Why is my dog's head tilted if ears are clean and balance is good?

Question

I have a 3 year old Bernese Mountain dog that acquired a head tilt about two weeks ago. His balance is good and his ears were checked by a local vet under sedation and they were clean and clear. It doesn't seem to be slowing my dog down but he does appear to be a little more anxious then normal. There is No rapid eye movement or any type of circling. His only real symptom is the tilted head. My vet said the next step would be an MRI but that is not in our budget. Do you have any advice?

Sara Farmer, DVM · Accepted Answer

Unfortunately I agree with your vet that MRI is probably the next step. Even though his ears appeared normal inner ear disease is still possible although fairly unlikely, especially since there is no nystagmus eye movement noted. A head tilt can be a sign of infectious or inflammatory brain disease, a stroke or blood clot in the brain, or even a brain tumor. If the head tilt is the only neurologic symptom and your dog is otherwise acting like his normal self you could consider simply monitoring for additional neurologic signs - with most of these neurologic problems I would expect more symptoms to develop as the disease progresses.

Why is my dog's head tilted if ears are clean and balance is good?

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