A week ago, my dog was fine, now she seems to be in a vegetative state!

My 8 year old golden retriever began acting strangely last Friday. She seemed down, had a slight soft cough, but otherwise acted sort of bummed. I thought she was just missing her dad, whom she loves, so I figured I would see how she was the next day. Saturday morning, she seemed fine, no problems, took her for a walk and everything seemed normal, but when her daddy got home that evening, we saw the first actual symptom and sign that all might not be OK. She loves to lie in his lap when he is in his chair, but after she got down off his lap she sort of crumbled. Her legs didn't seem to want to hold her up, she was wobbly and didn't seem comfortable putting her neck down, but she did eat her supper when I put it between her front feet as she laid down. That dinner Saturday was the last meal she ate. In the 5 days since, her only liquid has come from iv fluids and her only food from what I can get into her via eye dropper. She's been to two vets, both did blood workups, xray and urinalysis and neither found ANYTHING wrong with her. She has been at the vet's every day getting iv fluids, home every night with a catheter, with us trying to get something foodlike into her by eyedropper. To my eye, her movements seem involuntary at this point and she has gotten less and less responsive and no longer responds to her name at all.  If you put your hand near her eyes, she will close her eyelids, but it's not like a conscious thing.  I don't think there is any recognition in her eyes, but my husband holds out hope. The vets have diagnosed her as having idiopathic vestibular syndrome, though those I have spoken too admit they don't see dogs with this condition as unresponsive as she is. Husband spoke to a nurse at one of the vet's who said she has seen dogs with this syndrome take 5 to 7 days to recover from this, so he is committed to giving her the time. She is his dog, so it is his decision, but I am losing hope. Her bloods are normal, ultrasound sees no tumors, her temperature is normal, her body shows no sign at all why she has just slowly vapor-locked. We are heartbroken, stressed and desperate for answers. I suspect it is not vestibular disease, but looks enough like it that two vets diagnosed it as such. Does anyone reading this know of anything that could destroy this beautiful dog in a week and show no sign on blood work or ultrasound or urinalysis? We are desperate for answers. Arielphf

Hello and I am so sorry to hear what has happened to a clearly beloved pet.  I'm afraid that there are many conditions that can cause dramatic changes within the space of a weak and these can be some of the most difficult for their owners. I can sense your frustration with your vet not finding anything wrong, but of course they have; idiopathic vestibular syndrome would be a valid diagnosis and not an easy one to come to.   This usually suggest an injury in a certain portion of the brain and possibly the nerve (sounds more like the brain in this case) but the way to get to the bottom of this may well turn out to be with MRI imaging, as the brain is obviously within the skull and therefore difficult to reach by other means. It would be up to yourself and your vet to determine how much there would be to gain by carrying this out. All the best to you and your loved one.  

Sp.  *week* my apologies.