Head Tremors

Head Tremors

By: Dr. Jon Rappaport

Our question this week was:

Could my dog be experiencing tremors because of chemical exposure?

She and her sister had parvo and I was trying to sanitize so I used bleach. Her sister didn't make it. I also use Febreze in my carpet to keep the house fresh. I noticed that her head has a small tremor. It looks like she nodding really fast. It lasts for about 2 seconds or less but it is very strange. She received a lot a meds when she was being treated for parvo.


Demetria Dixon

Answer


Hi – thanks for your email. It is possible your dog could be experiencing tremors from chemical exposure but I'd worry about some other possible causes. Causes of head tremors include:

  • Cerebellar abnormalities (coordination part of the brain)
  • Inflammatory processes (encephalitis)
  • Trauma
  • Some drugs
  • Genetic causes
  • Vestibular diseases
  • Idi
    opathic (unknown cause)

    Without the benefit of actually seeing or examining your dog, I'd worry about some other possible causes. If the parvovirus infection was recent, I'd especially worry about canine distemper virus as a possible cause of your dog's signs. Additional signs of distemper may include discharge from the eyes and nose, mild cough, and mild lethargy.

    I'd recommend that you take your dog to your family veterinarian for evaluation.

    An article that might be helpful to you on my site Petplace.com is Tremors & Shaking in Dogs. You might also be interested in this article on Canine Distemper.

    Best of luck!

    Dr. Jon



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