STROKE

So sorry to hear.Did the vet have any advice? Ours wasnt much help after we brought our dog home.The basically told us it could be permanent or may not be.Thankfully he recovered.We basically "guessed" at what he needed based on human care.We did our own physical therapy,moving,stretching his legs.Full body rub downs to help circulationWe took him off dog food and homecooked his meals adding vit E,C fish oil and B vitamins.Glucosamine,condroiton and MSM.We used a harness to help him stand at first.
He was able to walk again fairly quickly but the skin and muscle on one side of his body sagged a bit for a while and his lip hung on one side.His head was tilted to the right for about 6 months so he had a tendence to walk to the right for a while.That is all gone now.

Thank you for replying...we've basically ran a bunch of test for viruses that came back as negative (very expensive), chest x-ray, neck x-ray, heartworm, fungal, etc. they cant seem to give us any explanation. I was reading about strokes and it said that it takes the dogs about 3 days to improve and about 14 days to fully recover...which is exactly what she's doing. although she doesn't have the sagging like your dog did. I will probably have to get an MRI but they are so expensive. The vet doesn't seem to have an answer and we seem to just keep spending money. did you give your dog any medicine? thanks,
Brittany

He took a steadily declining dose of Prednizone for about 2 weeks and anti seizure meds for a week.Thats all.Hopefully you will see her improving steadily as time passes.

How long did it take for your dog to walk? did your dogs paws buckle when he tried to walk?

Hi Rasc, hope all is well with your dog by now, just saw your letter.
 
We had a sweet Collie, Katie, who had a stroke at about age 7. She was a healthy dog,  just walking down the hall with Mum one day, then she kinda walked into wall, and couldn't get up, altho she tried. When she was able to attempt a walk, one front paw was weird, she lifted it high every step, as if she were going up stairs, and her head was facing more into one direction...she first steps took her in a bit of a circle.
 
 My sis took her to vet, she got some sort of med (will have to ask about that.) No tests etc were done, and she came home and recooped well on her own. We upped her oily supplements (Flax, E) It took a few weeks for things to be back to normal,  but she went on to live a good, happy and healthy life, with no re occurance or lasting affects from the stroke.

I also had a dog who suffered a stroke, although she was much older when she had hers.
I got her to the vet immediately and he gave her a vitamin b shot to help bring down the swelling in her brain. He said that was about all we could do.
He told us if there was no improvement in 3 days there probably never would be. Her left side was affected. When she walked someone had to walk on her left side so she wouldn't fall over.
3 days went by with no improvement and we were really beginning to worry. The 4th day she was almost at the point where it was like nothing happened. She improved greatly and survived another 2 years!!!

Strokes are pretty rare in dogs, and in old dogs one might want to investigate vestibular disease.  Some of the other things that can cause seizure-like activity might be: epilepsy, tumors, cardiovascular issues, inner ear problems, etc.  If it were me, I'd do the MRI, since it might reveal something that would suggest whether there was a chance for recovery, or something that would limit her quality of life on an ongoing basis.  I know it's expensive, but if you have trouble affording it feel free to PM me for a list of resources that might help.  If your vet is a member of the American Animal Hospital Assn., you might want to ask if he/she will apply for a grant for you.  Info is on the AAHA website.

Have you checked out "Fibrocartilaginous Embolism's"?  to keep things short, its a stroke that is caused thru an embolism (blood clot) in the spine.  It can cause loss of mobility, and looks like your dog is having a seizure.
Most dogs, with care and I guess you could call it "physio" recover.  It is usually caused thru some trauma, and can "lie waiting to happen" for a long time.

Good luck.
Pam, Quin and Lexie