4 year old Maltese diagnosed with a stroke, what are her chances of complete recovery?

My mothers 4 year old Maltese was diagnosed with a "mini stroke" yesterday. She will not turn to the right, will only turn left. When she walks straight, her path veers to the left. The vet on looking at her thought it was a inner ear infection but said he saw no sign of infection, so that led him to believe she had had a mini stroke. He said she would probably be better by the end of the week. He gave her a shot and sent her home with 2 meds for the next week. Any one have any experience with small young dogs having a mini stroke?? I'm worried to death about her.

Yes. My border collie had one when she was very young. She recovered very well and is now 13 years old. Hang in there, she probably is going to be fine!
The shot was probably steroids.
Also, was it in her spine or her brain? Spinal strokes are very different, and do NOT effect your dog's brain. And strokes effect dogs very differently than humans. Your dog probably got a steroid shot, some vets treat with low dose asprin.
Anyway, do not assume the dog can not make a full recovery. Mine did just fine. She has a long history of doing very well in sports trails in both agility and herding trails and is now enjoying an active retirement with plenty of low impact agility and herding cats and bunnies.
If she continues to have these episodes, they will need to look for a brain tumor, as sometimes TIA's are the first symptom of the disease. Watch for personality changes as well, that is another tip off that a tumor is forming. I have been on tumor watch for the last decade (literally) and all was well. Your pup could very well recover fully, so hope for the best! Mine did!
Ah found an article for you!
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http://www.justanswer.com/questions/1hfm...

Happy to report that Maggie has completely recovered. She is walking fine now and shows no signs of the stroke. thanks for the answers!! Report Abuse

Okay, she definitely has had a mini-stroke. Good call by the vet for suspecting a middle ear problem first.
Not sure what the meds would do as the stroke is either a blockage of blood to a section of the brain in which case that area of brain is dead and can't be replaced. Or, the stroke was a little bleed into an area of brain putting pressure on it and impairing it's function.
The amount of after-effects will depend on which one of the two conditions listed above happened. It also depends on how big an area was affected if it was a bleed.

That she has had her walk affected indicates that most of the damage is in a part of the motor cortex but not severe. It's possible she'll make a bit more recovery over time as the blood is reabsorbed and some of the brain recovers but is unlikely to make a full recovery.

You may notice some other deficits too with her coordination from this event occurring. One has to consider what quality of life the dog has if the tendency to walk left remains very pronounced making mobility difficult or dangerous for her.
No need to rush into anything at this stage and give the dog a couple months for a more complete picture of just how much recovery she is likely to make and how much her deficits affect her daily activities.

I hope the vet has told you that at such a young age when a stroke occurs there's a likelihood of another stroke within the next couple years.