenly one night. I found him crying in the hallway laying on his side. I though he had had a stroke. Took him to the emergency vet. He was diagnosed with FVS. It took weeks and antibiotics. He still has the head tilt and he has difficulty jumping up on the bed now. I think he has a hard time judging where he is jumping to. We have lower furniture he can jump from one to the other to get to the bed. He sometimes has a bad day. I have noticed it is usually when a storm is coming. But my friend is back as normal as he can be. I missed his purring as well. It took so long for him to recover 3 months not 3 weeks. My vet said it can also be caused by a parasite especially if they were a stray and have eaten wild prey. So Bear was treated for both that and an infection.
Thank you so much for your article. I am here now to just give my experience, hoping it can help someone. My cat Izzy always jumps up onto my moms sink to beg for water each night. One night she all of a sudden looked off and couldn’t really walk around the sink like usual. We noticed the tilted head and falling over the next day and took her to the vet. These vets were not the greatest and seemed to have to determination to figure out the problem. They kept on requesting an mri which, although we love our cat, costed about $4,000 and was not one of our options. We took her home and fixed up water and food in an old, well sized, dog crate. She stayed in there for two days and we gave her medication including steroids and ear drops and I believe an antibiotic. She got much much better over the course of the next three days. She was fine until last night but all through the day (this is two weeks later) she started getting a head tilt and wobbly walk again. It was bad and very hard to watch as it makes us think she has a brain tumor. I’m sorry if this isn’t the best info I’m just a nervous 16 yr old that stays up to research this. I will update thanks
Glad that your cat made it through. My cat has gingivitis and needs a dental extraction which they(vet) say will cost around $1k. She’s probably around 11yrs old. She also has a heart murmur and just recently pretty much stopped eating and is doing the head to the side and very lethargic. I have twins in daycare and just don’t have the money for it. My sister and I combined spent around $500 in early June at two diff vets and that was all we found out. Wanted to do more xrays but I declined. I can’t just keep getting a higher bill until they find something AND THEN you have to pay to try and fix whatever they find. 😢
thank you very very very much for sharing this, this just gave me hope looking for the symptoms my cat has. He has already been checked by vets and even stayed two nights under observation. He just can’t walk and stay on balance, they have been running tests and are not sure about what it might be. This is really helpful. I hope you and Ben are well, thank you.
Can my cat improve and recover from this disease without any medication? i spent almost 400$ at an animal hospital to tell me they didnt know what was wrong with my cat. After doing so much research i believe he has vestibular syndrome but my father being the stubborn money horder he is wont let me take him to no vet or hospital or anything given the amount of money i spent on him to some people it may not be alot but we arent the richest family to be spending that much money around its complicated and im just so desperate right now i dont wanna sit here and do nothing i would really like to know if on his own if he eats and drinks water in time will he recover or if i need a vet and medication to help his recover😞 i have 2 other cats that i take care of too im only 17 and i would really appreciate some feedback. im thinking of just buying the clavamox medication for him but dont know if i should because of course i need a doctors approval and assurance that he has this desease if anything ill just take him back to the vet the money really doesnt matter to me but i would really appreciate some feedback because i cant bear to see him like this it breaks my heart any advice will be so helpful anything
Just here searching for a solution my cat has recently started circling its tail and then falling down on its head on other days she is fine but then suddenly while asleep she wakes up and starts circling on its tail then tilts on its head and stays there for a while after some long time she is back to normal again Idk what’s going on and I m in the hostel my parents are takin care of her for now 🥺🥺🥺 if anyone knows what’s it please tell me it’s not a big deal and it’s normal 🥺
My cat ended up looking like this with the same symptoms after it was at the vet for ear cleaning ear mites, they pored cleaning liquid in the ears and it became 100% deaf on both ears, for the next week and 2 weeks it was dizzy and had bad balance, but now its been a little over 14 days and its having the same symptoms as this cat in this article, sometimes even worse… i dont know what to do !
Hey, I know this article is old but now my cat is having the same thing. Two weeks ago she started to have this symptoms but the vet told me to give her ear drops so I did and but her on a wet food diet and she was doing well she could do anything until know that I woke up today and I’m seeing her move her head again from the right side and idk what to do is this normal? 2 days ago I started to mix her the wet food with the dry one the brand I’m using for the dry is Purina friskies flavor are chicken, white fish, salmon and filet mignon (Is in a purple bag) could that be junk food for my cat? Could it be the reason she fall down again?
He cant hear anything. He had a seizure two years ago and went deaf. He’s been fine but tonight won’t eat and is mailing his ears with his paw! Hope he’s not heading for another episode. He’s almost 10 years old. British shorthair. Any help??? Vet said he may have vestibular as he does fall over from time to time!😢
I am glad I watched this article. One of our 12 year old Abbys suddenly began to display signs that made me think she had a stroke. Head tilt, moving poorly, and favouring movement in one direction. She would find a wall and use it to navigate, she could not climb stairs, could not jump or step over things. She did not purr or meow. She would not eat or drink and did not use the box. I was VERY prepared to put her down. After consulting with my Vet (who is a very good rural vet) she suggested we just WAIT. Vet did not suggest vestibular illness because there was no “uncontrolled” eye movement. We had to give her water through a syringe for a couple of days. Then very low dishes to drink from. Change her diet to wet food only (to encourage her to eat). 10 days later she is MUCH improved. Still has a head tilt but is eating and drinking well, moves almost normally, including, climbing, jumping, stepping over things. And she is purring and meowing as much as she ever did. This Abby has always been the “Special K” of our house and it seems she will be with us for a few more years. If your cat is not in pain, wait it out. You will need to support them with drinking and eating, and ‘box’, but it may very well be in your Cat’s interests and your hearts interests.
My kitten is too weak,lethargic and lost her appetite. She is kinda like a paralysed person . She cannot move her legs . The vet said that she has Pulmonary infection that could last for 2-3 weeks . I really need your help and suggestion . She is under medication : high fever around 39.8C and loss of mouvement and appetite.
Luckily for me, my cat is only in the early stages. So I am not looking forward to her getting worse. they checked for an ear infection and thought she had kidney disease. I’m taking her back to the vets again. She can’t jump like she used to and tilts her head sometimes. Why diet food? Are there different vitamins in it? Keep you posted. Almost put her down 2 months ago.
Hi, I hope you receive this. I wanted to ask you about your cute little kitty who had vestibular disease. I believe that my 7 year old cat may have it…or some sort of ataxia. I have read all about the different types but his episodes are so short and not consistend I just do not know. He looks just like your baby! It started June 30th when he was on the bed with me and his eyes were going back and forth really fast…since then he has had two episodes of not being able to get his balance and walking with a “drunken” gait. All the episodes have lasted less than 3 minutes and by the time I got him to the vet he presented fine. They did blood work and a full neuro exam (including a deep ear exam) the only thing they came up with is he is slightly weaker on his right side and that his left ear has some “waves” in it which could mean infection. We are treating with a 14 day trial of antibiotics in hopes it clears up but he is half way through and it happened again last night. It is terrifying 🙁 he has always been so healthy…with the exception of sensitive skin which has manifested into over grooming and he has taken quite a large patch of hair off his right side. I just love him so much and want to help him. I pray it is not a tumor or something. I am saving up for the CT or MRI but at this point cannot afford it. Thanks for any help you can offer.
It is suspected that my Female Kitty has this. She was hospitalized for three days and diagnosed with Non-Regenerative Anemia. After treatment of 2 weeks antibiotics and steroids, her blood counts are back to normal. We are weaning from the steroids now and will check bloodwork again in a few weeks. Her blood was checked for infectious diseases, poison, etc. Very extensive testing done. For the Vestibular, it is potentially related to an ear infection, but a definitive diagnosis could not be made without an MRI. She improved drastically after a few days of antibiotics and steroids (prendisone). She has a healthy appetite and normal urination and bowel movements. But she has had a few set backs where she will shake a little and have sudden vertigo. The first one happened a few hours after the car ride to the vet. She had a slight slant to her walk for a few days afterwards. Then it straightened itself out. Friday evening she had a bad Vestibular attack (the first time she has thrown up) and extreme difficulty walking. She is indoor / outdoor and the three weeks this has been going on is causing her frustration. My suspicion is her attack on Friday evening happened because she disturbed her system by aggressively pawing on the patio door wanting out. I could see she immediately was a little dizzy and progressively got worse to not being able to walk and throwing up. By Saturday evening, she was almost normal, walking well and a very slight head tilt. I was able to dose her with Meclizine which helps with nausea and supposed to protect the vestibular from over stimulation.
My cat is on his 3rd day of being un balanced, he isn’t eating much and having a hard time with walking as your cat is and it saddens me so much because he loved to hunt and be an outside cat. We are waiting on the blood sample results from the vet but I think it’s vestibular syndrome. How is your cat doing ?
I know this was a long time ago but I think this is what my cat has right now. Mine isn’t eating or drinking anything tho at all. I’m having to syringe ckn broth & water down his throat & today I tried pureed food with a lot of water added but he threw it up. He’s losing a lot of wgt & he doesn’t move out of his spot not even to potty. I don’t have the $ to take him to the vet & I’m so worried abt him.
My cat has some sort of vestibular disease. She keeps loosing he balance and this has been going on for a a few days now. I have quite many feral cats in the yard that i feed and this is the first time it happened and my parents keep refusing to get her to a vet as it would be expensive. Could you help me understand if it is central or peripheral vestibular disease?
Hi. May I know how did you feed him during that time? My cat just recently diagnosed with VD. And he just keeps on rolling. I tried to force feed him but to no avail. He just swallowed a little bit. Im quite worried he is not getting enough nutrition. I also tried giving him few mls of water, and its the same case like the food. 😢 he is unable to eat on his own.. any advice?
My 14 year old recently came down with a case of head tilt and bad balance along with always showing the 3rd eyelid on the ’tilted’ side. My vet said his ears were spotless and gorgeous and said she thought it was Horner’s syndrome, due to the fact that he was currently in the middle of yet another food allergy outbreak, which affects his skin as well as his stomach. It’s been a little over 2 weeks since we rushed him to the vet, and the steroid shot beautifully cleared up his allergy issues (as always) but the head tilt and balance issues got a bit worse up until a few days ago. Vestibular Disease sounds a lot more like the symptoms he’s showing than what I read for Horner’s. Though he still seems to have a partial paralysis of sorts on that side. He goes in for his yearly + follow-up combo in a couple of weeks, I’ll have to ask her about this. I’m just glad he’s back to wanting to play and not sleeping tucked away out of sight all of the time. I always get concerned about quality of life in his old age, and what hard choices I’ll have to make if something is making him miserable and not going to let up. He still does a savage head shake quite often, I have no idea how his brain stays contained when he does this, and it tends to send him flying off balance every time.
Thanks for this detailed vid… I thought my cat has rabies… Because of his uncoordinated movements and he can’t hardly walk without tumbling down… He got that sadness in his eyes… And purring as if he’s asking for help but all I can do is watch and figuring out what’s going on and fear that he would bite for no reason if I get near him…
I have this problem because, sometimes, the floating crystals in my ears that the brain uses to judge orientation sometimes get stuck in the cochlea due to the ear being inflamed, either due to allergies, infection, called vestibulitis. Going on carnival rides, elevators, and boats can induce the same symptoms by causing the crystals to temporarily get stuck in one position due to gravitational forces pulling on them. This sends confusing signals to the brain as to what position you’re in, causing the ground to feel like it’s moving and the world to appear to spin. Some people even pass out or vomit when this happens. When it’s bad, I take Dramamine to keep me from throwing up reduce the spinning feeling, and help my coordination. Then, when it’s tolerable, I do certain exercises to get my brain to focus on my eyes more than my ears. After that, if someone is with me (just in case I pass out or throw up), I do rapid position changes as instructed by my doctor to shake the fluid in my ears in an effort to dislodge the crystals in my ears. It’s not fun, but, it works.
Please ask your vet about meds that can help keep Ben comfortable. Two hours after her first Prednisone pill, my cat was able to lift her head off the floor and then actually walk for the first time in two days. 24 hours later she jumped onto the kitchen counter. She is still presenting with symptoms but is clearly more comfortable.
This is my Ragdoll’s symptoms exactly. Took her to the overnight emergency clinic 10 days ago… she was screaming, scared, tilted head, etc. and the vet said it was Vestibular. She’s on day 10, has had a couple of relapses to that worse state (can’t walk, dizzy, eye glare). I’ll ask the regular vet about checking her ears for infection and using antibiotics. Thank you for the thorough article and discussion, and it’s good to read the similar incidences below… I shall hold out hope and not give up! She is living in the padded (yoga mat, stiff rugs) master bathroom, likes her padded cardboard crate lid to sleep in (she can step over the 4 inches, but once inside can push against the sides to adjust herself, and lean against. She stumbles over to the litter box (amazingly) and to her food, but I have also taken it to her. It is such a sad thing to watch, but this is my favorite cat ever, and she’s only 10yo and I will do anything to help her get back to ‘normal’.
My cat has just come down with this as the result of a bad ear infection. He looks identical to Ben. I’m have a hard time keeping him hydrated even with pedialyte. He still eats but its very hard for him. Afterwards he sometimes vomits be cause of his severe disorientation. There is a lot of swelling in his inner ear which has caused paralysis of one side of his face. I just started him on steroids and a new pill for of antibiotic today but he’s in such bad shape the outlook seems grim. Any suggestions on hydration and diet? He has lost most of his muscle and is like skin and bone.
Thank you very much for this article, hope youre kitty is doing well 🙂 it help me diagnose my 16 year old cat, we took her to the vet and she was mis-diagnosed as having arthritis, i was able to tell him to check for FVS and she had a bit of imflammation in her ear. Mine went from being healthy and active in the morning to not being able to stand up in the afternoon. After a week, with a lot of cuddles and encouragement she has regained most of her balance, still walks a bit sideways but i hope for a full recovery after another week.
its so sad to see them in that way, my cat started with that just one day after she gave birth to 3 kittens, she is recovering slowly, im giving her cat supplement called “Nutribound” from Virbac, she is doing an amazing work with her littles like a super cat and im taking care of her the most i can. I hope she recover soon…
My cat is having seizure I think but he is weak and can’t move his legs since yesterday. Then he looks weak. How much can cost if I take him to vet? or should I say goodbye to him. He often have his seizure today. I think its his 3rd time. Can I take him to vet or goodbye to him. and he has poor appetite. he can’t eat for 24 hours. and also vomiting. Please reply before its too late. give me an advice
my senior dog had the same symptons a month ago and it was terrifying. i wish i had more knowledge at the time to deal better with the situation. but he’s fully recovered, and i dare to say, he seems like a younger dog now. appetite increased, gaining weight again, even more excited to play with toys and the walk outside is more interesting. IF YOU’RE GOING THROUGH THIS RIGHT NOW: it will pass. it will get better. he/she will recover. take care of your seniors, he/she need your love and care more than ever at this time.
Our senior rescue was 13 when he got this. The vet was unable to officially diagnose if it was idiopathic because we couldn’t afford MRI scans. Doggy was on lots of medications for 8 months and was never fully recovered (I would say about 70%) and on the 8th month we noticed him bleeding from the mouth. It was a tumour. Vet says it’s highly likely the vestibular disease was caused by a brain cancer/tumour which has finally spread to his mouth. We had to put him down 2 months later because he was unable to eat comfortably and stand anymore. We still miss you everyday Zest, hoping to see you again soon.🌈☁️
Hello. Thanks for informatıons.. My 11 year old boxer dog is in this situation for 3 months. At first I went to many different vets. Brain tomography and spinal tomography were taken. Detailed blood tests were done. The results are excellent. Last year, she had an epilepsy crisis one time and she was half paralyzed at that time. Then it seemed like she was getting better. And for the last 3 months, we have been experiencing what has been completely described. The vets could not understand the problem. One said paralysis. The other said old age. And I was only able to diagnose it myself after perusal the articles. The vet intermittently made decord cortisone needles. She recovered for a few days after cortisone, she ran, she was happy. Then it got worse. It was made from B1, B6 and B12 needles for the last 1 week every day. And she is vomiting right now. But she tries to eat cause she love her food. just struggle to control her tongue.. Her head and her rıght sıde of body has to support by wall or me or whatever she can fınd 🙂 She falls on her rıght sıde mostly cause cant stay stable. She sleeps constantly. She can’t walk without my support. Her legs are shaking. So all the treatments did not work. I do my best but really have no ıdea what ıs the best treatments to fix her.. Is there a solution to help her. I am south coast of Turkey and beside the sea. She loves swımmıng.. I take her swımmıng but support her of course by holdıng my hands under her stomach. This is our story. Thanks for readıng.
We’ve recently had issues with what our vet stated may be vestibular disease in our Miniature Schnauzer. Desperate to help her with her inability to walk, eat, or drink normally, we read about trying Cayenne Pepper, which has proven to be successful, restoring her balance when used. It’s usually only needed once a day. When her symptoms kick in, I wet the first digit of my index finger, dip it in Cayenne Pepper, shake off the excess, then put it in her mouth & rub it on her gums & tongue. I’m careful not to get it on her nose or in her eyes, because it’s irritating. It has made such a difference for the past few days and is allowing her to recover. My understanding is that the Cayenne Pepper is a vasodilator that helps with blood flow, providing some relief from the symptoms. Her appetite kicks in when she starts feeling better & we are careful to feed her only a bit. Naturally, the hydration is more important for now. If this helps anyone out there get through this, it’s worth sharing. ❤
Good advice. FWIW: DON’T be lulled into a sense of security when your vet says that most dogs recover from vestibular disease / syndrome. Most dogs do recover but if the underlying cause of the vestibular disase / syndrome is CENTRAL (brain related) the outcome is likely to be sad. Be prepared as this can unfold very quickly – four days in the case of our beloved 13yo wirehaired dachshund Archibald. One minute you are waiting out this very distressing / debilitating illness with few treatments beyond offering comfort and hoping for a recovery and suddenly you realise that there’s no turning back. Heartbreaking. ALSO – when caring for your dog during this period be sure that they do NOT aspirate (inhale) food as this may harm them more than the vestibular disease. Goodluck everyone – love them while you have them and do everything you can to give your dog time to recover. Let’s hope that vet science can develop a treatment for this common condition.
Our dog, age 7, started losing balance. Then whining, shaking. We took him to emergency on Saturday and they said they thought it was a disc, did some X-rays, ultrasound, bloodwork, prescribed gabapentin. We were going to take him to his regular vet Wednesday. Tonight, Monday, he died! We are so heartbroken. I feel like we failed him…
Give the dog Cayenne Pepper and the attack of vestibular sill cease within 5 seconds. This works by opening blood vessels as there is a response to the Cayenne Pepper. I used it to cure my dog 2 years ago having attacks each day. The vet was completed useless as was the medication they gave. Just have a jar of Cayenne Pepper on hand. If the dog has an attack lick and dip your finger in it and put on their gum. Use about half a matchstick head amount in their food each day. Works a treat. Sounds unlikely but it works instantly and completely and it costs so little
My new born puppy got bit on the neck by my older dog and started walking in circles tumbling over and just whining all day and night, I’m not sure if it can sleep, it can barely eat and drink. Can anyone help please. It literally can only stop for like a second and just keeps going it does not stop.