Here are the shocking symptoms of a 3 year old labrador retriever:

Her eyes are drooping, she cannot lap water.

Owner took her to the vet two days ago and he diagnosed her with Horner's Syndrome.

But last night, everything got worse. She could not lap water and could not spring up on the couch as usual.

The only thing strange in her life was aa bear attack a year ago, and she did survive with medical treatment.

I have never heard of horners disease, and of course I am the breeder of said dog.

The only similar experience I know of was when I was a child, we had a boxer who got into a burn barrow, and ran off into the woods to die. We found him, took him to the vet, and he had lock jaw (not sure the medical name) and was cured.

Please advise, we have been breeding for 12 years, and I never heard of this horners disease (if that is what it is) nor do I know anyone who has, and what is the treatment?

Please advise asap

Horners Syndrome is not genetic it is caused by the swelling of the nerves around the head, eye,inner ear and along the spinal cord. it can be caused by an bad inner ear infection which is what happened to my boy. One vet recommend going the eye vet but I took him else where and we worked on getting the ear infection under control it took about 3 months and he is normal. What I recommend is getting a vet to get her on an anti-inflammatory to try and get the swelling down and check her ears.

Here's some good info on it:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_horner_s_syndrome.html

Here is some info I found helpful when my senior was diagnosed with Horner's http://www.marvistavet.com/html/horner_s_syndrome.html

In my girls case, her symptoms presented suddenly (one eye lid dipping, head tilt, walking in circles, seemed disoriented, eyes tacking back and forth horizontally). I did panic as I thought it was something very serious- when I got her to the vet, the vet took one look and said: "...relax, it's Horner's, she'll be fine...". The severe symptoms did fade in a few days.

Please note- iF it is indeed Horner's it looks a lot more frightening than it is. From what I understand it can be disorienting for the animal but not painful (vets please correct me if I'm wrong on that). The dog can feel dizzy- like vertigo in a human, so, I would not be surprised the dog is unable to jump up.

One thing I learned was to use a harness rather than anything around the dogs neck (like a collar)- a collar can place unwanted pressure on the neck and may irritate the nerve that runs behind the dogs ear that is often the source of the problem.

Sending good wishes for the dogs quick recovery.

Actually Sue, it sure sounded like your girl had Vestibular Disease rather than straight Horner's. Vestibular Disease causes the eyes darting back and forth, the head tilt and walking in circles, vertigo, and can also cause eyelid droop. Here's the link:

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/vestibular_disease.html

Thanks, Patty- interesting info. My vet always spoke of these interchangeably, I must have misunderstood. Vestibular does sound more like my girls presentation.

I've had a girl with horners-it is related to the head so I'm not sure if something else is going on in that the dog you describe can't jump (unless it is due to her vision right now being impaired due to position of eyeballs)
The eyes actually look like the skull swallowed them-it is very scary to see-it required no treatment here and resolved in about 2 weeks on its own.

had a boy with it-his lasted a month (and it is a syndrome, not a disease)
He was diabetic and there does seem to be a correlation with the two-have they done blood work?

"The nerve carrying the tiny nerve fibers that provide sympathetic control to the eye have a long path and the damage may have occurred anywhere along this path."

When my old gal developed Horner's Syndrome the veterinarians that I work with recommended chest xrays to make sure there was not a tumor(s) present. I was told if there was a tumor anywhere along the nerve path it can express itself as Horner's. Thankfully no tumors were found.

I was also told that most of the time the Horner's is idiopathic and that no cause is found. The only medication I used was Artificial Tears to keep Susie's eye lubricated. It eventually went away almost 100% but she still had a slight droop to her lower eyelid until she passed away at 15 1/2.

Someone mentioned 'lock jaw' like symptoms - maybe Masticatory Muscle Myositis? We just sent out labwork on a Pug who we suspect is suffering from this.

Here is good info: http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_masticatory_myositis.html


Good luck!

Valerie

Thank you for the clarification.

Her first vet diagnosised the horners syndrome.

She is going to another vet tomorrow and have an MRI and a spinal tap taken.


The problem she is also having is that she cannot lap the water, but she can eat her food.

The bear bite took place in August 2010. (injury was on her mid-spine)

Also, she had a lime disease vaccination at Christmas

Thank you for the clarification.

Her first vet diagnosised the horners syndrome.

She is going to another vet tomorrow and have an MRI and a spinal tap taken.


The problem she is also having is that she cannot lap the water, but she can eat her food.

The bear bite took place in August 2010. (injury was on her mid-spine)

Also, she had a lime disease vaccination at Christmas

My old boy had Norner's Syndrome. It looked scary...like his eye was sinking into his head. It gradually went away. I can't remember if he was treated with any meds. It came back about a year later...no treatment...just kept quiet.

Where do you live that there are bear attacks?

I agree with "Labladyval" the symtoms sound very much like Masticatory Myositis AKA Eosinophilic Myositis. My sister's dog suffered from this a few years ago. Her dog has muscle wasting in the head, eyes had a sunken appearence, pain when trying to eat or drink. She was treated with high doses of predisone initially and then tapered off over the course of a few months. She did have the occasional recurrence and would have to go back on prednisone. It's something worth mentioning to your veterinarian.....Best of luck.

My dog's experience with Horner's syndrome was the same as labladyval. My vet said it would resolve on its own in 4-6 months. One other thing---he said it can also be the result of a previous traumatic injury like being hit by a car. Maybe the bear bite falls in that category.

Here is the up-date I received from the owner on Sandy.

Her spine and thoracic X-rays came back normal. They are running blood work but won't have the results till next week.

Next Wednesday, they will take Sandy in for a head and thoracic MRI. The Vet did not want to want to do a spinal tap. (Thank God)

She also ate a can of Hills AD soft dog food this morning. Then ate water-soaked kibble. She also gnawed on a beef marrow bone.

Also, Sandy is barely able to vocalize.