What are the signs of vestibular syndrome?
The most frightening thing about the disease is how quickly it can strike. Just like a stroke: one minute the animal can be running around normally – the next it cannot stand up! Common signs of vestibular syndrome include falling, head tilt (rotation of the head with one ear held lower than the other), flickering of the eyeball from side-to-side or up and down (nystagmus), general wobbliness (often with the animal drifting to one side as he moves around) and/or circling. The balance centre is very close to the area of the brain that controls vomiting and so animals with disturbances to the vestibular system may feel nauseous or be sick. The balance sensors are close to the hearing sensors in the ear and the nerves controlling the movement of the eyelids, lips and ears. This means that diseases affecting the vestibular system may also cause loss of hearing and a drooping of the muscles in the face (facial paralysis). Similarly, diseases affecting the balance centre in the brain can als
