Jake is my 3yr.old Beagle. Lately he has been holding his head to the side, his mouth is drooping to that same side and his eye on that side looks strange. all of this is happening on his right side. His eye is drooping slightly and is a little blood shot. It looks to me as if he has had a stroke. He is moving around alright and is eating normally. No difference in his bowels or his routine. Could he have had a stroke without me knowing about it??
Veteran Advisor Angela Spar says:
December 24th, 2007 at 01:04 AM
It sounds as if your dog may be suffering from facial paralysis. Typically dogs present with a head tilt, drooping of the face on one side, the lips may hang down, food and saliva may come out of the mouth and there is often an inability to blink ( and the eye may look red as it can't blink and distribute the tears as normal). Thankfully in dogs they rarely get strokes and this is more commonly due to damage of the nerve supplying these ares. There are many causes: most common being idiopathic (which is the proper term for we don't really know the cause); Deep ear infection, Polyneuropathy ( multiple nerve disease, but you often get other signs too) and brain disease ( again often other signs are involved).
I would definatly get your dog checked by your vet to rule out infection and some of the other causes. Dogs with facial paralysis can usually adapt quite well and I would hope over time should improve. I usually suggest to owners in the long term that if the eye is getting red it should be kept lubricated with artificial tears.
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