Parkinson-like tremors

[BluEyesUNC]

Hey guys,

I'm wondering if anyone else has ever seen this in their Rottie. My boy Jesse who is a rescue, between 2-3, neutered, fully vaccinated, occasionally has tremors affecting only his head. It's not a seizure because he's not unconsious - he responds if you call him, he can stand up, roll over for belly rubs, etc. His head just shakes back and forth and he looks like an old person with Parkinsons to me. I took him to the vet and had blood work and 4 views of X-rays done and everything showed up as normal. I am now considering taking him to a specialist, but I'm wondering if anybody else has experienced this first so I can do some research. All my searches on the internet so far haven't really yeilded much because I don't really know what I'm dealing with.

Any thoughts or experiences would be great.

Thanks

[frontierrots]

Has he been treated for fleas lately? It could be a reaction to flea treatments, ESPECIALLY if they used some of the nastier types on him (organophosphates, carbamates etc)

Also do you have a medical history? Did he have distemper as a pup?

There are so many possibilities that perhaps a specialist would be a good idea

[Karyn]

Cromwell was doing that! I would be very interested in your findings.

[majicka]

Flea products came to mind as well..

What are you using?

[BluEyesUNC]

I use Revolution which is Selamectin. I use it the 15th of every month, though I don't notice the tremors at any one particular time of the month though, I really haven't been keeping a journal. I think I will start keeping one though. As far as his history, I don't know what he had as a pup. He was found as a stray and an area Rottweiler Rescue group took him. We got him from the rescue. He's had the vaccine since being with us, but I don't know if he ever had distemper the disease (or the vaccine even) as a puppy.

[majicka]

Are there any Vet Neurology specialists near you that you can take him in to get checked out?

acvim.org has docs listed by specialty and location under Diplomates.

I hope you find out what's wrong w/ your guy. Please keep us posted.

[frontierrots]

I would switch to Interceptor monthly pill AND keep a log.

Your water.. Do YOU drink it? has it been tested for lead?

Do you have black mold?

What you describe I'd bet is either neuro, toxin reaction or both

[BluEyesUNC]

So, small update on Jesse. We've decided to hold off on any further testing for Jesse's tremors, at least for now. We do drink our water from our faucets and we don't have black mold. I did a little research on distemper and some of the after effects it can have on animals that survive it. Jesse may possibly be showing two of the after effects-one being the neuro effects, and distemper can also effect tooth development which can cause malformed and discolored adult teeth and he has HORRIBLE pitted, stained teeth. So, we are thinking he may have had distemper as a pup and since we got him at 2yrs old and he was a stray before that, we don't know his history. The only way to truly check for antibodies that would indicate that he had distemper would be to do a spinal tap, which would require anesthesia, and the last time he went under anesthesia his heart rate kept dropping, so they had to give him two injections to get his heart rate up. So, my news is that we're waiting on any further diagnostics for now, but we're guessing Jesse probably had distemper as a pup and this is an after effect of it. I am going to begin keeping a journal of when he has tremors and how long they last and if they start increasing in frequency or start causing other problems, then perhaps we'll consider doing some further diagnostics. I hope this helps anybody else who's dog has had similar symptoms, and if anybody else finds out anything about their dogs who have similar symptoms, please let me know!

[frontierrots]

Cornell offers a blood test for distemper anibodies both as vaccination titers and as post exposure

Your vet should be able to draw blood and send it to them