My poor dog keeps shaking!

[slidenby]

I've navigated to this site, and a few others out of desperation. My poor dog is suffering from involuntary shaking of her head. It does not occur often. I have seen it about a dozen times in the last year, and only seems to last a short while - a minute or two tops. While her head shakes (quite rapidly) she seems her normal happy self and doesn't even seem to notice that its happening. She isn't paralyzed by it - she runs around, licks me, plays and generally acts exactly the same as if it were not happening at all. She doesn't seem to be in any pain and this is the only "symptom". She eats normally, exercises regularly and gets lots of playtime with her Dad. She is a Shepard mix, about 3 years old and around 45lbs. By all accounts she is perfectly healthy and I have been told by several Vets she is the picture of good dog health. So what on earth is causing these "tremors"?

Has anyone else had this issue in their dog or heard of such a thing? I've taken my dog to several vets and am always told there is absolutely nothing wrong with her and feel as if they believe I am exaggerating the problem. The last Vet I visited again told me nothing was wrong and when I inquired if there was any blood test etc. that could be done or any more investigating we could follow through on he told me there was no need.

Please help! I am so worried about my doggy! While these tremors may not seem like much, when it happens it is extremely frightening to me and I can't imagine that they really are "nothing" as the Vet's have told me.

[MariaRosa]

Hi Slidenby~

Please, please get your little one into a different vet. Always remember that ANYtime you feel the type of concern you've been feeling, it's almost ALWAYS valid and merits investigating. I liken it to "maternal instinct". NEVER ignore it.

I'm not absolutely positive about this, but it sounds to me like your baby is having some mild seizure activity. Don't be alarmed about this.....it is something that you should be concerned about, but it is not something that is beyond your control to remedy.

First things first......make an appt to bring your little one to a new vet. If possible, ask around and see who other people in your area take their pets to, and ask how happy they are with them. It's very important that your furbaby gets seen by a doc.

In the meantime, begin keeping a "medical journal" for your dog. It can be as simple as a spiral bound notebook. In this, keep a daily log. Record what your little one is eating, how much, bathroom habits (like if he "goes", does it look normal? Don't be afraid to be descriptive, lol), record any unusual behavior your dog shows, or if the day went well, just put a :)

The most important thing is this: when your dog shakes, record the duration of the shaking, the time of day, a desription of what you observe before, during and after the shaking eposode. Was there stress in the house before the episode occured or was everything status quo?

All of this info will be invaluable to your vet in diagnosing your little one properly. Before your appt, jot down any questions you may come up with so you won't forget to ask. Take the whole notebook with you to your appointment. (I would have the receptionist make copies of the pages that contained important info about my dogs health, and keep those copies in her chart there.)
You can also use the notebook to record any info your vet gives you for reference later, use it to keep track of appoinments, use it to record meds, everything.

My Bootsie had seizures ever since she was given to me at 6 months of age. Her siezures were not grand mal, but they were more than head tremor. HOWEVER, later in Bootsie's life, she did have episodes of head tremor that were exactly like what you described.

Check these links for more info, and please post back and let us know how your little one is doing. Your dog may or may not have epilepsy, but these are good places to start.

Some descriptions of different types of seizures in dogs, click HERE (http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/CanineEpil.htm)

The Epi-Guardian Angels (http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/)

Canine Epilepsy Resource Center (http://www.canine-epilepsy.com/)

The Canine Epilepsy Network (http://www.canine-epilepsy.net/)



(((hugs)))
Paula