Boxer wobbles

[Tresaith]

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I have a 2 year old boxer bitch who occasionally has head wobbles. She is fully conscious and does not seem distressed. It can last for several minutes. It started around the time of her first season when she was 13 months. The vet thought it might be hormonal and recommended she be spayed, which we were planning. The frequency of the wobbling has greatly decreased but it still happens from time to time. Has anyone else any experience of this and any explanation.

Thanks,

Tresaith

 

[Oreo]

Hi & Welcome.

Yes I have and do experience with Oreo.

She kind of has head twitches and losses her balance too. Very hard to describe.

The vets have said it's a mild form of epilepsy however at her ages isn't worth treating, unless it gets worse.

We notice she does it a lot when there is food around, which is strange.

Hope you get to the bottom of it

 

[eingana]

I've always thought, from seeing dogs who have this sort of wobble, that it is a form of absence epilepsy. I've got a couple of friends who have this sort of absence and they tell me that although they have some awareness of what is happening around them and appear to be fully conscious, they aren't really. Whether you commit to full time medication to prevent an infrequent episode is something only you can judge.

Anything which causes stress or change in the system can trigger the electrical release that makes the seizure happen, so that could be excitement, hormones, hunger, sleep, anything really, although there is generally a pattern for that individual. One thing that it could be that isn't epilepsy is cataplexy, which in some dogs can present just as an apparent collapse but no loss of consciousness, and can last anything from a few seconds to half an hour. This is far more common in some breeds than others and again, this is not something that you'd get treatment for.

 

[Tresaith]

Hi,

Thanks very much, I also think it might be mild epilepsy. The head wobbling stops if I give her a treat or just put my finger in her mouth.

I don,t want to put her on anti epilepsy drugs as they have unpleasant side effects and she does not to be distressed or ill in any way.

Reassuring to know this is not too uncommon and not life threatening.

 

[Oreo]

Hi,

Thanks very much, I also think it might be mild epilepsy. The head wobbling stops if I give her a treat or just put my finger in her mouth.

I don,t want to put her on anti epilepsy drugs as they have unpleasant side effects and she does not to be distressed or ill in any way.

Reassuring to know this is not too uncommon and not life threatening.

I'd just be careful with the finger in the mouth.

As I know when people have epileptic fits they advise not to put fingers in the mouth to unblock airways, as they have a tendancy to bite down during a fit without knowing.

I assume it maybe the same with dogs.