Head tremors... nutrition related?

[LokiGem]

Thank you for sharing those articles, furrykidmom. I know how scary it can be to witness the head tremors and this info is important.
I would love to know if anyone else has found a connection with protein intake and/or high liver enzymes? Loki hasn't had an episode since I switched his food and his liver enzyme levels went down significantly with the food switch.
Loki's tremors were always side to side, like shaking his head 'no'. He was always completely aware and could walk and obey commands while his head was shaking. It was the wierdest thing!
...I am glad we haven't had an episode in more than a year now!
Good luck to all. Keep up the documentation and research. It is a great topic!

 

[Lola's mum]

Lola had an episode yesterday morning, her head was shaking, she had only just had her breakfast 1/2 hour before so that can't be the cause. I was able to bring her out of it by calling her name and petting her. Weird!

 

[Rocco's Mom]

I haven't noticed any head tremors with Rocco since the episode last week. Since he was a puppy, his left back leg from time to time will start going like he was going to scratch himself or something. He never actually scratches himself just his leg makes the motions. I have been noticing it more lately though. If I call his name it will stop but then start again moments later. He hasn't ever really missed a meal either.
Since his illness last year he's been tested for so many things. I'll have to look over the paperwork from the internal med. Dr. to see if there was anything about liver enzymes mentioned. If I find any addl. applicable comments, I will let you all know.

 

[furrykidmom]

Oh well, we were so hopeful that Woody's head tremors would be a one time thing. Unfortunately, he woke with them again tonight. I called him from the couch to the kitchen for a biscuit and they were gone. They were gone while he was waiting for the biscuit.

This is so confusing and scary. Has anyone's Boxer been doing this for years? I just really need to know that there is a strong possibility that this will never progress into anything worse.

I am also confused because the literature that I found said that it is usually genetic and no one in Woody's line has ever done this to the best of our breeder's knowlege. They are both reputable and I trust that they are telling me the truth.

 

[violetashlee]

Oh well, we were so hopeful that Woody's head tremors would be a one time thing. Unfortunately, he woke with them again tonight. I called him from the couch to the kitchen for a biscuit and they were gone. They were gone while he was waiting for the biscuit.

This is so confusing and scary. Has anyone's Boxer been doing this for years? I just really need to know that there is a strong possibility that this will never progress into anything worse.

I am also confused because the literature that I found said that it is usually genetic and no one in Woody's line has ever done this to the best of our breeder's knowlege. They are both reputable and I trust that they are telling me the truth.

I cant offer any information, but I am sorry to hear about Woody. We are sending him hugs.

 

[furrykidmom]

Thank you. It means so much to us to have the support and compassion that we receive here from other Boxer owners.

 

[quintopozoso]

It's great to find this thread.

Our dog Huicho just had his third episode of head tremors. He is about to be 3 and each episode has been separated by several months.

Last night as we were getting ready for bed, he lifted his head and it was shaking "no." I think the previous two times were pretty similar. The previous times, it had gone away, so we just tried to confort him and didn't think much of it.

This morning, his head was shaking again, so I decided to turn to BW. We tried the peanut butter suggestion, and the tremors stopped.

He's had a really healthy appetite in the past 2 days or so. He had eaten dinner 2-3 hrs. before the tremors happened last night, though he hadn't had his breakfast this morning when we noticed the tremors. However, after he was better he scarfed down his morning meal.

I don't think Huicho's case is heat- or activity-related. He was pretty mellow yesterday. We went for 2 walks and we played a little bit, but he slept most of the day. I wonder if he wasn't feeling well. In fact, he even went to bed by himself kind of early, which never happens. So he wasn't overheated yesterday or this morning, especially because it's been a bit chilly.

We haven't had tests on him, so we don't know what his bloodwork looks like. We feed him Nutro Natural Choice Chicken, Rice & Oatmeal, which has been good for him because of his sensitive stomach. We also give him the same brand treats for sensitive stomach. We also have been giving him treats to help with his joints, since he had HOD as a puppy and has problems with his hind legs. I can't remember what brand they are, because the package tore and I threw it away.

I have no idea what has caused Huicho's tremors, but I just wanted to share our experience, hoping that this adds to our collective knowledge. Thanks to everyone else for your stories!

 

[quintopozoso]

Well, it happened again yesterday morning. He was lying down on his bed and when he got up, he had the tremors.

He hadn't touched his food yet. The peanut butter seemed to do the trick again. So there may be a blood sugar correlation, at least in his case.

 

[furrykidmom]

Knock on wood -- We have not had any reoccurences since Christmas Eve. I wonder if it was exposure to the paint fumes?

We also did a diet change. We changed from Innova Adult to California Natural Red Herring and Sweet Potato.

quintopozoso I hope this is something fleeting like ours has been so far. I still do not feel that we are out of the woods but time will tell.

 

[zoeandodd]

I don't know if this is just coincidence or not but our 5 month old Buster had his first head tremor the other night and it was after he hadn't eaten a proper dinner. Buster has a total routine with his food which he loves but that day we had been out of the house with them most of the time so instead of his usual dinner he got a bowl of cooked chicken earlier than normal and nothing else. The portion of chicken was probably less than his normal meal. When he fell asleep that night his head started shaking left to right and did this a number of times. It's not happened since thankfully,and I hope it doesn't happen again. It was one of the most frighteneing things I've ever seen.