Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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This question is about the monkeybutt, Evelyn. She is a bulldog, age 3 1/2, spayed. Earlier today she came walking up to me with her head bobbing so fast, it looked like shivering from cold, though it was even more pronounced. I've seen dogs tremble from fear or pain, but that involves the whole body. This was like an uncontrollable head bobbing, up and down mostly. Her eyes were fine. She was able to focus on me the entire time I talked to her. No nystagmus.
I tried all sorts of things to interrupt this. She was able to stop it for a matter of a few seconds. Her head bobbed like that when she walked, was on her bed, laying on the floor, everywhere. I could pet her head and kind of hold it still, but it would return.
After probably 5 minutes of it not going away--a very long time if it was a seizure--I phoned the vet. Had to leave a message. While waiting for the callback, I gave Evelyn an involved chewy treat to see if she could manage it and what the result would be. She wanted it, so she must not have felt ill. That seemed to interrupt the behavior. The vet phoned and said her age is prime for epilepsy. He said he couldn't diagnose her without seeing the behavior, but it could be a petit mal seizure.
Any thoughts? Would a petit mal seizure last so long? Is that anything like how they appear? Only her head bobbing? What's next? Wait and hope it was random and never happens again?
Thanks for any help or advice.
Shari
From abandoned puppy to Tripawd Warrior Dude, Dakota became one of the 2011 February Furballs due to STS. Our incredibly sweet friend lived with grace and dignity till he impulsively raced over the Bridge on 12-15-12.
Dakota's thoughtful and erudite blog is at http://shari.tr.....pawds.com/
Hopefully Pam can give you a professional opinion, but Jerry had a few seizures long before his Tripawds days. They weren't quite like you explain, but he did seem to approach us in a confused manner just before they happened. The few times it happened, he would cower as if being scolded then lay down and simply be unresponsive, for up to a few minutes. Once we changed his diet and focussed on the quality of his food, the seizures stop.
Good luck finding out what's going on, please keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Many, many years ago I had a cat that began having seizures. They started out with just the corner of her mouth pulling up so that her teeth showed. They eventually graduated to full body seizures (she was diagnosed with a neurological disease). The seizures were controlled with phenobarbitol. She would never make eye contact with me during the seizures, and was disoriented for a couple minutes after them; once she came "came back" to the real world, she would always drink water for several minutes. I never saw her do the head bobbing you're describing. I hope this is nothing serious, and that Evelyn is okay. Sending positive thoughts her way!
Oh gosh! You know I don't know! But I just want to send our Evelyn good thoughts! Let us know what you find out!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
I don't know nuthin' either but also wanted to say I hope it's nothing too serious. We're all pretty attached to that little, I mean big, monkeybutt.
(Am I crazy or do I recall Shelby's chauffeur saying something about one of their dogs having seizures? There might be something in the forums if you search.)
Good luck and keep us posted!
Jackie
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
Hi Jackie! I do remember a lot of dogs having some kind of seizure or another, but the one thing I can't find is a really clear picture of what it can look like. My husband told me I should have grabbed the video camera because there's no way to get Evelyn to the vet while that's going on, whatever it is. He's right and I wish I'd thought of it. I don't want it to happen again, but at least I should be able to remember the camera.
When I have some time tonight I'll poke around here some more. Thanks!
Shari
From abandoned puppy to Tripawd Warrior Dude, Dakota became one of the 2011 February Furballs due to STS. Our incredibly sweet friend lived with grace and dignity till he impulsively raced over the Bridge on 12-15-12.
Dakota's thoughtful and erudite blog is at http://shari.tr.....pawds.com/
Hi Shari,
Just wanted to send Evelyn lots of positive thoughts and prayers that it is nothing serious and it was just a weird thing going on. Charley sends your monkeybutt lots of sloppy chocolate labby kisses too....even though he doesn;t know what a monkeybutt is since he's an only child. 🙂
Hugs and chocolate labby kisses,
Ellen & Charley
Charley's Blog: CHOCOLATE KISSES
DOB: 3-29-08, male chocolate lab
Dx: OSA L proximal humerus 10-19-10
Amputation: L front leg & scapula 10-28-10
Chemo: 5 rounds of Carboplatin
Video (12 weeks post amp):Tripaw Charley Playing
♥♥♥ Lots of supplements and love!!! ♥♥♥
My only experience with seizures was with Daisy and the vet thought it was caused by brain lesions not epilepsy. She would shudder (her head) and turn her head down and to the right, winching in pain.
We are sending our best spotted monkeydog thoughts for Evelyn.
Samson and Lady
Spirit Samson was Spirit Tripawd Daisys four legged "brother" and ruled as the self proclaimed head of the Monkeybutt Federations East Coast Division. Lady Chunky Monkey stayed from Oct 2011 and left for the bridge in Apr 2012. Miss Perdy is left and has some big pawprints to fill.
Do you have what it takes to be a Monkeybutt? Find out more at the Monkeybutt Federation
This most likely is NOT a seizure. It sounds like idiopathic head tremor syndrome of Bulldogs. I see this frequently since I do a lot of work for our local Bulldog Rescue group. Symptoms are a tremor-like shaking of the head and neck. The dog remains standing and fairly alert. Bulldogs also get epilepsy but often get grand mal seizures (dog is in an altered state, often on the ground, paddling the feet, loss of bowel and bladder control). Petite mal seizures are much less common and involve odd behaviors such as fly-biting, head-pressing, or stereotypic behaviors like circling.
Intention tremors do not require treatment.
Pam
Hi Pam. Thanks for your reply. I've never heard of this, so this is pretty interesting. Are "intention seizures" part of this syndrome? If separate, what are they? Is that what you think Evelyn was doing?
Does this syndrome do anything else, or progress? I'm hoping it was a singular event and we won't see it again. What are the odds?
I guess I get to google some of this stuff. Very interesting. Thanks again!
Shari
From abandoned puppy to Tripawd Warrior Dude, Dakota became one of the 2011 February Furballs due to STS. Our incredibly sweet friend lived with grace and dignity till he impulsively raced over the Bridge on 12-15-12.
Dakota's thoughtful and erudite blog is at http://shari.tr.....pawds.com/
Evelyn has had 2 more episodes this evening in close succession. They didn't last as long, but one was very severe. I googled around and read that some people think there is a blood sugar or protein link. She got some ice cream and it stopped. And that correlates with earlier today when I gave her a treat and it stopped. I was just trying to interrupt it then. I don't like this one bit.
Shari
From abandoned puppy to Tripawd Warrior Dude, Dakota became one of the 2011 February Furballs due to STS. Our incredibly sweet friend lived with grace and dignity till he impulsively raced over the Bridge on 12-15-12.
Dakota's thoughtful and erudite blog is at http://shari.tr.....pawds.com/
I do believe that we tripawd pawrents have done enough worrying with our furbabies without the Monkybutts joining in! I sure hope you find a way to control the 'shakes' so she can be comfortable and you don't have to worry.
Best of luck!
Hugs and Wags
Judy and Baby
Oh Evelyn, we hope you feel better!
Our old doggy had the head bob for a period of time. We never did figure out what it was, it lasted a week or two, would come and go and it worried us. After that it would come back from time to time, along with a head 'swaying' behavior where his head would just sway back and forth. It also seemed to be food related for him. It was likely a disease process for him, but we never really investigated too heavily as he was old and not in any discomfort from it - we at that point were focused on making his life comfortable and avoiding too many invasive tests or vet visits (he did not like the vet at all!)
There is no easy way to diagnose epilepsy or some of the other brain diseases. It is a good idea to run some blood tests to check for organ dysfunction but epilepsy is a diagnosis of exclusion so an MRI or CT scan of the head needs to be done to rule out a brain tumor and a CSF tap will rule out meningitis or inflammatory conditions. Bulldogs can get tumors but your dog is young. Hypoglycemia is rare in adult Bulldogs but a blood test would pick that up.
The tremor syndrome can be set off by stress (I sometimes see it more after anesthesia or hospitalization). The dogs often have a day or two of tremors and then go a long time without any.
Pam
Evelyn, you are indestructible. Ain't nothin' gonna stop you!
Hope you feel better today.
Wyatt Ray Dawg . . . The Tripawds Leg-A-Cy Continues!
Read all about my adventures at my Tripawds Blog
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