Head tremors... nutrition related?

[christinebsu]

My sister's boxer has these head tremors. Her vet has been researching this issue and found that it is fairly common in boxers. Her dog was also found to have low blood sugars. She feeds him a lower protien diet and more frequent meals. (Holistique Blends from Solid Gold) She also found that the heart worming medicine has a side effect of tremors(I can't remember which brand).

 

[liamsmom]

great thread!!!

we had a 12 year old boxer (waiting at the bridge since 5/31/2006) who had head tremors since he was 2 years old. we videotaped it for the vet. She was stumped.

a few things that we observed, don't know if this will help anyone but I think it's worth sharing.
1. the tremors almost always started while he was resting
2. during the temors....he was always coherant. would look at you if you talked to him and even walk around if you asked him to.
3. FOOD would bring him out of the tremor. as soon as we put any kind of food, treat, or any kind of edible piece of anything up to his nose.....as soon as he smelled it.......the tremor would stop.

our new rescue boy (9 months old) has had two occurances of head tremors since we adopted him in June 06.
and it's the same deal all over again!!!!
1. the tremors started while he was resting
2. he was coherant the entire time
3. as soon as we held food up to his nose........the tremors stopped.
So far..........he hasn't had any more tremors.

hubby and i couldn't believe it when it happened. we couldn't help but ask ourselves..."what are the odds of us adopting two dogs that would have this type of thing?" well.....we guess the odds are pretty good......because it happened. LOL

our new vet (the vet we used to go to moved out of state) said he might grow out of it.......or grow "into" it. It can go away and never be seen again......or it can get worse....but that it normally doesn't get worse. it usually remains at the same degree of "tremor". He does want to see it when it happens though. so i have the video camera charged and ready to go at all times!

there was one time with our first Boxer that i noticed he was resting and then "stretched" real hard and threw his head back while he was stretching out. when he was bringing his head back down into "normal" position.......the tremor started. that is when i started to begin wondering if it is a muscle spasm in the neck or something.

it's just puzzling.
AND SCARY when you see it happen.

i'm open to any information....anyone can share on this topic.

 

[carole]

there was one time with our first Boxer that i noticed he was resting and then "stretched" real hard and threw his head back while he was stretching out. when he was bringing his head back down into "normal" position.......the tremor started. that is when i started to begin wondering if it is a muscle spasm in the neck or something.

That is what our vet (now retired) said right away when I took Finn to try and get some advice on them. She had never encountered them in all her years. One of her first suggestions after an ear infection was a muscle spasm in his neck. To me this now seems the most likely cause as Finn has had a few in the last few months when his allergy is under control and no ear infections present.

The only consistant thing is them happening when he wakens up after resting.

Also your observations are spot on

 

[furrykidmom]

Re: great thread!!!

a few things that we observed, don't know if this will help anyone but I think it's worth sharing.
1. the tremors almost always started while he was resting
2. during the temors....he was always coherant. would look at you if you talked to him and even walk around if you asked him to.
3. FOOD would bring him out of the tremor. as soon as we put any kind of food, treat, or any kind of edible piece of anything up to his nose.....as soon as he smelled it.......the tremor would stop.

it's just puzzling.
AND SCARY when you see it happen.

Ditto. Our boy's are just the same. Always from a sleeping or resting state; able to follow commands and walk; able to look at you and focus; comes out of it with food or anything that is a stimulant like "Go outside" or "Go for ride"

Our vet immediately wanted to start medication for seizures. She feels that it is a focal seizure. She was not happy when I told her that I researched it on the internet and found that it is common in certain breeds and is usually benign and does not respond to anticonvulsants. I told her that I also spoke with our breeder and she advised against it also. I told her that we would watch him and see how it goes.

 

[Justalyke]

Great Thread!

Just thought I would put my 2 cents in...
By boxer boy had tremors starting a few years back. They were similar to everyone else's descriptions. We also did pretty much ALL the testing described too (nuerologist, blood, etc.) Yada, yada....Thousands of dollars and panicky moments later we recevied the same results as you all...undiagnosed head tremors! I even did my own countless hours of research, going so far as to document every know occurance and exactly what happened the day of.....what he ate, what he did (or didn't do), what *I* did (cleaning & what kind of chemicals I used, etc.). I even got a copy of my vet records to try to "coincide" any vaccs given or something. I found nothing consistant except they seemed more frequent after "big days" of exercise or mental stimulation. I did want to point out one thing, probably coincidence, but he quit having them altogether once we brought home our new puppy Dezi. Who knows? Just thought I would share since I invested so much time with so little results! It sure is scary though...I hope all of your babies tremors cease pronto. I did find out that a lot of times they level off and/or just stop happening. Hang in there!
~"Cease and disist vibes going out to all of yours"~

 

[Justalyke]

Well, I jinxed my baby I guess...Savion hasn't had a head tremor in almost a year untill I posted my last on this thread! The night after I posted (01/27) for three consecutive nights/mornings now he has had a head tremor. The biggest differance is that he had an upper respiratory infection and was on meds (decongestants and antiobiotocs) and he had a big day with a "skin" nephew. I now keep a tube of cherry Chapstick on my nightstand because as soon as I open it and let him simply smell it, the tremors stop. Probably anything interesting like that would do the trick, but that is small and easy to keep around! I know how silly that sounds, but it totally works. I am definatley going to keep researching and investigating these things....they are too weird to ignore, even if they do seem harmless! I will try and post a new thread with all the interesting coinsidences I have noted in our endevour. For one, they seem to be on a similar "schedule" time and date wise. I know I sure ate up all of the info I could find! In fact, I think that is how I found this place that I love....and all of you!

PS. Not to ignore this thread title, I quickly mentioned what we tried to find the root of the problem but I didn't really mention nutrition...I have also gently tried several "super premium" type kibble that you have to go miles and miles to buy like a lot of folks on here, and a Synovi type vitamin supplement product, but I have yet to try raw. Right now I am settled on Innova, it seems good. Just an FYI.

 

[Justalyke]

Sheesh, sorry all my posts seem so long after I read them!
I apologize for that...ack!

 

[Roxanna]

Darla had her first tremor 2 days post spay surgery. Today, 9 days post spay surgery, she had a second head tremor incident.

I wonder if this was induced by the anesthesia? She was very coherent during both incidents and both times the tremors stopped as soon as she became distracted.

There's nothing like a dog treat dipped in peanut butter and honey to distract them! LOL

 

[deedeeb]

My boxer has had head tremors for about a month now. We took him to the vet who referred us to a neurologist. The neurologist thinks they are seizures and recommended a brain MRI and spinal tap to rule out a brain tumor, etc. She also wants to put him on an anti-convulsant to decrease the seizures. I made the appointment for the MRI and the spinal tap, but after reading these postings I'm worried that I might be going to far with this. I don't want to wait too long, but I also don't want to put him through the tests if they aren't necessary. Thoughts??

 

[ROMMEL'S MOM]

Head tremors...Thank God for this thread!

Rommel just had his second episode of a head tremor today. His first was about a year ago. Scared me to death. Not so sure his particular cause is food. He's a pretty hardy eater. Although I have been thinking about switching to something a little more nutritious.
But the connection I have noticed is that both tremors happened when he was lying down to nap. Both times he just lifted his head and it started to shake. Today's tremor lasted only about 10-15 seconds. But it seemed like forever.
I was lying on the bed and he was right next to me so I just caressed his head and he put it down and the tremor just stopped.
I don't know what I would do without BW and the helpful and thoughtful suggestions and commonalities of my fellow boxer lovers.
Thanks for all the great information.