Head tremors... nutrition related?

[lianab]

Head tremors

I replied to another forum but will reply here as well in case it isn't the same one. My female had head tremors when she was about 2 or 3 and they lasted for several months. WE were feeding the dogs Avo ??? - food - I am sorry I can't remember the whole name - has avocado in it. We changed thinking she might be allergic to the avocado and the tremors stopped - we never fed her avocado again but about 6 years later she had them again for about a month and then again they stopped - this time not related to a food change. We lost her about two weeks ago, she was 12, and now my male, Taz, who is 2 1/2, has started having head tremors. He is healthy, eats like a small horse, and has a great life other than the recent stress with losing his buddy. Not sure what is going on with him so have started watching this site again for information.

Liana

 

[carole]

I have found that Finn's tremors occur when he is hot. Whether its being outside in the cold and coming into hot room or his allergies. When ever he has a tremor he is hot to touch :confused:

 

[TexasTini]

Sampson has had head tremors four times that I have observed.

Like you stated...they last a few seconds and then they are gone. All of the times he has had them was when he was sleeping and we called his name. When he lifted his head was when it was shaking.

About a month or two ago, I tried to test the waters to switch him from raw to kibble. That was when these started. Not sure if there is a connection or not.

I have not noticed one for quite a while now!

Great thread!

 

[hugomom1]

Hugo's head tremors are directly related to his ear infections, which may or may not be a food allergy. He's currently on Wellness, we've switched from Royal canin, and also tried Merrick but he didn't like it. My hubby bought the crappy Iams biscuits about a month ago because he knows that they love them. I'm not a vet so I don't know if a couple of biscuits worth of an allergen could trigger his ears to flare up or not. It also might be dust, our heater has been running a lot lately.

He's off to the vet again tonight for the ear infections, I think I'm going to see about getting him tested for allergies. Whatever is causing his allergies is also causing the head tremors.

 

[hugomom1]

My female Sasha also experiences head tremors, I have had her tested for almost everything from tick diseases to thyroid. My vet then suggested that I have her see a nuerologist (at $200 for 15 Mins) (nothing too good for my little girl) she told me that there has been studies done on many breeds that they find that have had this problem. She told me it is also common in English Bulldogs. She said that these tremors are nothing more than behavioral ticks. Like a dog that would chase its tail.
HELP!

Hugo has also been to the canine neurologist. ($225 for 15 minutes for a dr and student) Basically, I got the same info. It looks worse than it is. The only exta info we found out is that Hugo usually has a left ear infection when he has his head tremors.

 

[crubin]

Mugsy had head tremors too

Mugs had his first tremor that I noticed when he was 6 months old, and I thought it was medication related (he had been hospitalized for pneumonia and on 3 different types of anti-biotics to knock it out of him). He is now almost 3 and occasionally I will notice the slight head tremors where he seems to be shaking his head "no", or sometimes he seems to be biting the air as if catching flies-head jerks. Hubby has noticed it too-how much this happens when we are not around is anyones guess, but we don't see this often-I haven't seen it in over a year. He does not seem to be in pain when it occurs, and they are over in a few minutes. The vet said it happens in dogs, especially certain breeds like the dobie, and that if it increases in frequency then yo0u could start testing but if not, leave it alone. With the cost of neurologist specialists, if it doesnt increase or seem to harm them, I'm leaving it alone..but I'm with the rest of you, its scary as hell to see it and not be able to stop it.

 

[SILLY6PAK]

This is a great thread.
I have devoured all info I can find on head tremors. All my life we have had Boxers and I presantly have 7. Abby has been my only head tremor. It started when she was aprox 2 and does always occur when at rest.
I do not believe it to be food related. I switched from several premium kibbles to grainless kibble to raw and still the occasional head tremors. I would have to say when they come they are lasting longer and do bother Abby. If I fail to notice she will seek me out to help her. I used to think it was a low blood sugar. Abby is a good eater but the honey seemed to help. We switched to giving her small amts of boiled chicken through out the day. I thought we had it beat but she had another episode Sunday morning.

Like others I went to the vet and the blood and thyroid are normal. I was sent home with phenobarb. The vet said any uncontroled shaking should be classified as a seisure. I tossed the pills as I do not agree and do not medicate just to be medicating.

Just my 2 cents to add to the info gathering.
Next episode I am going to try peanut butter.

 

[Letitia]

Head tremors

My six year old male has had head tremors since he was about 2 years old.
It can be related to thyroid problems. Zeus was in fact tested and is now on Soloxine for his thyroid, but, it did not stop the tremors. I have found that my holistic vet has been the only one that has helped. Zeus gets accupuncture and some chinese herbs. He went almost a year without another tremor. It seems for Zeus, that any medication that is not natural can trigger his tremors. ie, he was put on some pain meds for some arthritis and he immediately had tremors.
As soon as I stopped the meds, his tremors stopped. So, I had my holilstic vet put him on some homeopathic meds, and no more tremors. Seems that it can be a problem with the liver being able to process any synthetic medication.

Also, it can be related to low sugar but my holistic vet suggests karo syrup for that. sometimes honey can cause some problems also. The melatonin is good if your pup has cluster tremors especially at night. Of course, a natural diet would help also. Good luck, I know how scary it is. My western vet had absolutely no suggestions but phenobarbitol.

 

[buffym]

We had the same problem with Daisy. Her head tremors started at the end of January. Since I work at a specialty/emergency vet I immediately started to talk to a couple of doctors on staff. One doctor had asked us to try and video tape her when she starts doing this. Once I had caught this on tape I brought it to work and the neurologist here immediately said "epilepsy"!! I was shocked. She had a couple more episodes, some more severe than others, and was started on phenobarb and potassium bromide. A few weeks later one of the doctors went to a neurology seminar and found out that head tremors are very common in certain breeds and are like a muscle spasm in the neck!!! Once I heard this I weaned Daisy off of all the meds and so far, knock on wood, she has not had another episode!!

 

[LokiGem]

I know this is an old thread that has been revived, but it is a great topic. The first head tremor Loki had scared me to death. He had them regularly about once a month for 4 months.
I do believe that it is related to diet, but I'm not quite sure how. Loki's bloodwork revealed very high liver enzyme levels that my Vet thought to be responsible, and suggested that I reduce his protein intake. About a year ago I switched his old kibble that had 26% protein to a new kibble with 18% and he hasn't had a tremor since.