My first dog got it when he was older,at 13 years, his first episode we rushed him to the ER vet, not knowing if the cause was something life threatening like a tumor or a stroke of some sort, when they said it was Vestibular syndrome they gave us nothing but Benadryl, but wanted to keep him overnight and charge us $1300, I asked about giving him Antivert, the ER vet didn't know if it could be given to dogs, I knew it could so we took him home and gave him some of mine. the Meclizine was a life saver,if he got it at the start of an attack within about an hour he could walk. He had them several times, they were not severe episodes.
I have another dog that is 13, his one attack was pretty severe, even with the Antivert twice a day he still had trouble maintaining his balance without falling over, it took him several weeks before his balance returned to baseline and the head tilt took longer to go away. There's still a slight tilt, but unless you knew it was there you wouldn't notice. The only thing now is while he can go downstairs with no trouble he wants us to stand behind him to go up.
I would make sure your boy doesn't have a deep seated ear infection too, that can be a cause.
A girl of mine lived with Geriatric Canine Vestibular Disease for more than 3 years after diagnosis until over age 15 when we helped her cross to the Rainbow Bridge. She also had LP without surgery, diagnosis was around 13. There was no way I could put her through the surgery at that age. She lived well over 2 years post 1st symptoms of LP.
Each dog with a senior disease does differently. It also depends how much else is wrong. My girl was losing especially her rear muscle rapidly in the end to the point she was quite far down in her hocks. A relative carried her out to potty 5 times daily. She never had an accident in the home. I probably should have let her go then but her tail wagged, she ate fine, she had a sparkle in her eyes and she maneuvered around the home ok most of the time.
With those 3 health problems, she shocked me living so long and wagging her tail the minute someone came near her or into the TV room. We bought her a big, thick, orthopedic bed and kept her stress level at a minimum. Even pizza delivery got her LP and Vestibular Disease going, so we stopped ordering pizza. She loved the crust and smell of it as it entered the home to the point she stressed herself out when the doorbell rang and she got a whiff of pizza.
All you can do is make him as comfortable as possible, keep his stress level down, keep him on a healthy diet and if the medication is helping he has a chance of a longer life. As long as his time here is quality you have it beat. I wouldn't expect a huge improvement from where you are at now. Vitamin C is always good or use an all around Multi Vitamin and add some extra C. You can wrap it in cream cheese,
I hope you have more quality years together. You will know when it's too much for him, our Labs always tell us. Don't allow an ER vet to tell you he had a stroke as GVD can present as a stroke to some unknowing vets.
I wish you 2 all of the best. Good luck and enjoy him!
Update: On 3/11, three weeks after his diagnosis of CVD, my dog was pronounced "completely recovered." He has no residual deficits of any kind, and I'm very happy! The specialist couldn't predict if it would recur, so I'll have to hope for the best.
Thank you for your input; it was helpful, especially learning about about a possible connection between CVD and stress. Until research points to a definitive cause, it's something I'll keep in mind.
