My senior dog is falling and head nodding. What should I do?

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The falling/lethargy episode you described may have been a seizure. This may be due to toxin ingestion or epilepsy, which does occur occasionally in older dogs. Head shaking may be related or unrelated as an ear infection. I recommend having Sami seen by her vet who can perform bloodwork and x-rays and prescribe anticonvulsant medications if the seizures continue. I recommend bringing a video of the episode if you are able to, as his will be really helpful in determining if the episode was truly a seizure. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you may have!

Poor Zoe! I would be very concerned that she has a serious medical problem causing her symptoms such as heart disease, which is common in senior dogs. Heart disease leads to exercise intolerance, and it would cause her to become weak during normal activity and fall over. These symptoms are certainly not normal, and she needs a visit to the vet as soon as possible for a physical exam, routine blood tests, urinalysis, and chest x-rays. Once the cause of her symptoms are found, the vet can discuss treatment options with you. Heart disease cannot be cured, but it can be medically managed. I would get her into a vet tomorrow or first thing Monday. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Poor Lucy! This could be a few different things. The most common things would be geriatric vestibular disease, an inner ear infection, a cerebral vascular accident (stroke), or a brain tumor. A lot of times it is geriatric vestibular disease which is a disorder they get when they get older that causes imbalance, but it improves with time. Unfortunately, they usually need supportive care to prevent dehydration. If she were mine, I would take her to your vet for an exam. Your vet may want to run some blood work to ensure her organs look okay and there is no toxins involved. Your vet will likely recommend supportive care and possibly antibiotics or steroids to cover all the possible problems. They may want to keep her there to watch her closely. I would give her a few days to see if she improves. I hope this helps!

It almost sounds like you are describing narcolepsy/cataplexy. This is a disease that is usually inherited so it would be strange for you to seen signs now, although it can be associated with some other diseases. Other possibilities would be a heart condition, hypoglycemia related to pancreatic disease, or neurologic diseases like myasthenia gravis. I would recommend having her examined by your veterinarian. It could be helpful for you to video an episode before your appointment if possible.

From the treatment your veterinarian has given, I can assume that he/she is suspecting your Lily is suffering from epilepsy. Phenobarbital is usually the treatment for it. On other hand a presentation with imbalance problems is more compatible with a geriatric-idiopathic vestibular syndrome, which has a good prognosis and rapid recovery even without treatment. The weakness Lily is experiencing is probably due to side effect of the drug itself and not to the actual disease. Another check up and physical examination are absolutely needed to have a better idea of underlying cause. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Poor girl. These are all signs of dementia unfortunately. Phenobarbital doesn't cause symptoms like these. I would recommend discussing with your vet about getting her on supplements to help her with her cognitive dysfunction, such as Reconcile. There is also a prescription diet designed to help aging pets called Hill's B/D that you can have your vet prescribe if interested. More info on Senility in dogs--> https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952637 I hope that your fur baby Tootsie is able to stabilize her condition soon! Best wishes and take care.

She really does need some investigation into what is going on. If toxins can be ruled out and there hasn't been a traumatic injury to the head it is most likely going to be a central nervous system lesion. Unfortunately this is normally a brain tumour or similar. Epilepsy is still a possibility but rarely occurs in older dogs. I would recommend seeing your vet as soon as possible so they can start with some blood tests and take their investigations from there. Fingers crossed for you.