Shakes for No Reason

[schnug]

Hi,

My yorkie shakes/quivers/trembles/ has muscle spasms occasionally and without any apparent reason. Please see the video located here:

YouTube -...

.

We will be taking him to the vet but I would like your input as well in the event there is nothing conclusive the testing is done.

He is very healthy overall (ok during basic physcial exams, is happy and healthy 99% of the time) however has the following other issues which concern me, albeit not to the extent the shaking does:

-if he has a plush toy he will often bite into it and sit in one spot breathing heavily as he bites into it(appears to be some kind of anxiety)
-sometimes after he humps (he is neutered) the tip of his penis will not naturally go back into its sheath and requires 'help'
-he is very sensitive to loud-pitched noises. For example he will be very upset if the smoke alarm rings and will hunt any dish towel (which he noticed was waved at the source one time) until he can throw it around.
-when he is sleeping he is startled when his back is touched and will growl and bite (as a reaction to being startled)

If you could help it would be very much appreciated.

-S

[susan lynn]

I am sorry I can't give any advice, but he sure is cute, remind me of my Calvin when he has long hair. My Tessie is very nervous all the time and she loves to take her bed and shake it violently and hump it forever. She is spayed.

[lillymae]

Your baby is probably in pain from something. Have you checked the anal glands ? Do you allow your baby to jump on & off of furniture ? if yes then it could be a spinal issue. Don't know when your appt is but I would get this pup in somewhere Today. Please update after the vet visit. Praying it's nothing too serious.
Welcome to YT.

[schnug]

Originally Posted by lillymae

Your baby is probably in pain from something. Have you checked the anal glands ? Do you allow your baby to jump on & off of furniture ? if yes then it could be a spinal issue. Don't know when your appt is but I would get this pup in somewhere Today. Please update after the vet visit. Praying it's nothing too serious.
Welcome to YT.

Thank you for the response. Please note that this issue comes and goes and last for 5-15 minutes before he is 100% OK again. We haven't noticed it for over a month until yesterday again (when video was taken). At present he is feeling fine but I do plan on taking him as early as tomorrow. He also does not yelp etc.

Here are some notes re. the symptoms:
We notice it happen every few weeks or so. We haven't seen it in over a month until this morning.
-He will put his tail between his legs, cuddle up against my wife, curl his back in and begin to shake. He will stay in one position and although he is physically capable of moving he does not want to.
-The shaking seems seems to originate from his hind legs or lower back.
-During this he tries to get at his back paws or anus or penis -- I cannot tell which, most of the time he sits in one spot uncomfortably
-I think he is mentally alert because he would shake a paw although appears to be very uncomfortable
-The shaking lasts for several minutes typically and then he is fine again, so we think it may happen more than we notice.
-We cannot pinpoint an exact moment it starts, as the circumstances seem different every time. This morning he appeared fine out of his cage and after he came in from doing his business it started. But that does not appear to always be the case.
-He does not display any verbal signs of pain and is unusually reluctant to take treats but will.
-The symptoms are reminiscent (exactly the same even, but with less severity now) of when his "lipstick was out" before he was neutered. Sometimes still (~10-15% of the time) in the morning his penis is out a little bit and we have to manually help him put it back in. It was the first thing checked this morning and it was not sticking out.


Thanks,

S

[schnug]

If there is an issue with the anal glands, would it be visible or noticeable in some way looking at the glands directly?

Say if I asked my vet to check the anal glands before 400$ of testing should I do that or would there be no way of knowing there was an anal gland problem to begin with?

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by schnug

If there is an issue with the anal glands, would it be visible or noticeable in some way looking at the glands directly?

Say if I asked my vet to check the anal glands before 400$ of testing should I do that or would there be no way of knowing there was an anal gland problem to begin with?

Yes, and I would ask for that to be checked before anything else as the symptoms you describe are that of very full anals. Poor baby , I hope that's all it is not that the anals are nothing because full anals are Very painful for them & they can rupture as well but it would be the best scenario for your pup.

[lillymae]

Originally Posted by schnug

Thank you for the response. Please note that this issue comes and goes and last for 5-15 minutes before he is 100% OK again. We haven't noticed it for over a month until yesterday again (when video was taken). At present he is feeling fine but I do plan on taking him as early as tomorrow. He also does not yelp etc.

Here are some notes re. the symptoms:
We notice it happen every few weeks or so. We haven't seen it in over a month until this morning.
-He will put his tail between his legs, cuddle up against my wife, curl his back in and begin to shake. He will stay in one position and although he is physically capable of moving he does not want to.
-The shaking seems seems to originate from his hind legs or lower back.
-During this he tries to get at his back paws or anus or penis -- I cannot tell which, most of the time he sits in one spot uncomfortably
-I think he is mentally alert because he would shake a paw although appears to be very uncomfortable
-The shaking lasts for several minutes typically and then he is fine again, so we think it may happen more than we notice.
-We cannot pinpoint an exact moment it starts, as the circumstances seem different every time. This morning he appeared fine out of his cage and after he came in from doing his business it started. But that does not appear to always be the case.
-He does not display any verbal signs of pain and is unusually reluctant to take treats but will.
-The symptoms are reminiscent (exactly the same even, but with less severity now) of when his "lipstick was out" before he was neutered. Sometimes still (~10-15% of the time) in the morning his penis is out a little bit and we have to manually help him put it back in. It was the first thing checked this morning and it was not sticking out.


Thanks,

S

What happens if you don't help him get his lipstick back in ? have you ever just left it alone for a couple of hrs to see if it will go back in on it's own ? I would have the vet check that out secondly.

[107barney]

If your dog is in discomfort, it needs to see the vet. And yes, you'll likely have to spend money on testing. By the way, anytime I've ever done any testing on my dogs for various ailments I've always gotten an answer so it's pretty unlikely your testing will be inconclusive -- either it will rule something in or it will rule something out. The tremor could be any number of things and his best bet is the vet, and the sooner the better. Best wishes.

[Buster Brown]

I do not know what is causing the shaking but I would recommend getting the testing done because if ignored it could get worse. Perhaps get pet insurance before it is diagnosed as a preexisting condition but I would not put if off.
When he is playing with the stuffed animal if he is burying his face into it he may be breathing heavier to get more oxygen since the toy is blocking his nose mouth.
Buster also hates the smoke alarm. Dogs hearing is more acute than ours and they can hear higher frequencies. The pitch of an alarm is extremely loud and high so it is more painful to a dog than a human. Plus they do not know what is going on only that there is a loud painful noise, the people are all excited and waving things. He is not sure what is causing the problem so he attacks the rag because it might be causing the noise and upsetting the people.
Remember the old saying. LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE. This saying came about because people woke dogs up by touching them and the dog not knowing what is going on reacts to what is attacking them. You will see some people react the same way if they are startled awake by someone they may lash out before they are fully awake.
These seem to be common reactions of a dog but the shaking is not, please go in for further testing. Best wishes to you. You have an adorable dog!
ps I was just thinking does the shaking occur after flea/tick medication since it seems to happen every couple of weeks? Just wondering?

[lillymae]

How is your baby now ?

[QuickSilver]

He's very cute!

I would definitely have him checked for the things other posters have mentioned. However, I wanted to note that shaking can simply be a sign of anxiety. The fact that he jumps out of his skin when you wake him up is also a sign of high reactivity (though it could also be a sign of pain). Exceptional noise sensitivity is another sign, though most dogs dislike fire alarms.

Thor sometimes shakes when he gets very excited. He belonged to someone else when I first met him, and he shoke pretty frequently. I think it is because he is a timid dog, and he needs a lot of exercise to keep him reasonably relaxed (just like a stressed person).

I didn't really see him shaking in the video? What I mainly saw was that the camera made him uncomfortable (again, very common). The exaggerated yawning and lip licking are appeasement signals.