Section: Information In-depth
Peripheral vestibular disease primarily affects older dogs, age 12 to 13 years of age.
Typically, peripheral vestibular disease does not have a known cause. Many resolve and slowly improve over one to two weeks. The involuntary drifting of the eyes usually goes away in the first few days. Your pet may have a permanent head tilt, but most pets accommodate and do well.
Other diseases that have signs similar to peripheral vestibular disease are:
Inner ear infections
Low thyroid function
Trauma of the inner or middle ear
Cancer of the middle ear
A thorough ear examination will help determine if the cause of the symptoms is due to peripheral vestibular disease or another cause. Unfortunately, there are no specific tests that will confirm peripheral vestibular disease. If the animal is showing the typical signs and all other causes of these signs have been ruled out, the animal is diagnosed with peripheral vestibular disease.
Central peripheral disease also primarily affects older dogs. Most cases of central peripheral disease are due to tumors within the brain affecting the vestibular nerve.
Other diseases that mimic the signs of central peripheral disease include:
Thiamine deficiency
Head trauma
Metronidazole toxicity
Viruses such as distemper, herpes, parainfluenza, rabies
Bacterial brain infections
Rickettsial infections such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichia, Lyme
Leptospirosis
Fungal infections such as blastomycosis, histomycosis, cryptomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, aspergillosis
Protozoal infections such as toxoplasmosis, neosporosis
Thorough examination, blood tests, CSF tap, and possibly CT or MRI are necessary to determine the cause of central vestibular signs.
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