The appearance of tremor in the head is a symptom that can appear in dogs of any age and cause great concern in caregivers, as it is a striking and unusual sign. But what does it mean when a dog shakes his head? Well, you should know that the causes that can cause this symptom are diverse and include processes that resolve spontaneously to serious illnesses with a guarded prognosis.
If you want to know what happens if your dog shakes his head, what the possible causes are and what to do, don't hesitate to Join us in the next article on our site where we will explain why it happens and what can be given to a dog when it trembles.
Cerebellar syndrome
The cerebellum has two main functions: to coordinate movements and to maintain balance. When an injury or alteration of the cerebellum occurs, these functions are altered and a set of clinical signs appears that is known as cerebellar syndrome.
One of the classic symptoms of cerebellar syndrome is intentional tremor When the animal makes a voluntary movement, the decision is made by the brain, but it is the cerebellum that is in charge of redirecting the action. However, when the cerebellum is affected, it does not correct the actions and the movement that should be unique and fluid is "fractionated", thus appearing the characteristic tremor of cerebellar pathologies. The tremor is said to be intentional because occurs during voluntary movement, while it disappears at rest. Thus, if your dog's jaw and head tremble when active and for no apparent reason (cold or excited), it may be this problem.
In addition to intention tremor, dogs with cerebellar syndrome often exhibit the following clinical signs:
- Hypermetry: Animals make exaggerated movements. It is characteristic that they walk with the so-called “soldier's gait”, raising their extremities a lot.
- Loss of balance: for this reason they tend to have a wide base of support, with the extremities more open than usual.
- Ataxia or motor incoordination.
It should be clarified that the cerebellar syndrome is not a disease in itself, but a set of symptoms that may appear associated with various diseases cerebellar, being the most important:
- Congenital malformations: such as cerebellar hypoplasia or Chiari malformation.
- Degenerative diseases: such as cerebellar abiotrophy.
- Cerebellar tumors.
- Cerebellar infarcts.
- Inflammatory processes: such as idiopathic cerebellitis (also called Shaker syndrome).
Treatment
As you can imagine, the treatment and prognosis will be different for each of the diseases:
- Congenital malformations and degenerative diseases have no specific treatment In the case of malformations, the signs usually remain stable throughout the life and animals can enjoy a good quality of life. However, in degenerative diseases, the clinical signs progressively worsen, making it necessary to consider euthanasia in most cases.
- Treatment of the intracranial tumors can be based solely on supportive therapy, aimed at relieving the symptoms caused by the tumor, or in a definitive treatment that includes surgery, chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. In these cases, the prognosis is usually guarded and depends on multiple factors, such as the type of tumor, location, size, neurological status of the animal, etc.
- The cerebellar infarcts also have no specific treatment, although therapy should be instituted to maintain cerebellar perfusion and treat possible neurological sequelae of the heart attack. The prognosis in these cases is guarded.
- Inflammatory processes such as idiopathic cerebellitis should be treated with corticosteroids, which can be combined with benzodiazepines such as diazepam. The prognosis in most cases is good, since the animals usually improve their symptoms a few days after starting treatment.
Idiopathic tremor of the head
This is a movement disorder in which head tremor occurs spontaneously Unlike what occurs in cerebellar syndrome, tremor increases when the dog is at rest and decreases with activity. Therefore, if your dog shakes its head when sleeping, it may be this.
This is an idiopathic process (that is, of unknown origin) that usually appears in young dogs. Specifically, it usually affects predisposed breeds such as the Pinscher, the Boxer, the Bulldog and the Labrador. A characteristic feature is that head tremor appears without any other clinical or neurological abnormality During episodes of tremor, dogs are alert and respond to stimuli that are produce around them. Head tremors can present horizontally or vertically and usually last an average of 1-3 minutes. Episodes may repeat several times a day.
Treatment
There is no specific treatment for this disorder, although it seems that distracting the patient with something that demands their attention (food, a toy, etc.) may help bring the shaking episode to an end. As a general rule, cases of idiopathic head tremor in dogs usually resolve spontaneously within a few days or weeks. In addition, it is a disorder that does not affect the quality of life of patients. For all these reasons, the prognosis is considered to be good.
Epilepsy (focal seizures)
Often, when we think of epilepsy, a typical convulsive condition that affects the entire body in a generalized way comes to mind. However, we should know that seizures can also be focal and affect only one region of the body, such as the head.
Unlike what happens in the causes of head tremor in dogs that we have described in the previous sections, in the case of epilepsy the seizures are usually accompanied by:
- Loss of consciousness: from when the animal is absent to stupor or coma.
- Alteration of the autonomic nervous system: with drooling, urination and/or involuntary defecation.
Therefore, the fact that the head tremor is accompanied by one of these two alterations (or both) is highly suggestive of epilepsy.
Treatment
Epilepsy in dogs may have a primary cause or it may be of unknown origin. In the event that there is a pathology or injury that causes epilepsy, establish a specific treatment whenever possible In addition, regardless of whether it is known or not the cause, treatment with anticonvulsants (such as phenobarbital or potassium bromide) should be instituted whenever there is more than one seizure per month, the periods between seizures are shortened or severe or long-lasting postictal signs (after the crisis) appear.
If this is the reason that causes tremors in your dog, don't miss this other article in which we explain how to deal with an epileptic seizure in dogs.
As you have seen, if your dog's head shakes as if it had Parkinson's or cold, you should go to the veterinary center because the causes are varied and require specific treatment.
