head tremors...should i go grain free at this age?

[liamsmom]

Liam has been having more frequent head tremors. he's had one or two a week for the last few weeks. the vet isn't concerned about it. but we are logging the episodes to see if we can find anything that might trigger the head tremors. our first boxer (r.i.p.) had head tremors all his life...so this isn't something that is strange to us. yet it still freaks us out a little each time it happens. we deal with it....yes. but that's not to say we enjoy it
i remember reading a post somewhere about going grain free for dogs that experience head tremors. and, i was thinking about doing that to see if the tremors subsided at all. right now Liam is eating timberwolf organics lamb and apple. i was thinking about changing him to either the timberwolf Wild & Natural or the Ocean Blue since they are grainless. however, i'm concerned about the protein levels ( he is 15 months old )
has anyone seen a difference in head tremors by switching to grain free diet???? i mean........have they significantly decreased in frequency??
thanks for your input.

 

[totallyhip]

Lukey had the head tremors too. Usually about 20 to 30 mins. after eating his kibble. I switched him to raw when he was about 1.5 old. He hasn't had a tremor since.

 

[gmacleod]

I would certainly try grain free, and even kibble free. Experiment a little till you see if a change in diet helps.

 

[kassa]

If those don't end the tremors, I've heard multiple times over the years that dogs started on thyroid meds (because of diagnosed thyroid problems) ceased having the head tremors that they'd had.

Now whether it's an indicator of some kind of subclinical thyroid problem, I don't know, but it might be worth doing a thorough (not the basic) thyroid panel. Boxers are notorious for passing the less extensive test and failing the more extensive test. Are there any other signs of thyroid problems? Patchy hair, weight gain/loss, etc.?

 

[liamsmom]

If those don't end the tremors, I've heard multiple times over the years that dogs started on thyroid meds (because of diagnosed thyroid problems) ceased having the head tremors that they'd had.

Now whether it's an indicator of some kind of subclinical thyroid problem, I don't know, but it might be worth doing a thorough (not the basic) thyroid panel. Boxers are notorious for passing the less extensive test and failing the more extensive test. Are there any other signs of thyroid problems? Patchy hair, weight gain/loss, etc.?

no other signs of thyroid issues. and, we kind of know what to look for in that department....our 9 year old boxer has an underactive thryoid....so......no hair loss, no weight gain/loss....nothing to indicate a thyroid issue.
but thanks so much for the suggestion.....it's definately worth considering.

 

[deannanoel]

Low sugar head tremors

Our 4 year old boxer, Tucker has recently (two days ago) started having head tremors. The interesting thing here is that I am pretty certain the tremors are related to low sugar. Due to ingesting several items of personal clothing in one sitting, Tucker stopped eating for 4 days. Of course there were bouts of throwing up and pooping out these items, but once his system was "cleared out" he started with the head shakes. We did research online and read that low blood sugar could be to blame. This makes sense since he hadn't eaten and threw up most of his body fluids. To help bring up his blood sugar, I mixed about 2 tablespoons of sugar with water and mixed it with organic cereal and a hard boiled egg. This stopped the tremors for a while. Later that same night, he had more tremors, so we fed him the same again.

He is drinking a lot of water, and is eating his regular food again. We feed him Newman's Own Organic dog food. Although his head still shakes occasionally, I think they will stop when his body replenishes itself with the proper chemicals.

Even before the tremors occurred, Tucker was/is on medicine to control low thyroid and seizures. Head tremors are definitely different from the seizures as he is able to snap out of the head tremors with distraction.

 

[furrykidmom]

Our boy was having head tremors. They happened when he woke up. We switched him back onto food with fish as the main protein source and they subsided. It has been six months and we decided to rotate foods. We are now on EVO which is grain free. He has been on it for a month now and still no tremors.

I really do not know if there is a relationship to the food or not.

 

[Rocco's Mom]

I know this is an older thread but I just came across it and thought I'd post our recent head tremor experience. We had Rocco on Timberwolf foods for quite some time the most recent being the lamb and apple. When he started licking his feet like crazy I felt it would be a good time to switch. I read through the analysis and thought I'd give Merrick Turducken a try. Rocco has done really well on it but in the beginning, I was feeding the same amount as the TO 3 cups. He'd wake up about 5:30 in the morning throwing up just bile but still not good. Then the tremors started...every now and then DH and I would wake up and Rocco would be having a head tremor. We'd snap him out of it give him some peanut butter and it'd be over. While speaking to the vet, he said it sounded like he was "empty stomach" vomiting and recommended we give him a little more food before bedtime also said to keep an eye on the tremors after making these adjustments. Once we started feeding him more at night, we haven't had any more tremors or vomiting.
I am no expert but I would have to say at least in our experience that the tremors were nutrition related.