Intention tremors/periods of 'absence'?

Re: Intention tremors/periods of 'absence'?

Dagmar Steele — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 14:17:02 GMT

I'm glad you posted this Mark. I didn't see anything unusual either, but I was not up for posting this as I thought I'm not one of the hotshots and obviously I am missing something. So it's not only me, which gives me a bit of relief.

Re: Intention tremors/periods of 'absence'?

Mark Lowrie — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 13:42:57 GMT

Hi Emma, thanks for posting these. I must be honest and say I cannot see much wrong with the dog on these videos although they are of poor quality. The one thing that seems quite obvious is the dog is wagging its tail and walking around and does not seem to have lost awareness at all. It may be the tremors of the head are subtle and so idiopathic head tremors/bobbing is still possible although I wonder what it is the owners are seeing exactly that is concerning them as it doesn’t come across well in these 2 short clips. Have I missed something?

Re: Intention tremors/periods of 'absence'?

Emma Cathcart — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 07:00:21 GMT

Ok fingers crossed this works...I've tried the YouTube thing...

http://youtu.be/jxkaFWxBTT4 and http://youtu.be/y6FCViA5iIw

Hope they work!

Emma

Re: Intention tremors/periods of 'absence'?

Claire Fisher — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 14:52:06 GMT

Upload the video to Youtube and then post a link?

Re: Intention tremors/periods of 'absence'?

Mark Lowrie — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 12:51:48 GMT

If you can find a way of posting the video I think this would really help. The description could fit with a postural, repetitive myoclonus syndrome involving the head and neck. This condition is probably most commonly known as idiopathic benign ‘head bobbing’. Onset is usually acute with variable frequency of occurrence. Episodes can last from minutes to hours. We commonly see this disorder in the boxer, English bulldog and Doberman with onset between 1 - 5 years of age though any breed and age may be affected. The pathophysiology is unknown but it appears to be related to positioning of the head and neck suggesting a defect in the stretch reflex. Diagnosis is essentially made on observation of typical clinical signs. During the episodes, movement is sometimes stopped when the dog rests its head and neck position, by offering a treat or calling the dog's attention. There is no known treatment and it is unresponsive to anti-epileptic medications. Prognosis is excellent for this syndrome as discernible structural lesions are absent and affected dogs are not bothered by the movement. However, diagnosis is really made by observing an episode so I may change my mind on this diagnosis if I see a video.

Re: Intention tremors/periods of 'absence'?

James Laidlaw — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:15:35 GMT

[quote user="Linda Filshie"]Systemic disease seems unlikely from the history, but i would still want to do baseline bloods/urine...

[/quote]

Neuro referral/MRI in case of brain lesion if no better or if can afford to do so are also options.

Re: Intention tremors/periods of 'absence'?

Linda Filshie — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 10:36:49 GMT

Systemic disease seems unlikely from the history, but i would still want to do baseline bloods/urine...

Re: Intention tremors/periods of 'absence'?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 10:15:53 GMT

Petit mal?

Wynne