Head Shakes
Submitted by Deb and MacKenz... on September 20, 2011 - 1:18pmSo MacKenzie started with an occasional head shake about 1 year ago and this past week he has had 2 episodes. In over a year he had maybe 3, so now I'm thinking they might be increasing in frequency or could possibly be related to the raw diet. Maybe he isn't getting something in the raw that he needs?
I have no experience with these. I give him honey because that is the only thing I have in the house right now that has lots of sugar and it helps after about 5/6 big spoonfuls.
So should I be feeding him something on a daily basis that could help eleviate these? Is there any holistic herb that might help? Are there any special supplements that may work? I do know it is important to keep him on a feeding schedule that is the same time everyday. I'm concerned he is now going too long inbetween meals and unfortunately that could be a problem because I'm gone from 8:30 - 6:00pm.
Any ideas from those that have experience with this would be appredciated.
i dont believe head shakes are from diet....
these are my thoughts only...did you just vaccinate within a couple of months? do you give heartworm meds? do you use a atopical flea product? i believe that this is what head shakes are from.....also it could be low sugar....i do feed my guys three times a day....i do all meat in the am...organs in the afternoon and a nice meaty bone at nite.....knock on wood i have never had head shakes....from reading other peoples post they can be scary...
i think you can get glucose sticks..what they use for diabetics...and start checking his urine...to see if their is a dip in sugar production.....start adding 1/2 teaspoon of honey to his meals once a day..... was he under any stress when this happened?
what was he doing before he had this happen?
are you keepig a record of when they happen...did they happen at the same time?
their is an article on the front page about head shakes......
Judy
He is 8 so these started at age 7 - Never had one as a younger guy. He has also started some incessant licking.
He has had no vaccines.. He has never had heartworm or flea products, they are typically not needed in our area.
My thoughts are it is from low blood sugar. The last 2 were around 6-6:30 pm and I was feeding. I wish I could feed him 3 x daily but I work so it isn't an option. I will try giving him some honey with each meal.
No stress! He never stresses :)
I have read the article that I think Cathy authoried on the home page but I will read it again.
I will try giving him some honey with each meal.
I agree with Judy, not diet itself related.
But rather a sugar issue. I am only of that opinion based on what the treatment for head shakes is...giving a small amoaunt of sugar in the form of peanut butter, karo syrup, etc. If it were related to diet itself, then feeding a piece of meat would work!
Amy and Sophia
go to the home page and read the article about it.....
there was soo much research done and nothing pinpointed a problem. I have had Cain for two years and he has had three of them....none in the last year so it is hit or miss with him.
Oliver has had a couple.....
Cathy with Zimmer is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to head shakes. There are a few thoughts on the cause (food, low sugar, vaccinations, HW meds, flea meds), but nothing is proven. I don't really think it is be food related because it wasn't like Oliver got them after starting a new food or anything. I lean towards some sort of medication/vaccination relation. Anyways, like I said he has only gotten them a few times. We even went about a year without one and then he got one for a few days in a row. I think distraction is key to get them to go away. I even distract him with a few pieces of his food. Otherwise I have used honey in the past as well. Once he is distracted it goes away. I am also like you and scared about him getting one when I am not home but I think as quickly as it starts it stops. So I would say just distract him when you see him having one and shoot Cathy an e-mail, she knows and has lots of info about head shakes.
Vern started having head
Vern started having head shakes - and it freaked me out! I contact our bully vet and he said that often it's related to low calcium. He instructed me to give him a tums every day. I did and we haven't had a problem since. I did all the same stuff - read articles on here, online and elsewhere.....it's confusing, but this was a simple remedy that worked for Vern, plus Vern thinks that Tums are delicious!
Interesting ... I'm sure Tums
wouldn't hurt him either and he like Vern would think they are a treat. Worth a try.
A breeder here told me about an herb to try but I don't remember what it was. I guess I will have to give her a call.
For my dogs, I found head shakes to be food related
Maizy had head shakes as a young dog and at the time, I was feeding Eukanuba. I switched foods and she hasn't had a head shake since.
Morgan started having head shakes at one point and I again changed foods and the head shakes stopped.
So, in both cases, the only changes I made were food changes. I didn't give any supplements or meds, just changed their food.
Rosco's head shakes I found to be food related too
He had head shakes for a few months, and after I switched foods, he never had them again.
Mine too
Mojo was starting to get them really bad, would go away after a few minutes. I switched foods and hasnt had one since.
Same here! I didn't think about it but I had Fatboy on Eukanuba
too when he had his head shakes (and they FREAKED me out). I was so scared but didn't know what else to do but give him honey and try to talk to him. But now that I think about it he hasn't had any head shakes since we got him off of eukanuba. Strange...
Fatboy aka Stinky :)
Food / Diet
I'm a little inclined to think that is could be food related in his case. There is nothing that could point to drugs, shots, meds, etc that the others have mentioned. The only thing that has changed is his diet and a couple of months ago I took him off kibble completely and he's on raw. He has had head shakes every night this week. I'm going to pick up some kibble this weekend and start him back on a little and see what happens.
many think its food....its whats in the food...
you can change brands all the time.....stop and take a look at what is in the bag...what its preserved with the chemicals its loaded with...
if you have been on raw for 2 months...why would it start to casue head shakes now????? their are no chemicals unless your using enhanced meats??? high sodium.....
good luck i hope all goes well keep us posted....
What about an overload
of protein on raw? I'm not saying that is causing his head shakes but can that be a problem with raw? He has been on raw for 2+ years but during that time I also fed some kibble and it was prepackaged. I stopped all kibble a couple of months ago and starting grinding my own chicken.
OK, Judy you bring up an interesting point and maybe the cause. I did accidently pick up some chicken that was not our good Foster Farms chicken but southern chicken. I didn't notice it until Kohl had serious squirts. After looking at the packaging it was enhanced. Poor Kohl smelled like he had eaten something dead. MacKenzie and Ester were fine. It's been more then a week since he was eating it, but it could have been the trigger.
He didn't have any head shakes tonight, so keeping fingers crossed he is getting back to normal. I can deal with 3 times a year, but everynight is troublesome to me.
protein from raw food is not the same as
protein from grain....i read all the articles on head shakes...that were around...not one mentioned food....which i found intresting.... and all said to add honey or kao syrup to stop the shakes....its very important to make sure your raw is not inhanced...added salts and flavoring....
but it also time to add in some pork or turkey...you need to change your meat source once in a while....it could be a detox happening his system is throwing out all the chemicals and preservatives from the kibble.... what organs are you using...turkey heart would be a good add in to his meals....i live calf liver its loaded with vit minerals...
you cant just feed chicken with no organ or bone...thats an incomplete diet even thou its ony 20% of his meal.....
what else are you using in his diet.. .
Judy - Not just chicken
I also feed pork and beef. I'm feeding beef liver as well as chicken liver and chicken necks. I grind the whole chicken so they are getting bone and they get beef marrow bones on the weekends (they do chew chunks of the marrow bones). I will not give them rib bones. Plus the usual supplements, salmon oil, probiotics.
once a week try adding
some sardines....dogs love sardines...but i will tell you mine do like to play with them...and even roll on them before eating them....this might help a little...i like adding fresh salmon once a week also....
your probitcs what are they made from? check the ingredients...make sure their are not alot of chemiicals or additives...
Sardines and Probiotics
I have given the canned sardines. The dogs about take my fingers off for them. I can't stand the smell of them. BUT - The co-op evidently has awesome big sardines that everyone on the list raves about. I'm ordering a freezer today and then I'll start ordering my food from the co-op and sardines are high on my list.
What probiotices do you like best? I'm just running out of the stuff I got at Mud Bay and it has plant enzymes and I'm not sure that is what I want.
Salmon - I almost picked up some salmon yesterday. How do you feed it? Just whole bone and all. Do you remove the skin? When I was married and we fished the dogs got lots of salmon but cooked because that was before I was feeding raw. Even with that Norbert always had a beautiful coat from the fresh salmon.
i feed salmon
whole and fresh i chop it up..... if i get fresh salmon from a friend i always freeze for two weeks to kill any worms.....probitics with plant matter i would not use...for myself i dont use a probitic...i use cod liver which has all the omega along with the salmon once a week...and sardines a couple of times a month....
i love anchovies on my pizza...and i always end with 9 pairs of eyes staring at me.....
maybe drop the probitc for a month.... and do a little research on what is out their....
Calcium deficiency
A trainer told me recently that head shakes may be cause by a lack of calcium. Try some yogurt or some of the like