feline vestibular disease
My kitty was recently diagnosed with feline idiopathic vestibular disease. Essentially it's a problem with his inner ear that causes intense dizziness (vertigo like), nausea, and disorientation. My vet thinks it was caused by a mild inner ear infection. He's a little over ten years old so we were afraid that he might have had a brain tumor at first, luckily that does not seem to be the case.
He's in his third week of recovery and still having some trouble with balance. Unfortunately it can take 4-6 weeks for recovery and his head tilt, and dizziness in stressful situations, may be permanent. I've padded most of the hard surfaces at cat level in the house and blocked a couple of particularly high windowsills. I gave him daily gentle neck messages to ease his head tilt, though it always seems to come back. I'm not sure what else I can do to help him recover and live with this unfortunate condition.
Has anyone else dealt with this health issue before, as far as providing long term care? Any ideas to help ease him symptoms?
Thanks in advance.
I'll be no help, but my elderly dog had idiopathic vestibular disease as well. His just cleared up on its own after a few days, but it was as scary as hell when it first happened. We thought he'd had a stroke. The only action I remember taking is to elevate his food dish so he wouldn't have to bend down to eat. Otherwise he would just sort of tilt his head (like he was compensating) and barrel toward where he wanted to go. He was quite a trooper.
I hope your kitty gets better!