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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, 02:30 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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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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  #6  
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, 02:44 PM
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I hope you can get in right away ....good luck.
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  #9  
Old January 8th, 2010, 07:29 AM
Lindseyjo_87 Lindseyjo_87 is offline
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My 5 year old dog just started this

My dog has just started to jerk when trying to relax. It jerks his whole body, and it only happens when he's trying to sleep or just lay and relax. You can see it happening too. He is fully aware of his surrounding and it’s not a full seizure or anything. He will move and try to get into another position but as soon as he starts to relax his whole body will jerk, like if he had the hiccups. I think he tries to stop it by trying to lie down and tighten his muscles because I can come pet him and he will be tight all over. I'm sure it can't be very restful for him.:sad:

If you found out what was wrong please post.
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Old January 8th, 2010, 08:28 AM
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I think the same advice that was given to the OP would apply in your situation...if you haven't already, call your vet and ask for an appointment TODAY. This is really something that can't be diagnosed over the internet, and should be seen by a professional...sooner rather than later. Good luck and let us know what the vet says.
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  #11  
Old February 20th, 2011, 02:43 PM
eloise1687 eloise1687 is offline
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Jerking/spasm

Hi there! I see that these issues were from about a year ago. Lindseyjo, I have a 1 year old Boston terrier with what sounds like a very similar issue to what your dog had. She is completely awake and the spasms happen late at night, usually when she's been sleeping for a while. She can't seem to get comfortable and looks at me like I should help make them stop. I've called the vet and they said its not a seizure and I can take her in for some routine bloodwork and they can try and figure it out but it didn't seem like something to be very concerned about. It's happened twice and has lasted for a little over an hour both times and I would really like it not to happen again, but don't want to go to a neurologist off the bat. Did you ever get to the bottom of the issue? I hope your dog is better, I would love to know what the vet said in your case. Thanks!
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  #12  
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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  #13  
Old January 29th, 2013, 12:31 PM
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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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  #14  
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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  #15  
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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  #16  
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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  #17  
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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  #18  
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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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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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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Old February 22nd, 2017, 08:23 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Your dog could be dreaming , my dog will kick his legs and paws around like he is running while sleeping.
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  #23  
Old February 22nd, 2017, 08:33 PM
tehp tehp is offline
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No, this is definitely different than dreaming. He is walking around, wide awake and trying to get settled, but the jerking movements prevent it.
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Old February 22nd, 2017, 09:16 PM
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could it be seizures ?
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Old February 22nd, 2017, 09:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tehp View Post
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.
Yep. I'd be curious to see it.

Glad to hear your vet passed the video on to a neurologist! It can be very difficult to get episodes like this diagnosed. Blood work often normalizes quickly --our first dog's seizure was, apparently, due to hypoglycemia, but by the time we arrived at the vet about 90 minutes later, the blood chemistry was already normal. So there's usually not a lot of evidence to go on unless you're able to videotape the episode.
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Old February 23rd, 2017, 07:20 AM
tehp tehp is offline
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Thanks.
Here is a link to the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXLb...ature=youtu.be
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  #27  
Old February 23rd, 2017, 10:16 AM
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Oh, my gosh, that poor dear! Almost looked like...well....spinal hiccups, if there is such a thing! Did the vet check to see if he was tender along the spine at all? Some sort of muscle spasm, maybe?

That was definitely not similar to what Ridge had at the start of her seizure. She sort of reared up from a sit position and toppled over backward as if someone was pushing her butt out from under her from behind.
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  #28  
Old February 23rd, 2017, 12:07 PM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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That does not look like the grand mal seizure I saw in my neighbour's dog. I think it looks like hiccups too. They are fairly common in puppies but I've not seen them in my dog since he became an adult. Hiccups hurt though, if they go on for a while. You probably know how your own stomach felt like you'd been doing crunches after a bout of them. Your dog is not opening his mouth and I know for myself if I'm in company and try not to be rude and keep my mouth closed to hiccup they are much stronger and hurt more. Has it happened again? Any report back? Poor boy looks quite distressed.
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Old February 23rd, 2017, 03:01 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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If your dog is getting hiccups I wonder if acupuncture treatments would help ? Poor puppy !
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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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