07/02/2024
Riddle is facing a pretty serious challenge at the moment. (I'm including his picture doing scent work for the smiles.)
For those of you that know him, especially if you've watched him in our house or watched him do a scent work search, you know that - while he is fully blind - he is an amazing navigator. He has an uncanny ability to find his way around, runs through the house with confidence and runs full speed in the backyard. Also, when you speak to Riddle, he turns and "looks" at your face so accurately I often get asked if he is really blind. Last Saturday (June 22) he did a Detective Scent Work seminar and even successfully completed a very large search area packed with items OFF LEASH.
On Wednesday of last week (6/26), he was totally normal. On Thursday I put him out in the back yard in the morning and he couldn't find his way back to the house. He was lost and kept moving the wrong way. I called him and he turned the opposite direction. Once I got him in the house, he couldn't find his way around. He walked into corners and couldn't find his way out. He walked into walls and furniture. No matter what room he was in, he was lost. And if I called him, he couldn't find me. It seems that overnight he may have lost hearing in his left ear, as he turns to the right at every sound. He can hear, as he can perform a behavior when you ask, but he can't tell where the sound is coming from. He does not head-tilt or walk lop-sided. He did walk in circles, but not in a neurological way, but (we think) because he couldn't figure out where to go. He loves to offer "sit pretty" as a behavior, and the first time he tried, he fell over. Now he's not offering or just a really low lift off the ground. I want everyone to know that other than being confused and a little worried when he's moving around, he is otherwise healthy and happy. He still tries to get you to tug with him.
We took him to a neurologist on Friday, and we have it down to one of three causes. Brain tumor, stroke, or an inner ear issue. They wanted to do an MRI and scheduled it for Monday (yesterday). We met with a second neurologist on Monday (the first dr was out on Monday) and talked further about tests and actionable outcomes. If he has a brain tumor, we won't have it operated on. Likely it would not be possible anyway, and even if it was, we feel he would never be the same again. We would take him home and let him live his best life until he is negatively impacted, and then let him say goodbye with dignity. If he had a stroke, most dogs recover in 3-4 weeks, and there isn't anything to do but wait. If he has a problem with his middle or inner ear, the normal course would be corticosteroids. This is actually the only actionable diagnosis.
So I asked the doctor to just treat it as an ear issue to see if it resolved rather than doing an MRI that mostly doesn't help us cure him but rather just satisfies our curiosity. (Not that it's a matter of money, but the MRI alone is $5500 - 6500. I would pay that much to cure him, but if what he has is not curable, then there really is no point. If the only actionable diagnosis is ear, then go that direction and then wait and see. A stroke will improve on its own, and a tumor will get worse.)
We started the steroids yesterday. No change yet but it's too soon, so we wait. His bloodwork came back today and he's 100% normal.
So at the moment, we don't know what his future holds. Fingers crossed he regains his hearing or heals from whatever is happening.
