Why is the dog trembling?

The mechanism of trembling

Trembling is involuntary small contractions of the muscles, both of the limbs and of the whole body. The same organ that regulates the feeling of hunger and thirst, the hypothalamus, is responsible for the mechanism of the formation of trembling. When certain conditions occur, a tremor occurs. Sometimes this requires a chemical or physical effect on certain receptors, and sometimes the reaction takes place on a psycho-emotional level. Also, tremor can be a symptom of any disease.

Causes of shivering

Tremor can be both physiological (normal reaction of the body) and pathological. To choose treatment tactics, you need to know the cause. Sometimes therapy will not be required at all.

Factors that cause shivering in dogs:

Physiological:

• Reaction to cold. Periodic shivering helps the body not to freeze to itself. Muscle contraction generates additional energy and heat. Trembling in a dog in the cold season is the first sign of hypothermia. 

• mental stimuli. Stress, fear, joy, excitement, emotional arousal can be causes of trembling. This is most often seen in dogs of miniature breeds, as well as small greyhounds. From an excess of emotions, in addition to trembling, spontaneous urination can even occur, both from joy and from fear. From stress, especially prolonged, destructive behavior can be observed – howling, chewing furniture, digging doors and floors, obsessive monotonous movements. If you want to get something from the dog, the body and jaw may also tremble, for example, at the sight or smell of something tasty.

• Sex hormones in males. Very often, a male dog, having seen and smelled a bitch in heat, or having found marks, is very quickly overexcited, which is accompanied by anxiety, fussy movements, trembling of the body and jaw, sometimes with chattering teeth and salivation, whining and frequent breathing.

• Senile tremor. Over time, the body becomes more and more difficult to perform its functions. The tissues are “worn out”, there is a violation of the conduction of impulses and the animals develop a tremor. Just like in older people, for example, with Parkinson’s disease.

Pathological:

• Reaction to pain. Trembling is manifested with severe pain, for example, with diseases of the limbs, internal organs, otitis media, injuries, a foreign body in the oral cavity or stomach.

• High body temperature. With viral diseases and poisoning, the temperature can rise sharply, accompanied by trembling and lethargy.

• Nausea. Trembling of the whole body, jaws, salivation and foam on the mouth. You can feel sick with viral diseases, poisoning, when taking certain medications, when motion sickness in transport.

• Injuries and diseases of the head and spine. In addition to trembling, there may be an unnatural tilt of the head and position of the limbs, weaving or failing paws, impaired body coordination, pain, aggression or fear when touched.

• Allergic reaction. Trembling may be accompanied by nervousness, heavy breathing, swelling, itching. An acute allergy attack can be provoked by components of food, cosmetics, medicines, insect bites.

• Poisoning. Trembling, convulsions, impaired coordination and consciousness, nausea, vomiting, salivation. It can be both food – when eating certain drugs, spoiled foods, poisons, fertilizers, chocolate, chewing gum, sweeteners, cigarettes, plants poisonous to a dog, cosmetics and household chemicals, and non-food – snake bite, spider, bee, smoke inhalation and gases.

• Heatstroke. It can happen on a hot day outside, in a stuffy hot room, in a locked car. Trembling is accompanied by shortness of breath, lethargy and loss of consciousness.

• Viral and parasitic diseases – enteritis, adenovirus, plague, piroplasmosis, dirofilariasis. 

• Other diseases – chronic kidney disease, epilepsy, hypoglycemia in diabetes mellitus, hormone-dependent tumors, portosystemic shunt, hypothyroidism.

• Violation of the heart and blood vessels. Fine trembling, pale mucous membranes, cough, increased heart rate, swelling.

• Deficiency of B vitamins. Unbalanced diet or malabsorption of substances in the intestine.

• Exposure to chemicals. With the introduction of solutions through droppers, trembling may occur. It is necessary to draw the attention of the clinic staff to this, as this may be a reaction to the administration of substances. Tremors are also often observed during the recovery from anesthesia and in the postoperative period.

• Eclampsia after childbirth. Trembling, developing into convulsions, loss of balance, shortness of breath, palpitations, salivation, photophobia. 

What to do at home

If you notice a tremor in your dog and you haven’t noticed it before, then analyze if there are normal physiological causes for this condition. If not, then the first step is to measure the body temperature rectally. It is best to use a children’s electronic thermometer with a flexible nose for this. Normal body temperature in dogs is between 37,5 and 39 degrees Celsius. Remember that a dry and hot nose has nothing to do with systemic body temperature and is not a sign of illness. If the temperature is still normal, then try to see a doctor. The more additional symptoms present, the sooner you need to go to the doctor. After all, in the case of, for example, poisoning or viral diseases, the clock goes to the count.

Treatment

With physiological trembling, they try to eliminate its cause: if the dog is cold, dress it in suits and blankets, including at home, if it freezes at home. If stress is the cause, minimizing stress with sedatives, removing or accustoming the dog to factors that cause her stress, classes with a dog handler and animal psychologist may be required. In pathological processes, to begin with, the cause of trembling is identified, and the disease, whose sign is trembling. In some situations, the problem is solved quickly, such as intravenous calcium for eclampsia or glucose for hypoglycemia. In other conditions, treatment can be long and difficult, or life-long in chronic conditions.