head tremors?

[mtoo]

My Boxer mix, Odin, was lying on the floor this afternoon awake. I happened to look over at him just as his head started shaking. It was really more of a tremor not a shake. Definitely not voluntary. It was very slight, I mostly noticed his lips and muzzle shaking. I called him and he lifted his head, still shaking. Then he stood up and it quit for a moment but then started shaking again. The whole episode only lasted 20-30 seconds. I've seen dogs seizing before and this was not the same. He was aware of his surroundings and wagging his tail happily the whole time.

Odin is an older dog, I've had vets guess anywhere from 5-10 years old. We've only had him two months and I've never seen him do this before. I'm calling the vet tomorrow but I'm really concerned now! Anyone ever hear of such a thing?

Thanks,
Kerri

 

[Austin's Mom]

They are head tremors and are completely harmless to the dog. If you do a search you will find lots of info on it. My Austin has had them, and they are more bothersome to us than to them.

 

[mtoo]

Thanks for replying. That makes me feel much better. I did a short search on the internet and found one site that said they were harmless but a couple others that said it could be a neurological problem. I'm going to look into it more now that my children are in bed.

I have lost two dogs since Sept. and am a little paranoid now, especially since he's older.

Kerri

 

[CalistaBoxer]

We are going thru this right now. My 2 1/2 year old boxer Hannah-Banana has had 5 episodes of head/body tremors. It always happens after she's been asleep. We've had extensive blood tests done & took her to a Neurologist on 3/29/05. He told us that he's not too concerned about the tremors because they are not what he considers seizures. Some tremors are unexplainable but he'd like to do an MRI and/or Spinal Tap if the tremors continue. Both of these procedures have risks & we are not sure we want to do them yet. Hannah had another tremor this morning lasting appx. 10 minutes. Now my husband & I have to decide what step to take next. Any information or suggestions would be highly welcome.
Thanks, Callista

 

[mtoo]

Odin had another head tremor that lasted about two minutes the morning after I posted the above message. He has not had another since. Though they may be harmless they make me nervous so I'm hoping I've seen the last of them!

Kerri

 

[CalistaBoxer]

Hi Kerri,
I wish we knew what was causing Hannah's tremors & what to do to help her. My 10-year-old boxer Tootie-Girl has Boxer Cardiomyopathy & takes medication 3 times a day - total of 12 pills for it. We take her to our family vet & the Cardiologist in Maryland every 3 to 6 months for an echocardiogram, chest x-rays & EKG's. I know she has a major health problem but knowing how to treat it & deal with it helps me to cope a little better. Not knowing what is wrong with Hannah & what to do about it is driving me crazy. I am do afraid to go to sleep at night because I worry about her having the tremors & I won't be awake to help her. I know other people say their Boxers have tremors too & they are nothing to worry about but my thoughts are - if she's having tremors - something is wrong somewhere in her body. Two years ago I lost my 10-year-old boxer Cody-Roads to brain cancer. We tried radiation treatments but he didn't make it thru the 1st one - his heart stopped. Every time I see Hannah have a tremor I get flash backs of Cody & worry that she's developing a tumor or cancer.
I took Hannah to a Neurologist in Maryland. He told me that he's not too concerned about the tremors because they are not what he considers seizures & just to keep her calm when she's having them. He didn't want to put her on medication or do Cat Scans of her brain or an MRI to see if she had an infection going on somewhere in her body because she's so young & the tremors are not seizures. I'm not too sure I want to wait to do these procedures - if we would have caught Cody's cancer sooner we might have been able to save him. I wish there was a big book of answers we can go to!
Please take care of Odin & I will keep you both in my prayers.
Callista

 

[Elyse]

Hi Kerri,
We went through this with Nestle. It was so frightening for us. She was aware and awake through all of them. We stopped using Febreeze and swithched our laundry detergent and they stopped. It has been a hear since the last time she had one. Like Austin's mom said, they are more bothersome to us than to them.

 

[CalistaBoxer]

Head Tremors

Hi - It's Callista again, Did anyone know if Animax Ointment or Tavist Allergy medicine can give dogs the head/body tremors? I went over my medical history notes over & over again & realized that I started using Animax Ointment on Hannah's ears several days before her first episode. I have been using it on her ears to keep them from being itchy. I also started giving her Tavist Allergy medicine around the same time but...she had her 1st episode before I started giving her the Tavist so I'm kind of ruling that idea out. I am grasping at straws here - racking my brain try to think of anything that could be causing her tremors. I don't use Febreze or any types of air fresheners. I even tossed out all of my candles & plug-in air fresheners thinking this might be the cause of her tremors. I even had a water filter installed on the kitchen sink faucet to filter out anything bad that might be in their (Tootie-Girl too) drinking water. Tootie has severe allergies & eats Purina Hypo-Allergenic food - we feed that to Hannah too so I know she's not getting any dyes or additives in her food that could possibly be causing the tremors. I am a nervous wreck just waiting for the next episode to happen. I pray that it doesn't but I have a gut feeling that it will.
Callista~~

 

[mtoo]

This is very interesting...after reading Alyse's post about the Febreeze I remembered that Odin's tremors happened several days after I gave him his first dose of Revolution heartworm control. I just checked the form that comes with the Revolution and it said an adverse reaction could be "muscle tremors"!

I didn't put the two together because I assumed any reactions would happen within hours of applying the Revolution. I'll definitely be calling my vet about it in the morning.

Kerri

 

[Elyse]

Keeping our paws crossed that it is just a reaction to a chemical.

It had been months after Nestle had her last episode and I had taken out an old blanket that was washed in our old detergent and was sprayed with Febreeze and sure enough Ness had another episode after about 6+ months so this really assured us of the cause.

Keep us posted. Feel good Odin baby!!!