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  #1  
Old October 31st, 2009, 02:24 PM
saffrone saffrone is offline
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dog jerking/spasm while awake. help asap.

My dog Violetta woke me out of my sleep this morning because of this jerking movement that seems to take control of her whole body. She had done this once before but it only lasted a few minutes. This has now been going on for four hours. We have since taken her to the dog park where she ran around and was fine, but when she lays down this jerking continues. She can't sleep because of it. It seems to mainly be in the lower half of her body her back legs especially. She is 3 years old, is not on any medications and doesn't have a history of health problems. Any suggestions?
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  #2  
Old October 31st, 2009, 02:26 PM
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I would take her to your vet immediatley. It could be a number of things, but she needs to be looked at by a proffesional.
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Old October 31st, 2009, 02:30 PM
saffrone saffrone is offline
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Thanks Bailey. I figured I should do that, just thought I would give this a shot.
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Old October 31st, 2009, 02:32 PM
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If it is something minor, your vet will be able to tell you. But on the off chance that it is something more serious, self diagnosing could be harmful. Good luck and keep us posted!
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  #5  
Old October 31st, 2009, 02:36 PM
saffrone saffrone is offline
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Okay thank you. I'm making a call to the vet now.
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Old October 31st, 2009, 02:41 PM
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Good luck, saffrone! I hope it's nothing serious!
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Old October 31st, 2009, 02:30 PM
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I agree ....it sounds like it could be spinal related.

Please take her to the vet right away ....good luck and keep us posted.
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  #8  
Old January 29th, 2013, 11:50 AM
jratliff56 jratliff56 is offline
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dog jerking

Just seeing if anyone got information on this condition. Our border collie/beagle mix is doing the same jerking late at night. Mostly in lower legs, fully aware just can't get comfortable when he tries to lie down because he starts jerking. Lasted about two-three hours last night, seems fine now.

He would jerk though when he tried to walk also, but would get up in bed and try to lie down. Still would eat treats, etc and acted fine except for the jerking.

This happened about six weeks ago as well, but nothing again until last night.

We took him to vet and they couldn't find anything.

Thanks and hope someone has some ideas!

Last edited by jratliff56; January 29th, 2013 at 11:52 AM. Reason: add info
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  #9  
Old January 29th, 2013, 12:31 PM
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Dog Dancer Dog Dancer is offline
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My best advice is try to get a video of it happening so your vet can actually see it. Sorry I have no firm advice for you.
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  #10  
Old January 29th, 2013, 09:54 PM
MaxaLisa MaxaLisa is offline
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My list would be...

Yes, get a video, great idea!
Have full bloodwork done, including thyroid,
Check for tick disease,
See a K9 chiropractor: www.avcadoctors.com
Maybe see an acupuncturist...
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  #11  
Old April 29th, 2016, 12:28 PM
konabean konabean is offline
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nighttime spasms that look like hiccups

My Kona is having the same problems as those described by jratliff56 and eloise1687. About two months ago, she would wake up once per night with the jerking movement (at first it looked like hiccups). She's wide awake while this happens, and it lasts for about an hour. This went on for about a week, stopped for two months, and last night it started again, with exactly the same symptoms.

Has anyone found an answer to this? Our vet did bloodwork and said everything looked normal. We've shown several vets video of this, and they have no idea what it is. They say we shouldn't worry. How can I not?

Any help or feedback you can provide is much appreciated!


Quote:
Originally Posted by jratliff56 View Post
Just seeing if anyone got information on this condition. Our border collie/beagle mix is doing the same jerking late at night. Mostly in lower legs, fully aware just can't get comfortable when he tries to lie down because he starts jerking. Lasted about two-three hours last night, seems fine now.

He would jerk though when he tried to walk also, but would get up in bed and try to lie down. Still would eat treats, etc and acted fine except for the jerking.

This happened about six weeks ago as well, but nothing again until last night.

We took him to vet and they couldn't find anything.

Thanks and hope someone has some ideas!
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Old April 29th, 2016, 06:37 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Maybe she was running in her dream , my dogs leg will move like he is running while sleeping . Your dog had been still half asleep when this happen.
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  #13  
Old June 12th, 2016, 02:39 AM
Noisette Noisette is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by konabean View Post
My Kona is having the same problems as those described by jratliff56 and eloise1687. About two months ago, she would wake up once per night with the jerking movement (at first it looked like hiccups). She's wide awake while this happens, and it lasts for about an hour. This went on for about a week, stopped for two months, and last night it started again, with exactly the same symptoms.

Has anyone found an answer to this? Our vet did bloodwork and said everything looked normal. We've shown several vets video of this, and they have no idea what it is. They say we shouldn't worry. How can I not?

Any help or feedback you can provide is much appreciated!
Billy my 9 year old Jack Russel has been diagnosed with Canine Epilepsy, he had his first seizure 18 months ago, took him straight to the vets and was told it was probably a one off petit mal, I've since moved to France from UK and the vet here was excellent, he took blolod test right away and gave me the diagnosis there and then. Billy was put on Pexion twice daily to control the seizures which worked fine, he only had an isolated attack up until 2 weeks ago when he started having more frequent episodes, 3 nights ago he had a seizure during the night, the usual spasms and rigid body, paddling and pulled back lips, awful, it lasted about 5 minutes which is usual, the following night at 2:20 am he started moving round the bed restless and agitated, a sign I'm very familiar with, he started with the jerking movements as described in your post, it was like he had bad hiccups and he couldn't keep still, would lie down and get straight back up again, this lasted a couple of hours and was very distressing to witness, I recorded some of it on my tablet and took him to the vets next day, vet said this was definitely another seizure but milder than the usual ones he has had but nevertheless it was a seizure and lasted a long time. My advice is to see your vet if you haven't already done so, please let me know how she is now and if you have been given a diagnosis, it's good to talk and listen to other dog owners who have experienced similar, hope she is ok and doing well. Sorry for long post but difficult to put into a few words!!
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  #14  
Old February 22nd, 2017, 07:00 AM
tehp tehp is offline
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Hello everyone,
I came across this thread while I was researching/trying to make sense of what was happening to our dog the other night. What many of you are describing sounds very similar to what we were seeing. He woke in the middle of night, waking us eventually, and was experiencing these odd jerking movements (almost looked like he was being pushed from behind). He's a bit of a skittish dog to begin with, so wondering if his reaction was actually making things seem more dramatic than they were. He was fully conscious and would try to settle but they would jerk him back up again. He seemed quite perplexed by it and was seeking comfort from us. This went on intermittently for about an hour, then seemed to fade away. It happened 9 days ago and we haven't anything like it, or anything unusual from him in general. I managed to capture it in video to show vet. She thought it seemed very unusual. Blood tests all came back clear, and we are unsure as to whether we should seek advice from a neurologist or just wait. Hoping others may chime in here with any information on what the source was, or whether it just disappeared etc.

If I get any responses here, I could figure out a way to post some video. Would be great to see video others may have as well, to compare.

Last edited by tehp; February 22nd, 2017 at 07:05 AM. Reason: adding info
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Old February 22nd, 2017, 11:02 AM
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Hi, tehp. Welcome to the board.

How old is your dog? Our 13-yr-old just had her first grand mal seizure a few weeks ago. It started out much as your dog's episode did--it looked as though she was being pushed from behind. In her case, though, it progressed to a grand mal seizure. We were luckily able to get her to the vet in time to spot some anomalies in her blood work, but past experience with another dog tells us that blood chemistry can normalize quite quickly after a seizure and show no evidence of abnormalities. So likely, the advice you'll get from anyone you see at this point is to wait and see if it was a one-off episode.

That being said, though, if you could post the video on some share site, like YouTube, you'd have a link to share. It might come in very handy if your vet should give you a referral to a neurologist--if the neurologist can rule out seizure from the video, it might save you a trip...

that it was just a one-time thing and won't recur!
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  #16  
Old February 22nd, 2017, 05:08 PM
raemei raemei is offline
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I'm definitely curious to know if anyone has diagnosed these symptoms!
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  #17  
Old February 22nd, 2017, 08:08 PM
tehp tehp is offline
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Hi there,
Thanks so much for your replies. Our dog is a 6 year old mixed breed. We got him to the vet in a little over 12 hours from the time this occurred, but bloodwork all came back clear. Luckily, my vet has forwarded my video on to a neurologist to see if he has any input. So far, 3 vets and a vet tech have all commented on how unusual the movement is.
Am I allowed to post a youtube link here? If so, I would love to post and get your comments on whether this looks similar to what your dog went through.
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  #18  
Old February 23rd, 2017, 05:51 PM
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Just for the record--I don't think this is hiccups. Hiccups are a phenomenon of the diaphragm and this looks more like something with the nerves. Like tweaks along spinal nerves resulting in jerks... But the pattern is sort of evocative of hiccups...

Very strange! I hope the neurologist offers an opinion soon, tehp!
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  #19  
Old February 23rd, 2017, 06:08 PM
tehp tehp is offline
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Thanks so much for your weighing in on this, in comparison to your dog's episode, hazelrunpack.
It's stumping everyone so far. Particularly since he's been very normal ever since.
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Old February 24th, 2017, 01:11 PM
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With luck, it was a one-off episode.
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Old February 27th, 2017, 01:28 AM
Mander5829 Mander5829 is offline
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My 1.5 year old Lab has been doing the exact same thing you all are describing. It happens at night when he is trying to rest. It has lasted 30 minutes and up to 2.5 hours before. He did it Jan 25th, then nothing for almost a month and then he did it for 4 nights in a row and then nothing since then. I took him to the Vet for Bloodwork, all came back clear. My Vet said she has never seen anything like it. She thought it was maybe Myoclonic Seizures but im not sure I agree. If anyone has any updates, please post. Im desperate to know anything as Im very worried.
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Old February 27th, 2017, 01:19 PM
tehp tehp is offline
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Hi Mander 5829,
I managed to get a video of my dog doing this the one and only time it occurred. I posted a youtube link on the page before this. Please check it out. I would be curious to know if what your dog is experiencing looks similar.
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Old February 27th, 2017, 06:28 PM
Mander5829 Mander5829 is offline
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TEHP,

I was able to watch the Youtube video you posted. My Labrador, Leo's jerking is very similar to that. I also took video but for some reason when trying to post, it wouldn't load. I'll try again. When Leo does it, reminds me of full body hiccups but it definitely is not the hiccups. Sometimes it's worse than others. The first couple minutes it seems the strongest and then it starts to subside but like I said, it has lasted 2.5 hours once, the Vet really has no diagnosis and is unsure. I was hoping someone here was able to find out more info on this. Im worried. Thanks for replying.
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Old February 27th, 2017, 08:17 PM
tehp tehp is offline
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Hi again Mander,
Please do try again to post a video. I would be very curious to see it.
We have not seen it repeated or anything else unusual in our dog since (2 weeks ago). Would be great to keep each other posted if we get to the bottom of this.

Question: do your dog's episodes always occur at night? (ie when he has been sleeping?)
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Old September 10th, 2017, 11:49 PM
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Night time jerking

My Leya 3yr OEB started this jerking like a spasm 3 nights ago I thought it was a siezure but she was wide awake she was very restless sounds a lot lot like what others are saying in this thread have any of you found anything out yet? During the day she acts normal just at night this happens...
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Old September 11th, 2017, 07:51 AM
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Welcome to the board, HollyM. If it happens again, try to get some video of it to show your vet. Even with Leya's eyes open, she might have been having a mild seizure. A video might tell your vet if that's what's going on or if it's something different...
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Old October 2nd, 2017, 10:08 PM
triplebees4 triplebees4 is offline
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ok so we showed the neurologist the video of him twitching, had an mri of his brain, x ray of his chest and a spinal tap to look for meningitis (or however thats spelled). all of the test came back normal... so the neurologist said its probably a mild seizure disorder... kinda lame to not have a real answer though. she said its either a seizure disorder or a muscle disorder. both of them are pretty much "untestable". if its a muscle disorder she said theres really nothing you can do. if seizures the meds are worse then mild seizures so again no treatment. wish i had more info to post on here... thank god for pet insurance haha. i hope this helps whoever reads this but i know its not much. on the plus side goku hasnt had any more episodes of whatever this is since the first 3 days. i hope someone figures out whatever this is since i think weve gone through all the options available.

oh and whoever was wondering it happens to him as he starts to go to sleep but it keept happening even when we called him over. walking and all still happened.
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  #28  
Old October 2nd, 2017, 10:12 PM
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At least they've ruled out the big ugly things like brain tumors, triplebees!

I agree, though--it always seems lame to me when a diagnosis can't be made. With luck, it was just a muscle strain and won't come back! Sending good vibes for Goku!
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