What to do..

[Garouin]

I believe my dog had a serious stroke. Monday morning Teddie couldn't walk or focus her eyes. We rushed her to the vet and the vet thought she has Vestibular Syndroum (sp?). We took her home and watched her for a day and she got worse. The vet came to our house Tuesday evening and suggested we take her to a local University Ventrinary hospital for ICU care. We did. She had a CT scan and all kinds of tests and they were not able to identify what the problem is. They say it's either a brain tumor or a serious stroke.

When picked up she tries to curl up to the right and when laying down she drives her right eye into the padding and her legs kick around. She has gotten better and can control her legs a bit and tries to put them on people around her. She is now eating with help, she can see people and her eyes are focusing on people. She's trying to shake and can move her head a bit.

The problem I have is that it's been a week and from what I'm told she should be recovering faster. She is 15 years old and very indepebndant and I can only imagine that this is driving her crazy.

I have always said that when a dog can't be a dog it's their time. The problem is she is SLOWLY getting a bit better and it's very very hard to make a decision like this when she is showing even the slightest improvement. The vets won't give a time frame since they do not know what is wrong but I'm expecting months for any kind of reasonable recovery if at all. She's 15 and if the recovery takes months then the vets are saying she would have to endure physical therapy and she has really bad arthritis. Standing up before this incident was a tough task for her though she was fine when she got up.

How do you decide when it's time for them to go in a situation likethis?

[EmmaGirl]

Originally Posted by Garouin

I believe my dog had a serious stroke. Monday morning Teddie couldn't walk or focus her eyes. We rushed her to the vet and the vet thought she has Vestibular Syndroum (sp?). We took her home and watched her for a day and she got worse. The vet came to our house Tuesday evening and suggested we take her to a local University Ventrinary hospital for ICU care. We did. She had a CT scan and all kinds of tests and they were not able to identify what the problem is. They say it's either a brain tumor or a serious stroke.

When picked up she tries to curl up to the right and when laying down she drives her right eye into the padding and her legs kick around. She has gotten better and can control her legs a bit and tries to put them on people around her. She is now eating with help, she can see people and her eyes are focusing on people. She's trying to shake and can move her head a bit.

The problem I have is that it's been a week and from what I'm told she should be recovering faster. She is 15 years old and very indepebndant and I can only imagine that this is driving her crazy.

I have always said that when a dog can't be a dog it's their time. The problem is she is SLOWLY getting a bit better and it's very very hard to make a decision like this when she is showing even the slightest improvement. The vets won't give a time frame since they do not know what is wrong but I'm expecting months for any kind of reasonable recovery if at all. She's 15 and if the recovery takes months then the vets are saying she would have to endure physical therapy and she has really bad arthritis. Standing up before this incident was a tough task for her though she was fine when she got up.

How do you decide when it's time for them to go in a situation likethis?

You have to gauge her quality of life. I'm so sorry for her troubles. You have a decision to make...and not an easy one.