Experienced dog breeders know that dogs sometimes suffer from a variety of ailments of viral and infectious origin that can affect many organs of the animal. Sometimes the pet’s behavior changes, which becomes visually noticeable: the dog drifts to the left when walking. Often, such a movement disorder in a dog is caused by vestibular vertigo, when for no external reason the dog loses its balance. Sometimes this condition, when a dog falls on its side when walking, activates profuse drooling, nausea, rapid breathing and increased heart rate. In such situations, experts recommend urgently contacting a veterinary clinic to conduct a full examination of the animal.
Why does a dog drift to the side when walking?
When dizzy, a dog may stagger from side to side and often falls.
Contrary to existing belief, a dog staggers to the right not due to a specific illness, but to a fairly large list of diseases, many of which are considered serious illnesses of the animal.
Common reasons why a dog staggers when walking and falls are:
- the occurrence of severe trembling in the limbs, preventing the dog from standing on its paws; in this case, the animal sits down or lies down;
- the dog has poor coordination of movement, and while running or walking the animal abruptly throws it to the side;
- a dog falling under no possible circumstances;
- inability to perform certain actions, for example, after an illness, a weakened dog falls because it cannot sit or stand.
Additional signs of vestibular disorder, when the dog staggers when walking and faints, is uncoordinated movement of the eyes with a stable feeling of drowsiness, the pet's eyes dart and loss of orientation is observed, and from time to time the animal falls into a feeling of stupor. Such actions may be caused by damage to the Gaulle and Burdach bundles, or another area of the spinal cord.
Attention! The main distinguishing sign of this type of disease is sudden damage to the course: for some time the dog walks in a circle in one direction.
In particularly difficult cases, the dog staggers and falls; an unhealthy animal may not recognize its owners or its own place of residence.
Causes of poor coordination in dogs
If you do not delve into certain types of ataxia, but evaluate the issue of loss of coordination as a whole, among its main causes it is possible to focus on vestibular syndrome, the acquisition of injuries, the occurrence of tumors, the growth of viral processes, poisoning with chemically intense substances (in particular, certain drugs) drugs), inflammatory moments in the hearing organs. In each of these situations, the pet may skid, loosen, or even throw from side to side when moving, but in order to provide assistance, the owner needs to find out the clear cause of the unstable gait, carefully examining the symptoms of all its probable causes.
Ataxia in dogs
One of the serious illnesses is ataxia, which sooner or later leads to the death of a pet.
Ataxia in dogs is a pathology of the nervous system, manifested in impaired coordination of the animal’s movement in the absence of muscle weakness. Pathology occurs when any lobe of the brain is damaged. Depending on the location of the pathological focus, the following types of ataxia are distinguished:
- Cerebellar;
- Sensitive;
- Vestibular;
- Frontal;
- Psychogenic.
Most often in dogs, cerebellar ataxia occurs, which occurs when the cerebellum is damaged, which is responsible for the coordination of signal transmission from the brain to the animal’s musculoskeletal system to change the trajectory of movements. The name of the disease when translated from Greek means “disorder”, since the main symptom of the disease is erratic awkward movement, loss of balance with the pet’s strong and strong limbs.
The dog loses the ability to orient itself in space, the ability to sequentially rearrange its limbs, turn, jump, and climb stairs. The disease leads to partial or complete immobilization of the animal, against which bedsores and muscle atrophy develop.
Symptoms of disorders
Below are common causes of wobbly behavior in dogs.
Injuries
Sometimes a dog falls on its side and cannot get up as a result of a blow to the temporal bone or an automatic defect in the brain or spinal cord. Based on the specific area of the impact (specifically, they often lead to a similar anomaly), partial paralysis of the limbs, trembling of the hind legs, or an unnatural distortion of the pet’s head are likely. In addition to physical disorders, serious injuries also lead to psychological problems or memory loss, as in the case with an effect on the cerebellum.
Injuries affect animal coordination
Tumors
Growths in the animal's brain or inner ear can also cause an animal to walk unsteadily. Malignant brain tumors are deservedly considered very dangerous (often leading to the rapid death of the animal), but cysts and polyps can also cause trouble for the owner, especially if they occur in places with important nerve connections. Often, any neoplasms in the brain are more common in older animals, although young pets can also suffer from them.
For this reason, in case of the slightest signs of a violation: when a dog’s leg begins to shake, it sways when moving, falls over or falls, it is worth conducting a comprehensive diagnosis of its body using an otoscope, performing a cytological analysis or even an MRI examination.
Infections
If the root cause of a dog's unsteady gait and lack of body control is infection, then most likely its source is concentrated in the brain. Very common ailments in this regard are carnivore plague, meningoencephalitis, myelitis, encephalitis, toxoplasmosis and cryptococcosis, although fungal or viral lesions of the organ are not uncommon. Infections of the brain can serve as the basis for the progression of epileptic seizures, during which the animal jerks its limbs chaotically, bends its body like a drunk, writhes from convulsions and faints.
After a certain period of time, the attack passes and the dog behaves naturally until the next time.
Attention! The treatment of epilepsy is not particularly effective, so the owner can only take care of the pet during seizures, preventing it from being injured.
With epilepsy, a dog's eyes wander, there is loss of orientation and seizures
Poisoning
Poisoning, as the initiator of deformation of coordination in a dog, can be caused by toxins both as a result of chemical poisoning and by products that enter the body during the life of helminths. A significant number of parasites in a dog’s body leads to encephalopathy, which is also characterized by disruptions in movement coordination.
Inflammation of the ears, or otitis media in the area of the animal's middle and inner ear, is often the first cause of vestibular syndrome, since the organ of balance, defined as the “labyrinth of the cochlea,” is connected to hearing. An increase in the area of inflammation also leads to disruptions in the dog’s coordination when walking, and in some cases even to partial paralysis of the animal’s limbs. In this regard, the sooner the dog’s owner begins anti-inflammatory and antibacterial therapy, the sooner he will be able to return the dog to normal life.
Why does cerebellar ataxia occur in dogs?
One reason is a gene mutation or heredity, due to which the puppy receives the disease from its parents. The following representatives of the canine world are most susceptible to gene ataxia:
- Cocker spaniels ( American , English).
- Old English Sheepdogs.
- Staffordshire Terriers.
- Kerry Blue Terriers.
- Hairless Chinese Crested.
- Scottish Terriers.
Responsible owners and breeders of these dogs perform special veterinary tests to determine the animal's ability to pass on the disease by inheritance. If the test is positive, the dogs are not allowed to be bred. But, unfortunately, heredity is not the only reason for the development of ataxia in dogs.
Staffordshire Terriers are at risk for the disease
The disease can be provoked in a dog by head injuries that damage the brain (fall from height, collision with a car), neuritis and otitis, severe infectious diseases, brain tumors.
Diagnostic measures
The owner is unlikely to be able to personally determine the reason why the dog is moving backwards. Therefore, as soon as you notice the dog’s uncertain movements or trembling of its paws, you need to take the dog to the veterinarian. Of course, doctors do not have any single prescription.
Attention! Only after a comprehensive examination and history collection will an experienced veterinarian be able to determine the root cause of coordination failure.
Among laboratory tests, a general analysis of blood and urine will be in demand, and additional methods of data collection may include X-ray examination, which can make it possible to exclude head injuries and internal secretory otitis media, and MRI, which provides more complete information regarding the presence of tumors in the brain and inflammatory diseases. processes.
Having excluded the main ailments with coinciding symptoms (metabolic disorders, parasitic diseases or diseases of internal organs), the specialist is able to narrow the selection circle, and at the end he can only examine the condition of the external ear canal and eardrum. If, as a result of the examination, a rupture of the eardrum was found, then it is possible to suspect otitis of the middle and inner ear as a factor in the failure of movement coordination.
What to expect when visiting the veterinarian
If the owner, faced with similar symptoms in the pet’s behavior, does not understand why the dog walks poorly and falls, then it is necessary to go to the veterinarian for a full examination. Timely detection of the causes of the disease is considered a very important condition for the complete recovery of the animal; sometimes this may require a number of studies: ultrasound, x-ray, and in some situations CT or MRI of the brain.
The upcoming treatment should be based only on the diagnosis made by the veterinarian
Therefore, the sooner the owner contacts a specialized institution, the more effective the pet’s treatment will be.
A treatment plan with the choice of specific medications to restore the dog's normal coordination is developed based on research. So, if the root cause of the disorder is an inflammatory process, then it will be necessary to use potent medications, and if the pet is severely disoriented or even angry, sedative medications can help.
Tumors and other dangerous neoplasms are removed surgically, with subsequent treatment with chemotherapy for malignant tumors, or a maintenance course of vitamin medications, if a benign tumor is detected. When a hereditary factor is considered the first cause of the progression of the disease, it will not be possible to completely cure the animal, and all that the owner can do is relieve painful seizures from time to time.
In such techniques, as a rule, drugs are used that activate blood circulation in the brain and normalize metabolism in nerve tissues. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and diuretic medications are prescribed by a veterinarian if the dog has fluid retention in the tissues.
Attention! A certain dosage is selected individually by the veterinarian, based on the dog’s age and the consequences of the disease.
Ataxia in dogs: symptoms and treatment
Ataxia in dogs is a disease that gives the animal virtually no chance if the owner does not notice alarming symptoms in time and does not seek help from a veterinarian. The disease is associated with dysfunction of the cerebellum, the main part of the brain. With severe ataxia, the dog loses the ability to coordinate its movements and maintain balance. This disease can be congenital, genetic, or acquired. Today we will talk about the causes of ataxia in dogs, its symptoms and treatment.
Ataxia in dogs: symptoms and treatment
How to help your pet
A dog’s swaying while walking is a very dangerous and difficult phenomenon for the animal; for this reason, the owner is obliged to do everything possible to prevent the development of the disease and, with the help of a veterinarian’s testimony, to prevent the development of an irreversible pathology when the dog constantly drags its feet.
The list of main preventive measures in the above version includes:
- Purchasing puppies only from responsible breeders who do not use individuals with hereditary problems for breeding.
- Appropriate treatment of non-contagious and infectious diseases of your pet.
- Use for feeding only the most balanced feed mixtures containing the required amount of B vitamins.
- Compliance with the vaccination schedule.
- Ensuring the animal's constant access to purified drinking water.
- Regularly check your dog's health.
- Contact your veterinarian immediately if there is such a change in your pet’s behavior.
Timely vaccination is an important preventive measure.
In addition, in order to protect your beloved dog from infections, you need to promptly take the animal for a hygienic haircut and perform other mandatory hygiene procedures: cleaning the dogs’ ears and trimming their nails.
There are actually many reasons for an unsteady gait and they are not always safe. Only a visit to a veterinarian will guarantee the diagnosis of the disease in which the dog is moving backwards, and will protect your beloved pet from dire consequences.
