Mackensie's having head tremors now!

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BetsyB

BetsyB

Boxer Insane
Mackensie started having head tremors Sunday evening. She was laying in her spot waiting for us to finish eating dinner, and her head started shaking from side to side uncontrollably. After they seemed to have stopped, I fed her dinner, but only a few minutes later, her head started shaking again. They continued off and on for a couple of hours. Monday morning, it was happening again. I gave her a spoon of peanut butter, and they stopped. I have been giving her pieces of banana and peanut butter throughout the day to try to prevent them from occurring again, but they are happening now. I fed her first tonight, but an hour later as she was trying to rest on her chair, she started having tremors again.
I switched her to a raw diet just over two weeks ago, and am wondering if her diet is in some way deficient... I searched through the forums and found head tremors seem to be mostly caused by low blood sugar. I don't use air fresheners. I have not switched cleaners or detergents. Any thoughts are welcome. Thanks.
 
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Gruntsmom

Boxer Insane
I'm sorry to hear about Mackensie's head tremors, poor baby. :( Sorry, but being the longtime and confirmed paranoid mom that I am, I have to say take her to the vet and have bloodwork done to see if it is low blood sugar. This must be uncomfortable for her. Does she seem scared when they happen? Give her a big hug from me.
 
BetsyB

BetsyB

Boxer Insane
I have an appointment for later this morning. She had one already this morning about an hour ago, before eating. I fed her and then she went to lay on her chair and go to sleep. She does seem more sleepy than usual, perhaps she is having them during the night too? She doesn't seem to be uncomfortable or in pain, and is responsive when I talk to her during an episode. I have just been wracking my brain to come up with something "different or new" that brought these tremors on. The only thing I can say is the switch to RAW. She has lost 1.2 pounds since the switch two weeks ago, and I have been gradually increasing the amount I feed her to get her back up to her modest 52.6lb usual. Maybe I should not only feed her more, but more often then the twice per day she eats now...
 
BetsyB

BetsyB

Boxer Insane
I took Mackensie to the vet, and got an earful! She had lost 2 pounds since her last visit in August, and of course, the vet inquired as to what I was feeding her and if there had been any recent dietary changes. He then tried lecturing me when I told him I fed RAW, about going along unknowingly with all of these "fad diets", but I was ready with real facts. I tried explaining it to him, even offered to lend him some books and got a roll of the eyes...
Anyway, I told him about her head tremors, and showed him the video I had taken of her, and he agreed they seem to be a text book case of ideopathic head tremors, and added they were "probably brought on by the change in her diet". He checked her ears, and they are fine. He did find a small hard bump under the skin on her neck that he says we will just keep an eye on for now. He is running some blood tests just to be sure, but didn't think an MRI or spinal tap were at all necessary.
My plan is to start feeding 3-4 times per day for a couple of weeks to try to stave off any incidences of low blood sugar, should that be the cause. She will also be getting an additional 1/2 pound of food per day, as the 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 pounds she is currently eating don't seem to be sufficient.
Any other suggestions?
 
catcrazy56

catcrazy56

Boxer Insane
I can't offer any suggestions I don't feed raw but I know someone else who does and they have the same issues they did an MRI at 1200 dollars and there was nothing and she hasn't been having them lately its a mystery her blood sugar was ok though
 
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Gruntsmom

Boxer Insane
I'm glad you had Mackensie checked, and hope that increasing her food and feeding more often will make those tremors disappear, it may be that's all she needs. Sending your girl healing and hopeful thoughts. Please let us know how she is doing.
 
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