Old age don't come alone: Vestibular Disease

Millie now over 12 years old

Friday evening I called for Millie. It was time for her supper, and although over 12 years old now, her hearing is still as sharp as a pin, especially when she knows meat and biscuits are awaiting her arrival. So I was surprised she was not at my knee, just hearing the rattle of the dog bowls. Let alone calling for her. So I popped my head around the door into the utility room, to see her stood (back to me) on the big dog bed. I called her name again and at first her reaction, I thought I had surprised her and then for an awful moment I thought she was having a heart attack. She suddenly flipped over off the dog bed staggering around and seemed unable to get her balance. I quickly got hold of her taking her to a sofa to keep her calm, and then I noticed her eyes flickering back and forth. I've seen siezures in dogs, but this was different, and a quick search by one of our children came up with it potentially being ​Vestibular Disease and apparently quite common in old dogs, enough that it is also called, "Old Dog Syndrome." We took her to the vets and he confirmed that all her symptoms pointed to ​Vestibular Disease.
​As she had not been sick and showing little distress. Still wagging her tail, when you called ner name. The vet said, "Time is our best friend with this condition, and 48 hours should hopefully see nearly all symptoms ceased." Well, 24 hours later it was hard to believe she had, had anything wrong with her. The video below is of her yesterday following one of our children around, who had a treat for her, and as you can see looking pretty good for a dog over 12 years old. Millie is on not on any medication and her heart murmur that was diagnosed around 5 years old is still slight between 1-2. Her respiratory rate at sleep I have recorded as low as 11 breaths a minute recently. She like her daughter, Smudge when sleeping, you sometimes have to watch for a while to check if still actually breathing. Respitory Rate With Regard To Mitral Valve Disease
I've never experienced ​Vestibular Disease in a dog before. It is a frightening thing to see, and said to be like vertigo in humans, but fingers crossed for Millie that all things point to it just being an idiophathic episode, so her outlook is good.