Unusual behavior... please advise!
 

Hello... This is my first post to Yorkie Talk, but I've been reading posts for over a year now...

My puppy, Porky, is about a year old, and Sunday night he started acting unusual... He moves his head back, kind of like if he was watching a fly go by, and then he looks forward and does the same thing again... He also trembles for a while, sometimes for 5-10 minutes... I hold him and pet him and the trembling goes away after a while. He's also breathing kind of rapidly through his nose, kind of like "sniff-sniff-sniff-sniff-sniff"... He's not playing much, but prefers to sit on the floor or couch next to me, and he's not playing with his toys much any more.

I gave him his Interceptor heartworm medication on Saturday AM, but he didn't start this behavior until Sunday night.

I took him to the vet last night and the vet told me to monitor him for the next few days. Has anyone else seen this kind of behavior? I took him for a walk before this started Sunday afternoon... Could it be from pesticides in someone's lawn? The heartworm medication? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I'm not sure what it could be but I know interceptor and heartguard are very safe products, my 5 lb yorkie ate my friends 25lb dogs interceptor the day that I gave her her heartguard It was very scary so I called my vet and he told me she would be fine and she was.

Hi and Welcome to YorkieTalk!

I would get him in to see a neurologist for a second opinion ASAP. Bloodwork and x-rays need to be done. Be extra careful moving him. May be best to crate him if he's comfortable with that.

Good Luck and prayers for a quick diagnosis... and recovery.

Did your vet do any blood work? If not, have a blood panel and bile acid test done. The results of those tests will give you an indication of some potential health concerns and how best to proceed from there.

Sorry to hear your lil guy is not feeling well, seeking a vet sounds like a good idea. Hope he is feeling well soon and welcome to YT:)

sounds like a seizure to me - they can do fly snapping as a seizure. It could be from the meds or the meds just triggered it - I would have blood work done and have bile acid tests done as the meds could have set off the liver - if you can take a video on your camera if it happens again so vet can watch behavior that would be good but at this point i would demand bats and blood work and take in a urine sample as this very well could be liver related due to age.

What percentage of protein are you feeding?

Also in the past year have u seen any strange behavior after eating ?

also try not to let him walk on grass when walking to avoid people's yards as you do not know what they are putting on them and never let him lick water off street which i am sure you do not

If alt is high it can be liver related or toxin related so the blood work will give you answers and you should have blood work done yearly anyway :)

Has your dog had any vaccines recently?

The behavior you are describing could be a possible seizure, pain, difficulty breathing, possible spinal cord compression. If he were mine, I'd be at a neurologist's office...

I agree, take him to the vet, It could be from the Interceptor, as they all react differently to it. For most, no probelm. My large dog has taken it for years and no problems, but I gave him a Dose on April 1, and he became quiet, slept a lot, did not eat for 2 days, and did not want to go for a walk, and he always wants to go for a walk.

Any medication can have an effect. Hopefully he will be back to himself soon.

I would probably go to a place with internal medicine specialist to get blood work where a neurologist is at as well so they can do blood work and work together as if not liver related could be neurological so that way they can address this as a team effort.

I would not let this go as this is not normal and i would see specialists at this point to get to the bottom of it. The sniffing thing sounds like reverse sneeze and after a seizure sometimes they do that as they get scared and the shaking is a sign of pain or fear of what happened.

You need to rule out liver first then if not liver they will do a neurological exam. If all is ruled out then epilepsy is the last thing they treat for

My friends dog had ivermectin toxicity and ivermectin is in the heart guard and interceptor has a different type of that drug and they walk in a drunken stupor and then her dog had a seizure then coma but it was a high dose of ivermectin for demodex mixed with ketoconazole so you are not giving any meds with the interceptor correct? check the box and make sure it is the right dose for your dogs weight as they gave me a box one time with too high of a dose for my dog by accident so i always check expiration dates and doseages on things from vet.

If you are not at the vet's yet...

How frequently does he do this behavior with tilting the head up, sniffing?

Is he not playing at all since Sunday nite? Did he fall or jump off a couch or bed before this behavior started?

Is the "sniff, sniff sniff " loud, or soft sounding? Any gagging, hacking sounds?

Does he seem 'lost' or is he very cognisant of his surroundings?

Is he eating/drinking normally? If these are episodes (the behavior stops for a while then starts again) do they occur soon after he eats a meal?

I see the OP is offline now... hopefully en route to a vet/specialist.

A seizure was the first thing that came to mind for me, too. Seizures aren't always the full body shaking that so many of us think of- people and animals can have focal seizures, too. You definitely need to make a vet appointment and if possible, videotape an episode. Dogs are like kids- they can be sicker than crud at home, but perk up as soon as you walk through the doctors doors!

Fly snapping is a symptom of Chiari. This dog needs to see a neuro ASAP.

Hoping you get to a specialist asap and hoping for an update.

Best of luck and I hope all goes well!

Thank you for all!
 

Thank you for all your kind advice... I actually took some video before going to the vet last night (I thought I was being a little obsessive --- I'm glad that some other people would have done the same thing!). I called my vet and he told me to watch him for another day or two... He said that Porky could be coming down with (or getting over) something, and if things don't improve or get worse we'll take further steps. I will definitely insist on the blood/liver and neuro tests that you all suggested. Porky's symptoms are not very severe (I saw some videos on YouTube of fly biting, and he's not doing that)... It's almost like what he does when his bangs get too long and he moves his head tying to look at them...

I may just be overreacting (Porky is my first dog). Thank you all again for your advice! I will let you know how things go over the next few days.

It worries me that he is not playing, and that you are a new Yorkie owner.

Yorkies have congenital and genetic problems, and a few of the symptoms you have described fit these disorders.

I don't think the heartworm meds are the problem, because it was in his system too long before he started with his symptoms.

The disorders are Liver Shunt, AAI, Chiari. The last two can be very severe, if they go undiagnosed. If they look sideways, they can damage their spinal cord and die within seconds. With Liver Shunt, toxins build up in their system till they overflow into the brain and cause odd behavior, and seizures... which can cause death.

And this is why I sincerely urge you to take him to a neurologist ASAP.

The only thing you could tell me that would make me feel better is that your vet is a very experienced small dog specialist and is very current and up-to-date with diseases and disorders specific to Yorkshire Terriers.

Vets who do not treat Yorkies regularly may misinterpret or overlook these symptoms. It is always best to err on the side of caution when any neuro symptoms/odd behaviors are present.

Not overreacting , these can be symptoms of some very serious conditions so please keep a close eye on your baby. If not better in a day or 2 or symptoms change or get worse get to a vet ASAP as these conditions can be fatal if not treated promptly and properly.