Since rehoming a 10 month old springer spaniel 4 weeks ago we have had no problems, although noticed that he is slightly cross eyed! After a long walk yesterday he came home fine but about half an hour later began having severe involuntary twitching on his front and back legs on one side of his body only, he was licking and gnawing at his paws on this side (seemed like they might have felt "funny" or slightly numb?), he did not lose consciousness, no foaming at mouth, didn't yelp or cry (even when we felt that side of his body), but he was distressed and running around rather uncontrollably, he could walk, no dragging of limbs but he definitely did not feel right, it gradually improved, lessened but he did "kick out" both his front and back limbs on that side occasionally through the evening. He ate all his dinner, had alot to drink, and perked up a bit but we were very worried. any ideas??? He did jump off a wall about 3 feet high on his walk and I did wonder if he might have a pulled muscle or nerve problem but the twitching didn't start immediately after he jumped off the wall. thanks for your professional thoughts

Hi, Monty,

The signs you describe are exactly those we used to see in late cases of Distemper many years ago, before widespread vaccination almost eradicated it.
You say you 'rehomed' your dog 4 weeks ago - where from? If it was from a stray's home, I think you must still consider Distemper as a possibilty, and, if so, I am sorry to say that the likliehood of a recovery is very low. Not all dogs with Duistemper have fits - many show other nervous signs similar to these. If it was from such a Home, telephone and ask them if thay have had any cases of Distemper recently. He would have been exposed to infection about 4 to 6 weeks before you got him and even if you had him vaccinated right away he would not be protected if he already had the virus in his system.

W

thank you for replying so quickly, the dog was rehomed from a family who assured us he had been fully vaccinated although there is no proof of this. I have looked up distempa and he doesn't display any of the other symptoms which are listed, should we be looking for other signs?? could it be something else?? he really appears to be a very healthy happy dog in all other ways, this limb thing has only happened once, last night. he is eating, playing etc normally.

Hi,

If he is now OK it is unlikely that Distemper is the problem.
For your information, Distemper is a virus illness affecting susceptible - usually young unvaccinated -dogs.
The signs ar as follows. Shortly after infection from another dog, the subject has a soft cough, shuts his eyes against strong light, has a discharge from the eys, and may have diarrheoa. The temperature rises to about 103 to 104F.
After a couple of weeks or so, unless pneumonia develops, the dog appears to recover. In another month the virus attacks the brain, and you see signs similar to those which you describe, sometimes associated with fits. Some dogs do survive, but usually with signs of permanent bnrain damage - fits, twitches or tics. There is no treatment which will help at this point.
I am very familar with this truly horrible disease - I would see two or three every day when I first started to work as a vet, but by 20 years ago I hardly saw a case from one year's end to the next, thanks to widespread vaccination. Most vets today would not recognise a case if they saw one!

W

I have a dog mixed breed that is about 15 yrs old human years, his back leg has devloped a twitch. he ha been to VET on reglar secudel. What could be his problem

In a dog of this age there are many neurological problems that could cause this but if the dog is 15 one needs to be realistic about what one is going to do about it, as your dog is already a really good age. Perhaps what you should ask is not what is it but am I going to do anything about it? If it does not affect your dog's lifestyle and quality of life then perhaps it is best ignored. It may be worthwhile getting a full neurological examination by your vet to make sure it is not something simple that can be easily sorted but these sort of problems can end up being expensive to investigate with little realistic treatment and in a dog of this age one must really ask whether the treatment will prolong life or improve quality of life significantly.

i have a ten month old german shepherd she is upto date withall her vacinations and medications but i have noticed latley that she has an involentary twitch in her back and front legs so far it has only happened twiice that i am aware of should i take her into my vets

If it has happened only twice, especially if the dog was sleeping at the time I doubt it is problematic. If it were persistent/recurrent then I would get it checked out then.

The right leg of my dog's front leg begin to twitch like vibration after a minute or two in interval there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with her bones. She would slightly limp when walking or standing because of it. It's the first time this happened, what might it be?