Idiopathic head tremors
If you’ve been reading for a while, you might remember when Cooper first experienced his head tremors. I thought it was a seizure. It was horrifying and scary, but after tons of tests and a consultation with a veterinary neurologist, the diagnosis was “idiopathic head tremors.” In other words: his head shakes, but we don’t know why.
It doesn’t seem to cause him pain. He seems a bit disoriented during the tremor, but then he’s totally fine immediately after. I can usually distract him out of it by asking for some very basic behaviors (sit or high five) and doling out treats. I noticed that he tries to get it to stop by turning his head all the way to the right and holding completely still.
We’ve tracked the tremors – time of day, duration, notable events, food, exercise, and so on – but there is no pattern that we’ve been able to discern. It’s so frustrating.
Anyway, he was snuggled in bed while I was folding some laundry. I looked over and saw him start to tremor, so I got a few seconds of video so you could see what we’re up against. You can see him try to hold his head to the right, then I tried to give him a treat. Thankfully, if it happens when he’s in a relaxed position like this (versus standing or in the middle of play) it seems less severe and doesn’t last as long.
Have you experienced anything like this with your dogs? For me, it’s not even the worry about the tremors, but it’s that the medical mystery aspect is so frustrating!
Cisco (my old blind girl) used to do that, but we never managed to get anyone outside of the house to see it so it went undiagnosed. It never seemed to bother her though!
Sam
Thanks for sharing, Sam! I’m so glad it never bothered her!!
I saw your video. I was looking online to see if someone else had the same problem. My dog has done that twice. Once about a month ago and just now. Both times it’s when she has been sleeping and suddenly woke up. I think it’s because she is overly tired or maybe startled. ? It’s scary to see. She seems fine right after though. I’m going to take her in tomorrow any way because it worries me. Thanks for posting.
It definitely is scary to see. It can’t hurt to get her checked out just to make sure it isn’t anything more serious than a tremor. Good luck, and let us know how she’s doing!
My dog is doing this right now & i have no idea what it is. ive been asking the vet and they cant give me a answer. she looks just like this when she does it.
Elka has idiopathic head tremors. She seems to display hers when she’s stressed; if I’ve been in a room without her access for “too long” (in her eyes), once when we were carving a turkey (which she really really wanted), that kind of thing. She’ll also stop pretty promptly, though, with snack or cuddles.
Hers did not present until after she was spayed.
That’s really interesting, Jen. I was trying to figure out if his might be stress related. It seems to be worse – longer and more severe – when he’s super tired, too. Hmm. Glad you’re able to get Elka’s to stop promptly!
I can only imagine how frustrated you are! I can’t stand it when I can’t get answers
He is so sweet, at least he doesn’t seem to upset by it 
Thanks, Julie!
We’ve been so distracted with all the medical dramas here that I missed this news. I’m so sorry to hear about Cooper. Neurological stuff is WAY scary. I’m sorry they cannot find the cause. You might want to add some Vitamin E and some coconut oil to his diet. We’ve done that as part of Lilly’s neurological recovery. Hugs!
You have your hands full, Roxanne!! I’ll check out the Vitamin E and cocunut oil. Thanks for the tip! Thinking of you and Lilly.
Interestingly my cat has something similar to these tremors. They are fairly frequent and I have never figured out a pattern. I would say that it has been going on for at least 5 years. Of course I can never get it to happen with her when we are at the vet. It seems not to bother her at all.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Denise. I may have to dig into the research a little more… I sort of wonder if we all pooled our data together, would we find a pattern?
maggie:
found this interesting discussion:
http://forums.webmd.com/3/pet-health-exchange/forum/179
Thank you so much, Denise! Very interesting info in that discussion thread. Thanks for passing it along!
If I may, and bouncing off of what you both sort of got to, is that I don’t think the correlation of when they occur is as important as why, with regards to pattern-seeking.
I know you mentioned above it seems to happen when he’s relaxed. I’ve noticed this, but I wouldn’t say relaxed as much as tired. I find that our Cooper (a lovely fawn-colored bully mix as well) EXCLUSIVELY when he’s near sleep. Generally, at night or early morning.
Here’s my theory: Many dogs have these for a long time at different strengths throughout their lives that owners are often not aware of. They start small and the dogs get used to them, and used to suppressing them. As they get stronger and the dogs are tired enough to not have energy to suppress them, that’s when we start to see them come out.
To me, it’s not so different from the way dogs express pain. They hide a lot from their owners for whatever reason (I can anthropomorphise with the best of them) until it reaches a certain level, or they just don’t have the energy.
Of note, most videos of head tremors are taken when the dog is in bed. There’s a reason for this. And there’s a reason that when you entice them with treats, or some kind of task to perform (esp in the case of working breeds), it’s in their nature to take whatever energy they have and focus it on a task. To perform that task they must suppress and that’s when, usually (as observed in forums and anecdotally), the tremors stop momentarily.
My $.02
I know it’s worrisome to not know what’s happening. But bodies are weird things and don’t always do what we expect. If it truly isn’t a serious threat, I hope you can make peace with this little quirk and feel comfortable that Cooper is feeling ok.
Such great advice, Pamela! Thank you!!
My 3 yr old male Basset (also cooper) just started doing this. Twice in the past week. I’m so scared there’s something seriously wrong, or that it hurts him. I have read that dogs can have similar to Parkinson’s. But like the video it’s just his head that seems to be effected. Does anyone know how the vet determines it IHT?
Basically, Kandi, they eliminate all other options. Some of the tests included blood and urine tests. You can also do an MRI to make sure it’s not a seizure. Once they test for everything else and can’t find anything, they call it idiopathic head tremors. Best of luck to you and your Cooper!
A friend’s Boston Terrier has a behaviour something like this. It is a little worrisome. She says her vet isn’t too concerned as she has no other signs illness but I’d never seen anything like it before. It certainly is a mystery. I hope Cooper continues to feel fine otherwise and the tremors never become anything serious.
Thanks, Kristine! It’s definitely hard to accept that something that looks so scary might just be… nothing. I hope all’s well with your friend’s pup!
My friends Labrador had a similar occurrence I tried contacting him today to find out what he did to help his dog overcome this. The last time I spoke to him about a year ago he did mention that he was going to take his dog to the Vet for a check up as he is covered under his pet plan insurance.
I hope everything turned out alright with your friend’s Lab!
I would love to know what he found out.
Thanks
My great dane mix, Wally, began having head tremors recently. I read that giving a dog peanut butter causes them to making a licking relfex and that it can help snap them out of it. At first he seemed scared, but since he could still follow commands and I just sat with him he seemed to relax a little more and go away. Hopefully, the peanut butter will work.
That’s a great idea, Whitney. It seems like distracting him with food works most of the time, and PB would keep him busy longer. Thanks for the suggestion! I hope all’s going well with Wally and his tremors!
can you kindly tell me where you read about peanut butter and the licking reflex? thank you.
Just found your blog and wanted to say how positive and bright your site and your outlook are. I’ve just taken up blogging myself as illness means I have more time (and less energy) and it’s great to see that it’s not just me who finds my dogs (pet therapy) to be one of the best things for restoring a certain balance in outlook, if not health itself. Wishing you and your doggies speedy recoveries X
Thank you so much, Katherine! I really appreciate the kind words. All the best to you! I’m off to check out your blog!
“Idiopathic” can be such a frustrating diagnosis – almost as much as the condition! Hopefully, this is indeed a minor, quirky, thing that doesn’t bother Cooper or affect his health. He’s so sweet!
Thank you, Kim!!
Thanks for blogging about this, it really does put my heart at ease. Roscoe (93lbs pit bull) just started his tremors. He’s had 2 more episodes since i first caught it a few days ago. That first night i rushed him to the ER even though the tremors ceased once we jumped in the car. Very scary indeed. He breezed through his physical with no problems and i scheduled an appointment for some blood work for this Monday just to rule out anything else. Roscoe seems to get them when he is relaxed, or about to fall asleep. Its very hard to watch because he has huge jowls and they flap around which makes the tremors seem really violent, but he is always aware and alert and doesn’t seem to be in any pain. Like Pamela said, if Roscoe does have IHT its fine, could be much worse. Thanks again for sharing. Hi Cooper.
I’m so sorry for all you’re going through with Roscoe. Let me know how all the tests turn out. It is hard to watch – I wish I could say it’s gotten easier, but it breaks my heart every time it happens to Coop. All the best to you and Roscoe!
Hi, my English x Aussie Bulldog started these 2days ago and we have been to endless vet visits and hospital stays to rule out everything else but the specialist told us that its Idiopathic Head Bobbing and we cant do anything abojt it. it is killing us watcb her go through them she has them reguarly mainly when she is relaxed. we are trying Honey to see if its her blood sugar level even though all her tests showed up clear.
Our lab (8), has had these mild head tremors for years. They first started when he ate a bag of coffee beans (after extracting them from a box left by the mailman on the front porch). He tremored off and on for a day, acute caffeine poisoning.
He didn’t do it again for years but now does it fairly frequently. It’s generally during times of little activity. He is a bird dog and almost never does it during bird season when he is very active. It comes on after bird season ends.
Like many others, he is ALWAYS nearly asleep when it happens. I’ve gone through the “Honey” routine, which worked for a year or so. I think the general idea is that anything you can get them to focus on snaps them out of it. Now (honey doesn’t work any more) we get one of his stuffed toys and make him watch it up and down & toss it in the air a time or two and he’s fine.
Does anyone know if this can be genetic or passed through breeding?
I would like to know if it will pass on through breeding. My 2 year old English Staffie has just started doing this and I was hoping to get one litter from her this year.
I was searching out head tremors and found your site. Was relieved to see Javi and your information. My Pit Bull April starting getting tremors when she was about 6 mos and like everyone else I rushed her to the hospital. They thought maybe she eat something in the backyard or that she might have a liver shunt(?) That maybe she wasn’t processing the food properly. She is now 9 mos and I just saw one the other night and again tonight. They don’t last very long and they seem to happen when she is at rest. I will try the licking reflex with her next time . No need for peanut butter in April’s case. I can get her to lick by just scratching her butt. Thanks so much for sharing your stories. I feel alot better. Hope everyone’s pup are well and happy.
I just ran across your site, and was startled when I saw your post about head tremors. For several years I have gone on dogsledding trips, and the woman who owns the dogs has had a similar issue with a number of her dogs. It has always started a week or so after their puppy vaccinations – I’m not sure how old Cooper is at this point. You can check out her blog – they found a solution that has taken care of the problem for her dogs. Hard to say if it is the same issue, but I thought you could use the info!
http://topointsunknown.blogspot.com/2012/04/more-on-vaccine-related-head-tremors.html
Thanks for sharing, Cheryl. I had wondered about the connection to vaccines, so I appreciate the insights.
My 2 year old Brindle Boxer, Kona has been showing signs of doing this. I noticed it a couple mornings when she woke up but it lasted just a few seconds. This morning while putting her outside for the day she started doing it and it did’nt stop for about a minute. Very Very Scary. She is the best dog I have ever had, so well behaved. I have to say that after reading other dog lovers blogs about this I am not so scared about it. I will try some of the remedy’s suggested. Thanks
Good luck, Tracy!
My 4 yr old Lab Lucy has been having those for over a week now. The first time was very lengthy and we took her to the Er..not very helpful. The next day we took her to our regular vet and told us to monitor her. She has had about 2-3 a day since then. They put her on very low dose of phenabarbitol but nothing has changed. It always happens when she is sleeping and snaps out of it quickly with treats.
She has had bloodwork and urinalysis. Both were fine. Next stop neurologist? We don’t want to do any extreme testing in her such as spinal tap. MRI is $1800.
Our other thought is that Innova has changed their formula. Both dogs have been more itchy scratchy lately so we might switch foods too.
I’m really not liking the phenabarbitol dependency aspect. Nasty stuff.
This has been really hard on us since she is otherwise a happy healthy pup. No sleep for me because I’m soooo worried!
We opted against additional tests, too. The vet felt they wouldn’t tell us anything, so I didn’t want to do anything unnecessarily invasive. Hope all’s going well with you and Lucy!
Found this website after much research when my Australian Shepherd (10 months) had this twice over the past two days. I’m seriously freaking out (seems to be a common reaction). Ozzy too had this happen after he had awoken from a nap/deep sleep. It seems to me that this is a common time. Also, it only lasted around 10 seconds. I was reading it may have to do with the cerebellum (part of brain that houses motor and coordination). e
That’s really interesting, Melissa. I feel like Coop’s happen after a period of resting. Maybe there’s a connection there?
my 1 1/2 year old just started this yesterday. Of course, we ran her to our vet immediately. The vet did an examination and blood work and told us she was perfectly healthy. She gave us some literature on idiopathic head tremors and told us she had seen it in the past and it is usually worse for the owner than the dog. It is comforting to know that there are others out there like her. ps, our Sparki is the spitting image of your Maggie – they could be twins!!
hi Maggie and boys
my dog was recently (today) diagnosed with iht. in my google search your post came up first. my vet came to the conclusion after a short exam and based on her previous experience, she has been in practise for 27 yrs. she said her experience with Iht was all in bulldogs, when she left the exam room to get me some info on the condition she said that it is also a condition seen in boxers and dobbermans. she was not concerned and would not be inclined to use anti seizure meds unless it was happening multiple times a week and interfering with eating or other doggie duties etc. i watched cooper’s video and although similar Cash’s head moves more with his tremors, not violently but more. he has only had 3, (within the last 2mth) sand all of them was when he was lying on the couch cuddling. although very scary it was comforting that he was conscious, aware, alert and only his head seemed to be affected. I would love to talk to you about cooper and cash. could you email me if that’s possible.
My foster dog just started exhibiting these tremors. Typically only at night or early in the morning so far. I’m getting very frustrating in dealing with the vet’s office because everything has to go through the rescue, even just being allowed to talk to a vet about his symptoms. I really wish that they’d put the care of the dog first. Anyway, I’m glad to know that there’s other people out there dealing with this condition and it seems that most dogs aren’t in pain or otherwise physically suffering during these episodes.
Thank you all for posting comments. My bulldog just started these tremors, so your experiences are comforting. Callie has these tremors late at night when she’s half asleep or waking up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqv6r1tH5XQ
This information is very helpful! Thanks everyone for sharing. My American Bulldog has had these tremors on and off for about a year, nothing seems to cause it and she doesn’t seem upset and usually a dog barking or some attention will get her out of it.
I feel a little less freaked out.
SO glad we are not alone!! Tessa, our two year old English Bulldog began having this “seizure like activity” while at the kennel yesterday. It broke my heart that this happened at the kennel without us there to be with her. She has them every time she tries to sleep–just tremors of the head. She has now been assessed by 3 vets w/negative exams & blood work—ruling out any metabolic issues. A vet today placed her on Zonisamide (anti-convulsant) which has allowed her to sleep about an hour at a time. I mentioned IHT to the vet, she is contacting a neurologist tomorrow for more information. I cannot tell if this is a true seizure as she can easily control it when I get her a treat or grab her attention. All I know for sure is that this is very frustrating and I think it upsets us more than her!
My Callie had one tremor spell a day for about a week. I did not put her on anti-convulsants after I read an article by Dr Glass (google ‘bulldog head tremors, glass’)
After a week, it progressed to vomiting and bad hives. The vet questions toxic exposure or foreign body, so our next step is an ultra sound to check organs for foreign body. I was feeding her Wellness Simple and switched foods incase it was a factor. She stopped vomiting but continues to appear ill.
Update: Callie had daily head tremors starting 10/9. Unsure of cause, on 10/29 food was changed from Wellness Simple to Performatrin Ultra Grain-Free and changed from tap water to bottled water. All other treats discontinued.
Last head tremor was 10/31. Within two weeks of food change, Callie became fully healthy with no symptoms to date.
Interesting! Thanks for sharing, and I’m so glad Callie is doing well!
Hi save your money! We have spent nearly $5000 to be told that there is nothing they can do,my little English x Bulldog started them last Wednesday. My partner and I have done some many searches and spoken to soo many people. We didnt want to put her on medication as the Vets and specialists from SASH in North Ryde said they dont really work and why put her on medication when she isnt in any pain. We left and started researching… We have found that its a nerve problem in her head. Which makes sense as she does it only when she is sleepy and the nerves are relaxed and allow the body to show response. When we put our hand on her hand when she is sleepying you can feel the twitch then the bobbing starts. We have her on Calcium tablets 2 in the morning and 2 at night, with a little bit of lactose free milk (you can get the dog one but its the same as lactose free human milk) and 1 1/2 spoons of ice cream morning and night for the sugar, she is also on an amino called Taurin. All of this aids healthy nerve growth and electrical conductivity in the brain and head. And its amazing she has very little bobbing. She is seeing a doggy chiropractor tomorrow and a doggy physio to try and fix the nerve problem.
The vets say its common in young dogs but dont know why the reason we are finding from our research is that is when they are growing. Hope it helps ill be more than happy to try and help more and talk more my email is laura-023@hotmail.com
Hi Laura,
My black Lab who is 1 1/2 just started doing this. They last for about 3-7 seconds and she gets them when she is relaxed and sleepy like you said. She gets about 15-20 an hour when she is trying to sleep. When she is up and moving, she shows no signs of them. My question to you is, your vet said its common in young dogs?… So do they outgrow them and if so, usually by when?
The post above makes sense. I work in a Neurological Movement Disorders unit, and it is common for people with low calcium levels to have tremors. My dog (bulldog/lab mix) just started having Idiopathic Head Tremors the other day. I started researching what was going on and talking to some of the Neurologists I work with. A lot of people online have said that they change their dogs diets, or even give them things like some yougert or cottage cheese, and the tremors have stopped. When I mentioned this to my colleagues, they told me about low calcium levels in humans causing tremors. Hopefully this is the link to why these tremors are happening in our pups! As to why it is mostly in boxer and bulldog breeds, I have no idea. I hope this helps. I am going to the petstore and making sure the dog food I buy has a good amount of calcium and see if Sully’s tremors stop!
Nikita has been on herr calcium, turaine and K-Mag since sunday last week and instantly her tremors calmed down (it tasks a while for the levels to build up), she has also seen a chirpractor and since Thursday she has been tremor free!!! So it definately works. we are giving her the supplements so her diet doesnt doesnt change as shes fussy and dont want to give her cheese and yoghurt as she may get fat.
I also had success by adding additional Calcium to my Bassets’ diet. If we skip the supplement, the tremors start again within 3 days, which proves to me that the issue is a Calcium deficiency in our case. I have noticed that an episode is more likely to occur during stress or as some of the parents here can attest, tiredness. I have two healthy Bassets and 2 rescues, rescues both with neural problems. H had regular epileptic seizures, he has not had one in more than a year since adding calcium. Butter still has head tremors, not so frequent now, once every six months or so. If I have to guess she is probably more sensitive to low calcium levels due to having had puppies often without proper nutrition (another guess, neither were spayed or neutered when found as strays.)
Hope this helps.
Anyone else have heat related onset of IHT?? Tessa’s began while she was getting dried in the “dryer” at the kennel. She never had these tremors before but has had them almost every night since this event. The neurologist discontinued the anticonvulsant treatment as these are not believed to be true seizures. She is taking Ativan at night just so she’ll be able to sleep, we’ve also started calcium supplementation.
Hello All,
The postings here have been very helpful and I wondered if you may have some helpful guidance for my situation. My boxer is 8 years old (perhaps a bit older, she was rescued in the Arabian desert) and has been successfully battling mast cell cancer since last March. Since before she was diagnosed, she had slight head tremors when she was lying down and about to go to sleep. The tremors didn’t seem to bother her and lasted a couple of seconds. The vet and then subsequently the oncologist had no real advice to share. More recently, the tremors are worse. They happen when she is sitting and standing, both occur when she is sleepy, relaxing, or just spacing out which she does a lot of as she is on benadryl, a low dose of predisone, and a small amount of tramadol. She is beginning to fall over when the tremors happen because she loses her balance. My fear is that she is going to get hurt during the fall. Also, this is seriously diminishing her quality of life. She otherwise has a healthy appetite and is still her silly, lovin’ life self. Do any of you have any thoughts about this? I have shared the tremor progression with our primary vet and the oncologist, but they both believe that there is not much to be done. Plus, given what she has been through with the cancer, I don’t want to put her through a battery of additional tests. Your views would be deeply appreciated. Elizabeth and Boo
We have had this problem with two of our bulldogs after the delivery of puppies. I have since given all of my female bulldogs vanilla yogurt after delivery of puppies and have not had any more issues with head shaking.
It just involves the head and doesn’t seem to bother the dog at all.
The yogurt seems to fill two voids one the calcium and the other sugar as it is sweetened.
Sharon
I have a corgi mix pup named Enzo who is just shy of 2yrs old. He started having these head tremors about 6mo ago. Almost always when he is about to fall asleep and the episodes lasting anywhere from a few seconds to 20min. The vet immediately referred us to a neurologist who said they were focal point seizures and started him on phenobarbitol. We increased his dosage 3 times before they seemed to stop for a couple months. Recently they started up again, albeit they have all been very short. We started seeing a new vet who questioned whether Enzo is really even having seizures at all or if they are these IHT’s. Now i dont know what to do. Should i take him off the meds and see what happens? Maybe introduce some cottage cheese or other supplements and see if they stop and then reduce the phenobarbitol? In the meantime the neurologist recommended we add potassium bromide to his treatment since he is having more episodes. Any advice would be appreciated!
Hi, I am no means an expert but i have fixed my Nikita who was having them with Calcium supplements (i didnt want to give her cheese so she wouldnt gain weight) and a supplement called K-Mag (potassium and magnesium) and she has been tremor free for about a month. You can play with the dosage to see what works for your dog but it worked for us
Hi guys,
I’m so happy to find this information from others. My 12 month old puppy had a head tremor episode today that lasted about 10 minutes. I was so upset and scared that he ran into his crate and continued for a few more. I ended up taking him to the animal ER since it’s Sunday and the doctor said to basically take a wait and see approach. He had done some vigorous running just prior and hadn’t eaten, but that is not uncommon for him. Also, I just switched from puppy to adult food and am wondering if the new food doesn’t have as much calcium. Sometimes I mix in unsweetened greek yogurt which he loves and I will continue to do. It was the saddest thing EVER to see him going through this. It was more pronounced than the video above. Like the other commenters, he really didn’t seem bothered, except by my response to it. Since this morning it has happened two more times but shorter duration, less than a minute. I’ll see my regular, holistic vet tomorrow. The ER doc seemed pretty unconcerned about it. Good luck to all of you.
Hi everyone,
I posted a couple of weeks ago about my boxer who had mast cell cancer and who had developed tremors that neither her vet nor her oncologist were able to diagnose. I lost my beautiful girl on November 16. The tremors had gotten so bad that she couldn’t sit or stand without falling over. It almost seemed like she was having seizures although she never lost consciousness. Now I think that the cancer had spread to her brain because I haven’t read anything about IHT causing dogs to completely lose their balance. I also have a white American bulldog who (thanks to the research I did on my boxer) I have now identified as also having tremors though very different to my boxer’s. My bulldog shivers when she is excited or stressed out. Although I know she isn’t cold, covering her with a blanket and holding her seems to help. Much appreciation to all of you for the great information on this page. I will stay subscribed to learn more! Elizabeth
I’m so sorry for your loss. I have felt some of the deepest grief of my life over the loss of a pet. It’s just beyond words. Wishing you some peace as you move through your grief
Thank you for the kind note Kat. You are so right, the depth of the grieving is beyond words. I am having a really hard time with her absence, but your words gave me comfort. Much appreciation, Elizabeth
Elizabeth,
I’m so incredibly sorry for your loss. They’re with us for far too short of a time. I sincerely wish you comfort in this time of pain. Thank you for sharing your story with us.
Sorry for you loss,thought are with you
Hi everybody, its comforting to read all these similar stories! My 2 year old lab/rhodesian ridgeback/boxer mix has had two short tremor episodes in the last month or so. Just like most of your stories both times she was very sleepy and only lasted about a minute each. Also not at all bothered by it (of course while my heart nearly jumped out of my chest). I used to give her yogurt often and hadn’t for about a month so the calcium theory makes sense! Back to the yogurt we go..
Thanks to all for sharing; all the advice has been great!
My 3.5 year old English Bulldog just started doing this yesterday (12/12/12). I took him to the emergency vet and they told me it was Idiopathic Head Bobbing Syndrome (as mentioned above). He did it again, about 15 mins ago, which is how I found this page.
Laura-Are you still giving the calcium? If so, how’s it going? If not, have the tremors returned? How much calcium, per day, are you giving? Have you heard any other results with the honey, Vitamin E, coconut oil, or peanut butter suggestions?
Any help/suggestions is greatly appreciated!!!
Cheers,
Sharon
Thanks to all for sharing; all the advice has been great!
My 3.5 year old English Bulldog just started doing this yesterday (12/12/12). I took him
to the emergency vet and they told me it was Idiopathic Head Bobbing Syndrome
(as mentioned above). He did it again, about 15 mins ago, which is how I found this page.
Laura-Are you still giving the calcium? If so, how’s it going? If not, have the tremors
returned? How much calcium, per day, are you giving? Have you heard any other
results with the honey, Vitamin E, coconut oil, or peanut butter suggestions?
Any help/suggestions is greatly appreciated!!!
Cheers,
Sharon
It’s definitely stressful when they seem to be in distress, Sharon. Hopefully Laura can weigh in on what supplements she gives. I’ve been giving Cooper a fish oil, but I don’t think it’s had any effect on his tremors. It’s hard to tell what is and isn’t related, though. So frustrating!
Hi guys, sorry for the delay. Nikita has been tremor free for.over 1month now so I do believe what we are giving her works it does take a little while for the levels to build up (allow about 10days for this) then you notice the change. So what I give her is:
About 60mls of milk with powder calcium in it (amount varies to what she feels like having) i give her this morning and night.
1k-mag tablet – you can get these from a normal chemist. They are a magnesium and potassium supplement used to aid nerve response.
1 cod liver oil tablet to improve immune system and nerves also. Also just from a normal chemist.
Give the tablets once a day. The calcium powder I use is cheese flavoured from a pet store she loves it.
Thanks for sharing your plan. So glad she’s been tremor free. I think I may have to try the calcium for Cooper.
I hope it works for you but my Doberman had a break of 6-7 months with no tremors but they are now back
weird as its started the same time as it did last year .
Hi all,
Very glad to find this site and see other have experienced the same worries as me! I am a vet myself but specialise in horses, at approx 1 year old my collie x whippet started eliciting these side to side head tremors, exactly as your dog did in the video, it most commonly occurs whilst he is laying down and with something to stimulating (like the sight of his ball) can be snapped out of it, although he may resume the side to side tremors again once stimulus is removed.
Apart from happening more when he is laying down or sleeping there seemed to be no consistent pattern to the tremors. We went through a whole barrage of blood tests etc and ended up seeing two different neurologists (one who told me he was normal- I’m a vet for Christ sake! Doh!) and the second who performed a spinal tap to check the CSF fluid for meningitis and looking for certain indicators of infectious diseases ( like distemper) and he also has an MRI. Both were completely normal and the neurologist sad the most likely diagnosis is a focal partial seizure. In simple terms this is when a specific point in the brain spontaneously starts having electrical activity that self resolves without developing into a generalised seizure. The reason for this is unknown and treatment depends on whether his clinical signs get worse or the episodes get longer in duration. For the moment I have opted to monitor as the episodes are so infrequent and don’t seem to affect him for the worse.
Hope this helps- will happily answer any questions if anyone wants anything clarified.
Rebecca
Thanks for taking the time to go into great detail, Rebecca! It’s reassuring to hear a vet’s perspective.
Hi Rebecca,
I found your post really interesting, particularly the likely diagnosis of focal partial seizure. My boxer passed a month ago from mast cell cancer. The absence of her sweet boxer self has devastated the whole family, but helping her cross was the kindest thing we could do for her. Shortly before her cancer diagnosis, she began having head tremors when she laid down and was in the process of lying her head down. These lasted only seconds, but then — over a period of months — they began to increase. The last week of her life the tremors would happen while she was sitting and they were so violent that they would cause her to fall over if we didn’t hold her. The final day she fell while standing up and, because of other signs (not eating, wanting to sleep outside on the concrete, etc..) we knew it was time to end her suffering. We didn’t want to put her through all the tests that your little guy took because of her diagnosis, but I am still wondering what caused these tremors which — at the end of her life — appeared to be more like convulsions although she never lost consciousness. Any insights you could provide would be most appreciated! Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth,
So sorry to hear about your dog. It’s never easy losing a beloved family friend. My thoughts would be that the tremors were definately related to the mast cell cancer, either directly via small tumours growing in her brain, likely to her cerebellum if there was a loss of balance? The other possibility is through high calcium levels in her blood- this is always hand in hand with mast cell tumours and most cancers. As discussed about calcium disturbances can result in muscle tremors. Hope this helps?
Rebecca ( and Branston Pickle )
Pps- the neurologist I met with suggested Keppra (Levatiracetum) as a treatment in Branstons tremors progressed. Anyone tried this with their dogs? It works very well
In humans.
Rebecca
Thank you to everyone for the expressions of sympathy for the loss of my beloved Boo. To say that I am “grieving” doesn’t even come close to the emotional void that I am experiencing.
A couple of quick follow-up questions for Rebecca if you’ll indulge me here.
Boo’s oncologist always maintained that the tremors (even when they worsened significantly) had nothing whatsoever to do with her cancer. I always felt that there had to be a connection, particularly when at the end the tumors were growing like wild fire on her skin and the tremors were terrible. But you said something about a connection between calcium and mast cell cancer — does this type of cancer cause a calcium deficiency or overproduction? I fed her the Budwig protocol everyday (in addition to high quality/high protein food and loads of immune boosters and other anti-cancer supplements) which is a mixture of fish oil and cottage cheese. The oncologist never mentioned a calcium connection (but then never mentioned anything but chemo.) Just trying to understand the connection so I can be a better mom if this ever happens again to one of my furries. Thank you so much for your patience and thank you to everyone for your kindness. Elizabeth with spirit Boo and her sister in body bulldog Pie
Did Boo ever have an MRI? Many cancers result in high levels of calcium as a result of chemical and inflammatory proteins given off by the tumours themselves.
I suppose the more likely option is one of the mast cell tumours started growing in her brain, it sounds like Boo had advanced an aggressive mastocytoma. I would say however I am just a general practitioner so if a specialist neurologist and oncologist felt they weren’t related then I would tend to believe them? Just very unlucky to have two conditions at the same time perhaps . My gut feeling tells me they have got
to be linked!
I know mast cell tumours are very common in certain breeds and especially
Boxers so the only lesson worth knowing is if any lump appears that you not happy with get your vet to take a look and take a sample ASAP.
Hope this helps
Rebecca
Thank you once again Rebecca. Very helpful. When we first discovered the first lump on her right thigh, we scheduled surgery immediately to have it removed and, while prepping for surgery, our primary vet found several other lumps and referred us to an oncologist instead of trying to remove everything. When we first saw the oncologist, she did an initial ultrasound to see if the cancer had spread internally, but there was nothing visible. We went through three kinds of chemo, she took prednisone throughout (which caused her to have muscle wasting and pant/pee constantly), benadryl, pepcid, and all kinds of other supplements (K9 Immunity Plus being one of the primary ones.) By the time the tremors got really bad, our strong Boo girl had been through so much we decided not to haul her out to the specialty hospital to have an MRI. We never consulted with a neurologist because we knew that s/he would order unpleasant tests and the prognosis was already poor with the cancer. Plus, I had read many articles about idiopathic tremors and had the impression that — even if extensive testing was done — there isn’t a whole lot that can be done. Then, almost overnight, the tumors started growing very quickly all over her body. On her last day, her left ear flopped over and was twitching. She was losing control over her body, piece by piece. I’m with you — my gut told me that the tremors were related to the cancer and it had spread to her brain. In all my reading on mast cell cancer, I did not read anything about the link with calcium levels and am most grateful for that information. It will go into my brain vault and I will share it with others! Much appreciation again, Elizabeth
My tibetan terrier started with tremors last night and then again today. Vet said this morning that he couldn’t see any issues. The breeder said she has heard of this but not in her pups and will research this. What she has heard was that it typically starts at about 4 or 5 months and stopped at about 9 months, of course this is in TTs and might be different for other breeds. Very scary to watch. His last shots were several weeks ago, so I do not think it was that. I am going to try the added calcium people were suggesting. Thanks
We have a young English Bulldog Female Puppy who has just begun to present head tremors. It is sooooo scary, I’m glad your temperament keeps you calm! One thing I read that can, but not always, works with Bulldogs is to give them honey or Karo syrup. A glucose level check can be as simple as a blood test from your regular vet and can help rule out blood sugar problems. It’s not always the answer because idiopathic is what we (sometimes) joke is the “you’re and idiot for worrying about everything” diagnosis.
Our 18 month old pit bull Jasmine has been dealing with head tremors for the last few months. They usually happen at night or in the early morning, when she is resting. The one pattern we have noticed is they seem to happen after times when she gets really stressed out. She seems fine during- even one time wanted her belly rubbed while she was having one. We, of course, freak out and get worried. We have taken her to several vet appointments, and the one thing that shows up in her blood work is low blood sugar, which can bring on head tremors. But tests have shown its not an insulinoma and its not addison’s deisease, so our vet had no clue what’s causing her blood sugar issues. We’re hoping its due to a big growth spurt she has been going through for the last few months, and she’ll outgrow it. Very scary and upsetting- she seems to be a pretty healthy dog in other ways.
Rocky, our four year old Boxer just started having tremors last night, then again in the morning, and one more time tonight. Going to try the calcium and a visit to the very. This is all so scary, but we are doing or best to keep calm for our baby’s sake.
My Sparki started her tremors about six month ago at about a year and a half old. As almost everyone else has done, we rushed to the vet who did blood tests and said that it was IHT. I have been monitoring her for a pattern and have put her on the yogurt treatment. She has an episode about every 4-5 weeks, usually at night or first thing in the morning. I have noticed that she drinks alot of water either before or during her episodes. Has any else notices this?
Snoopy my Doberman first did is last year Xmas day , we took him to specialists and they also said its just head tremors , don’t know what causes it and that from what ey know it doesn’t harm them . I was told some vets may try to give anti seizure meds but to avoid these as they are unnecessary and won’t help . Snoops did this regularly once or twice a week for a month or so ..well that we witnessed he may have done it more …always when relaxed .. He has never been stressed when he has had a tremor . Interesting we were talking to a friend of ours who is a vet in October and she asked how the tremors were . It dawned on us Snoops hadn’t had any for six months or so then once again just before Xmas they started again . I’ve seen three since then the last being today . Again usually when he is relaxed or just wakes up and I seem to be able to get him out of it with food . Sad though as he doesn’t like it , today I could hear him rushing up and down the hall looking for me throughout the house he eventually found me and comes rushing over with his head shaking away , cute in a way like a child saying look look what’s wrong . It’s difficult as I know they say its nothing to worry about but on the other side it’s not normal and as the specialist told us they basically don’t know much about it except they don’t think it hurts or will harm them.
I have had this little Schnauzer mix for about 10 months now. She’s a rescue with no prior history available – age approx 18 -20 months. About a month ago I noted an abrupt change in her eating habits. She went from a dainty *one kibble at a time* eater to inhaling her bowl in seconds – like 10-15 second. I’m the only one who feeds her and this change appeared over night. I placed a flat rock in the center of her food bowl which has helped slow her down, but she continues to be a frantic food GULPER. Here we are a short time later and this morning she had a few minor head tremors. Ck’d her over for a possible tick on her neck/spine and found nothing out of the ordinary on her anywhere. After a full body I checked her ROM etc. She seemed perfectly fine. This evening she has had several “head shaking” episodes that are more pronounced yet I can call her and she’ll get up and walk over appearing fine and the tremors cease. They happen more often when she’s relaxed just observing us as others have stated.
No increased water consumption….
I have a friend in FL and her boxer started this “out of the blue” when he was about 18 months old. There has been no contbetweeneent the dogs. After a thorough work up he was DX’d with IHT.
I have Two Boxers and our white one Zydeco started to get head tremors about 5 months ago. We had a full blood panel done and everything was OK. Dr put her on seizure meds and after about 3 weeks she was still having them. I took her off medicine and started her on Vitamin B-complex. From all the research I have done and reading through several Vet medical journals this seems to be the only thing that actually works.
So If you dog is having Head tremors have a blood panel done “for the just in case”. If nothing comes up try Vitamin B-complex. Don’t give them Seizure medicine as it does damage the pups liver.
I was told by the specialist as well to stay away from seizure meds as they don’t work . Snoops stopped for around 10 months then started up again last month and seems to have stopped again . Vit B may have helped but seems it looks like its something that comes and goes . The specialists I went to said they basically have no idea and looking at the research that has been done they are not very close to finding out
luckily he has stopped for now but what was interesting is they started last year around Xmas went off and on for a few months , stopped then started back up just before Xmas this year and have now stopped again ? Looks awful when it happens poor Snoops is a sook and last time it happened he came rushing around the house to find me , stood there looking at me shaking away .
My 3 year old curly coat retriever, border collie mix has had a single event (so far) 4 days ago. However while he had a head tremor, he was also unsteady and had trouble walking. One eye was partially closed and head tilted. Shied away from my hand when I reached out to him toward his face. Not sure how long this went on as we had just arrived home. That day he was completely normal running and playing however did not eat his dinner. No interest in food or treats which is different from other accounts. Called vet that evening and his assessment was likely an inner ear infection. Brody laid still and did not attempt to get up for about an hour. He finally moved to his bed and slept. The next morning he appeared normal. Ate breakfast, drank water and normal movements. Went to the vet that morning. No ear problems or anything else. I am waiting on blood work now.
The vet thinks it is epilepsy but I am not sure what we witnessed was a seizure. But did involve more than just his head. He did not have full control of his legs and noticed he scratched his ear with his back leg and then sort of held his leg up for several seconds like he could not bring it back to rest. He is completely normal, jovial high energy self so no idea what caused this. I hope we never see it again. Any thoughts or similar experiences are appreciated.
I have a lab 7months old who just started with the head tremors.My vet said it is untreatable but the dog can live a nomal life.If it was cerebellar abiotrophy then it would be fatal.His symtoms are more like idiopathic head tremors.acures when falling asleep,easily discourged with food or toy.no post tic symtoms after(eg. sleepy or needs too sleep).My question is do all these remedies eg.mag. potassium and calcium work and can it be human form ?Or do you have too get it from your vet?
My current Doberman has the tremors and so did one of my past Doberman’s ( now deceased). The deceased dobeman died about a year after I first noticed the tremors, of lymphoma…not sure if there is a connection; both dobermans male. It was very frightening the first time, because the vet had no idea what was going on. Thanks to websites like this, I was able to ease my worries. Just want to see if anyone that has experienced the tremors in their dobermans has lost them to lymphoma?
I lost my male Doberman at 4 but the vet thinks it was his heart or anbleed in the brain as it was very sudden . He was a big Male but had never had any head tremors . Snoopy who we have now is also big at 55kg he is 3 and started a yearbagomwith the tremors however they seem to start then stop for several months . At the moment he hasn’t had one for a few months well not at I’ve seen and he hangs around us all the time
I haven’t noticed anyone on this forum linking the tremors to certain noises, but our 15-year old beagle-mix started to have tremors linked to metallic noises, like dropping pans, two pans clinking together or metal tags clinking. She is on Lasix, and she has congestive heart disease, but she still quite active and able to run without coughing. In fact, I have a hard time keeping up with her. I noticed that these tremors related to noise started about the time her hearing really got worse. Our vet said that her mix of poodle and Dalmation makes her hearing loss possibly genetically related. She wasn’t ill, and there was no sign of infection. I have given her a high potency, water soluble b-vitamin supplement that seems to help, and I will try calcium. Has anyone noticed sound-related tremors? She has no tremors unless stimulated by metallic sounds, not light, nor movement. Any ideas?
Our two-year-old pug/beagle mix began having head tremors just over a month ago. The first one happened about an hour after I’d witnessed him colliding at a full run with his big brother (a considerably larger dog) in the front yard… Three different veterinarians therefore believe the tremors were caused by a head/brain stem injury.
Our regular vet prescribed phenobarbital, but we had concerns about side-effects, which range from lethargy to liver damage. So we opted not to give him phenobarbital, and instead sought alternative care/treatment from a DVM with 30 years experience, who practices both western and eastern veterinary medicine.
After three acupuncture treatments and a three week course of Chinese herbs (powder form, taken with food twice daily), our “puggle” is doing remarkably better! Before treatment, he’d been having several episodes daily. Now, it has been several days since his last episode. They are drastically decreasing in frequency, duration and severity.
In our case, actually witnessing a collision/accident/injury helped with proper diagnosis (rather than just “idiopathic.”) If you have a rough-and-tumble type of dog like ours who is experiencing head tremors, don’t rule out a head injury — even if you might not have witnessed it taking place.
The acupuncture and Chines herbs are effective in clearing blood stagnation in the brain stem that resulted from the injury… without ANY side effects (unlike phenobarbital.) We are very glad that we pursued alternative treatments, and so relieved our dog is getting better!
Thank you for your posting Diane. A good reminder that head trauma is something to keep in mind. Also, it is helpful to know that Chinese herbs and acupuncture were successful. So happy for you and your puggle baby! Elizabeth
My AMPT, Raphaela, had an episode yesterday morning at around 3am with 3 more in quick succession in the 45 minutes afterwards. We went directly to the emergency vet hospital – I thought maybe she’d been poisoned because I’d just let her outside to go potty. Luckily for me she had another episode upon arrival at the vet’s so they were able to see what had me so worried. She had no more episodes until I picked her up around 2pm in the afternoon and then she had many in quick succession until about 8pm when they finally started slowing down. She had a few through the night but they didn’t seem to bother her much. None this morning from 4:45am to 6:30am so I came to work. The neurologist asked me to keep a log of any episodes and to record any I could and send to him. I just wish I knew why it was happening. They did a bunch of tests and determined her to be an average healthy 3yo pitbull. If the tremors continue with the same intensity, I’ll have them do an MRI so we can rule out a brain tumor or lesion.
My bulldog started these tremors in December. They were very infrequent and always at night when he was asleep. In March he started to have them every other week and the vet put him on seizure medication. We tried many different medications and nothing controlled the tremors which were becoming a daily occurrence sometimes lasting for more than 8 minutes. That’s when I found an article on idopathic head bobbing syndrome. I’m now convinced my dog doesn’t have seizures. I wish I knew why this happens and we have another appointment at the vet tonight.
My husband & I have a pittbull named Dexter. It’s just over a year & we’ve noticed that he will shake his head exactly like your dog Cooper in the video. It doesn’t seem to put him in pain…. It seems more annoying than anything. Anyway, we were telling our friend about what he does & she informed us to try to give him something salty & something sweet … We ended up giving me a couple cheez-it’s with peanut butter on it & right before our eyes instantly the shakes went away. We haven’t tried anything else other than the cheez-it’s with some peanut butter over them because it works!! & there is no reason to fix something that isn’t broken! My suggestion instead of any medications that may or may not fix the problem, that are very expensive… Just give the cheez-it’s & peanut butter a try.. I’m sure you will be amazed as well!!
Thanks to everyone that posted! As an update, Raphaela continued to have many tremor episodes on Wednesday and into Thursday but they started waning on Thursday evening and as far as I am aware she hasn’t had any since then. I used the diversionary tactics mentioned in this blog and found them very helpful. All the best to you and your furry companions
Thanks for updating us, Sandy! How’s everyone else doing? No real changes here for Cooper. I’m getting faster at diverting him out of it, though!
My American Bulldog, Whiskey, is being treated for a parvo outbreak in our area and she contracted it. Last night before I took her to emergency care, she started doing this. I was terrified she was having a seizure but found another video of a boxer doing this. Whiskey is depressed from the parvo but she seemed alert during this. She looked up at me when I called her name in a blind panic. It slowed when I laid her head down. Since then, she has had four. Since 1am this morning. She is now at the vets on an IV. I just found this post and am very happy there is nothing severe wrong with her as far as we can tell so far. Thank you and good luck to Cooper.
Our 17-month old Dobe recently began the head tremors. We’ve only had her for 3 months. At first I thought it was really intense sniffing, but after the second episode I realized that’s not it at all. I’ve seen her do it twice and my husband once. Will try the calcium routine with either the cottage cheese or vanilla yogurt and report back.
Erica – My thoughts are with Whiskey and my prayers are for her speedy recovery. Raphaela has continued to be tremor free so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be so for your pup as well. Best wishes to you and the rest of the pups and their companions dealing with this perplexing situation.
Hi, Just thought I would provide an update about Nikita she has been incident free for a few months now we still give her calcium but have lowered it to every second day and give her supplements twice a week (cod liver oil), The only impact we have noticed is that with long exercise she can get disorientated, so we limit it to short more frequent exercise.
Thanks for the updates and for sharing your stories, everyone! I’m in the process of contacting vets trying to find someone with expertise on idiopathic head tremors. I’m hoping to get a guest post and/or a Q&A together because I think we all could use a little more information and answers! Hug your babies!
Thanks for doing that, Maggie. I’ve found your blog to be very insightful. Please give Cooper a big hug from us