Tasha is our 15-year-old female border collie.
During the night we woke up to Tasha thrashing around on the floor in great distress. By the next morning we knew that something was very seriously wrong. When she finally managed to stand up she staggered and veered across the room and her eyes were moving rapidly from side to side. We cried buckets and called my mother-in-law to come over as we were sure that she had had a stroke and we were going to take her to the vet, probably returning without her. My mother-in-law has visited Tasha nearly every day for play and exercise while we were out at work and is the main reason that Tasha has been such a healthy and active dog and we wanted her to be with us.
Our wonderful vet – Dr. Johnson of the Carling Animal Hospital – after a quick exam of Tasha said “Guys, I’m pretty sure it’s not as bad as you are thinking – I think Tasha has Vestibular Disease.” He then explained to us what vestibular disease is (we had never heard of it before – see the description at the end of the article) and the prognosis was good – it was just a matter of time and tender loving care. He examined her thoroughly to rule out any other possibilities (such as an ear infection) and concluded that it was in fact vestibular disease.
alt="Ottawa Dog of the Week"/>
Liz Bradley is a dog lover who lives in Ottawa, Ontario with her husband,