Head Tremors

[RobinM]

Chloe had her 1st head tremor (that we know of) prior to us owning her. She had just been put on Soloxine for her low thyroid (0.2).

When we had her, and we needed to increase her dosage a little bit, once again she had an episode of head tremors.

 

All else is fine, tail wagging, she comes when called, will play, eat, whatever... she has no clue it's happenening.

 

Ok, now the meds are adjusted and no more head tremors until we go to our PA house and it's moving day.

I notice she has tremors. It was very stressful and I chalked it up to stress. When Beau was rushed to the hosptial from the accident in the yard last Memorial Day, she had head tremors. Again it was stressful. There was another time where there was a strange man the house and she had tremors.

 

Last week she had one and tonight she had one. THey last about 1-3 minutes.

One time I took her to the vet while it was happenening but it had subsided by the time we got there. She did notice that Chloe's pupils were fixed. The vet said that was neurological (epilepsy) or that could be because she was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO stressed from being at the vet (her heart was pounding so hard, I could feel it through my jeans and winter coat) I had taken her to the vet without another pup with her. She had never been anywhere since I had her alone. She was freaked. We always travel in at least groups of 2!

 

Anyone else have pups who have head tremors? I am just a bit concerned as they seem to have appeared again out of nowhere. There is no stress in the house.

 

I notice it happens more in the springtime. Is there any validity to this? This of course happened AFTER my call to the vet tonight so I wasn't able to discuss it with her.

 

Thoughts?

[CaliforniaGreys]

Sorry, nothing intellegent to say but did want to wish you luck with getting an answer

[Jiffer]

Icarus had them. His were part of his seizure disorder though. For his, we only needed to touch him or offer him food and they stopped. His also occured when he was stressed or when his blood sugar started to drop. He, too, seized more in the Springtime than at any other time of year.

Edited April 23, 2008 by Jiffer

[Guest jurishound]

Yes - Cuffy came to us with head tremors. DD5 figured out if she gave him a frosty paws or a dish of yogurt, they stop.

[iluvgreys]

Anyone else have pups who have head tremors? I am just a bit concerned as they seem to have appeared again out of nowhere. There is no stress in the house.

My boy, Finn (7) had an episode of head tremors that lasted about 3 minutes last week for the first time. Scared the holy crap out of me. Did a GT search and internet search on the symptoms and it certainly didn't seem like seizure behavior, as he was alert and responsive to me, including following me around the house. I'm betting that it was a low blood sugar response... not enough cookies during the day between meals. Anyhow, started a journal with as much detail as I could remember, in case this happens again.

 

[Bevd]

Maddison had them and Darcy has had them but they seem to have stopped these days with her (touch wood). In Maddisons case, I do believe that they were caused by Frontline and someone this week started a thread on my UK rescue forum about head tremors and a number of people stated that their dog has/had them and they too made a connection with Frontline.

[RobinM]

Maddison had them and Darcy has had them but they seem to have stopped these days with her (touch wood). In Maddisons case, I do believe that they were caused by Frontline and someone this week started a thread on my UK rescue forum about head tremors and a number of people stated that their dog has/had them and they too made a connection with Frontline.

 

The thing is we don't use any tick and flea preventative here on LI as we are on the South Shore and it's just not necessary.

We use interceptor for 6 months though, starting in March. Hummmm?

[grey14me]

is there any way that they're eating grass that could have fertilizer on it? my Bailey once had head tremors and the only thing I could remember different from that day was that she was munching on grass at the park.

[silverfish]

Maddison had them and Darcy has had them but they seem to have stopped these days with her (touch wood). In Maddisons case, I do believe that they were caused by Frontline and someone this week started a thread on my UK rescue forum about head tremors and a number of people stated that their dog has/had them and they too made a connection with Frontline.

 

 

My old Jim had them, and we took him to a neurologist at a specialist referral centre where they did all the tests, including back and neck x-rays, MRI and spinal tap (for possible neospora) and nothing showed up at all. The neuro said that it could be a seizure disorder but there was no way to find out unless it escalated, which it never did.

 

I've never used Frontline, and very, very seldom used chemicals, preferring to rely on Capstar and Program. But when we first got him, Jim had a bad case of demodectic mange and the mange wash we had to use was an organo-phosphate. Now, it was many years later that he developed head tremors, but it is just possible that it had damaged his nervous system/brain and only showed up when age meant he was losing function anyway.

 

When I asked the neuro about a possible connection, she did agree that it might be wise to keep him off anything chemical just in case he was super sensitive to it, but had no data to back it up.

[RobinM]

is there any way that they're eating grass that could have fertilizer on it? my Bailey once had head tremors and the only thing I could remember different from that day was that she was munching on grass at the park.

 

Anything is possible. We have ZERO checmicals on our lawn for this reason and when we walk them, we keep them off the lawns with the "yellow" signs, but you still never know.

 

It's frustrating and scary and as long as it doesn't escalate, we're OK. My concern is that it can't be good for her nerologically to be having these e en if there are infrequesnt. I just wish there were a silver bullet or a "Ah Ha, that's it".

 

 

[Guest SusanP]

Simon had head tremors. We were attempting thyroid tx, hoping it would help, when the tremors progressed to slight hind-end tremors. One afternoon, she very abruptly became wobbly lost the use of her front legs. She was old and very arthritic and we chose not to put her through the testing and nights away from us to try to diagnose the problem, which the vet felt was probably neurological and not likely to be easily treated.

[Burpdog]

I've had a Dobe with them and also Shadow (who went to the bridge in 2003 at 14 1/2)

 

I believe both were due to allergies. I remember Shadow eating once while he was having them! Didn't bother him in the least. Shadow was on Tavist1 year round.

[Guest Keevabat]

I don't have any answers but just so you know you are not alone, my Caoimhe had head tremors for most of her life with us. She was put thru a series of tests and nothing was ever found.

 

Best wishes to you and your family.

[Guest houndog990]

i have been dealing with the same with my girl for 3 years now. her thyroid levels came back borderline, i chose not to medicate. she has cluster tremors, her head kinda goes off skew and she looks for me all over the house. (one or twice her tremors were so bad they did knock her off balance.) i hold on to her and that seems to make her feel better, but she does cling to me afterward. then she'll have two more tremors within the next week.

stress triggers, vet trips, too much activity at the house and yes, i believe seasonal allergies. she has a cluster in the spring and fall.

i haven't brought her to have a MRI, and she doesn't have a pre or post-ictal (sp?) phase indicating epilepsy. my DVM thinks her seizures are from past head trauma.

amy

[seeh2o]

Anyone else have pups who have head tremors? I am just a bit concerned as they seem to have appeared again out of nowhere. There is no stress in the house.

My boy, Finn (7) had an episode of head tremors that lasted about 3 minutes last week for the first time. Scared the holy crap out of me. Did a GT search and internet search on the symptoms and it certainly didn't seem like seizure behavior, as he was alert and responsive to me, including following me around the house. I'm betting that it was a low blood sugar response... not enough cookies during the day between meals. Anyhow, started a journal with as much detail as I could remember, in case this happens again.

 

Carl has had them a few times, he was clear eyed and responsive, so it clearly wasn't a seizure. They even happened after dinner, so it wasn't a blood sugar problem. I started a journal as well. What my neighbor (who Carl sits frequently) and I figured out, it is related to his ears. If he has a head tremor I clean his ears and no more head tremors. One time when I was cleaning his ears prophylacticly, I hit the nerve that seems to cause the tremor and it happened while his head was in my hands. As much as it looks like a tremor, when I was cleaning his ear it felt, with his head in my hands, more like a site specific shiver.

 

Try cleaning your dog's ears, it might be the key!

[RobinM]

Try cleaning your dog's ears, it might be the key!

 

No, her ears are exceptionally clean. I've always wondered how they are as clean as they are, but they are!

 

I suspect, we will never be 100% sure but as I said, as long as it doesn't get any worse, I'm OK with it. I prefer it not to happen obviously.. but it does.

 

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I Googled Greyhound head tremors and found this thread... I have a bitch here now who experienced this today. She was completely alert, normal, chased a toy, and it would momentarily stop if she stretched or bit at her toy (she loooves toys). She was even interested in food. I completely freaked out of course (after, not during) then did a ton of research. It appears fairly common and completely harmless, but I figured I'd add my experience to this. She'll have complete bloodwork this week prior to her spay, but I don't expect to find anything unusual.

[macoduck]

Robin, can you film the next episode for your vet?

Edited May 21, 2011 by macoduck

[Guest FastDogsOwnMe]

I found a video of a Greyhound doing the same thing my dog does:

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

Maggie did that after her accident in the hospital and also in a foster home when she was around cats. Hers was stress induced and we haven't had a problem since she came to our house.

 

 

BTW- just because a dog is alert and responsive does not mean they are not having a seizure. My Italian Greyhound has focal seizures and he is 100% alert during the seizures. I'm not saying these head tremors are seizures, I don't believe they are, but many focal seizures don't cause a lapse in consciousness.

Edited May 21, 2011 by d0ggiem0mma

[Guest Tuketi]

Sorry for reviving this thread. I've been looking for info on this for a while now and find it so interesting that everyone has found different possible reasons for these tremors.

 

My dog has had them since I adopted him, maybe a total of 5 or 6 times in the past 3 years. At first I was freaked out but after doing some quick research, I assumed they were small seizures. However, now I'm not so sure, since many of you say they probably aren't. He is totally alert and aware during the tremors, and doesn't act different in any way other than his head shaking. His focus and other behaviour is totally normal. The video posted is exactly what he looks like when he has them. I've also found videos of other breeds doing the same thing, so it's obviously not just a greyhound thing.

 

In my case, I haven't been able to notice any possible triggers. He had one again this morning, which is what prompted me to search again, and there was absolutely nothing strange about the situation leading up to it. We were in bed, with his head resting on my stomach, then I pet his ears and started to get up out of bed. This is a totally normal sequence of events, obviously, that happens every day and hasn't triggered a tremor before.

 

I decided a while ago that I wouldn't worry myself with it unless they increased in frequency or intensity, but I'm really curious about what's causing them and if I should be concerned.

[lukasmom]

My Carter has had them but not as bad as the video. His chriopractor said it could be neck spasms. So far he has only had a few I have noticed and they last about 10 seconds. We are just watching and waiting right now.

[GreyTzu]

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/06/04/canine-vestibular-disease.aspx

[greyhoundlady]

My male, Buca, has had these a few times. He is always completely alert, usually laying on his bed, and just his head sort of vibrates. I give him a small tasty treat and it immediately snaps him out of it. Once he has the treat he is back to normal - no more shaking. He isn't in a trance or anything during this as he looks at me, looks around, etc. The treat does it every time - at least it hastens the stopping of the tremor. Maybe because he is concentrating on something else - a snack.

 

I told his vet about it, of course he wasn't shaking his head at the time, and I think I knew more about it than the vet did. The vet examined him all over and found nothing wrong. It is considered idiopathic head tremors.